Feb. 25, 2000

The Catholic News & Herald 1

February 25, 2000

February 25, 2000 Volume 9 t Number 25

S e r v i n g C a t h o l i c s in Western North Carolina in the Diocese of Charlotte

Inside

Tending the flock

Church responds to immigration protest with prayer

...Page 3

From the Cover

Teacher in-service addresses gay and lesbian ministry and the school system

...Page 7

Catholic cartoonist pays tribute to “Peanuts” creator ...Page 11

Local News Busy Mocksville parish overflowing with activity ...Page 5

“Out of Africa”

Student celebrates faith, adapts to surroundings

...Page 16

Every Week Entertainment ...Pages 10-11

Editorials & Columns ...Pages 12-13

Faith Alive! ...Pages 8-9

Photos by Jimmy Rostar

“In good pastures will I pasture them, and on the mountain heights of Israel shall be their grazing ground. There they shall lie down on good grazing ground, and in rich pastures shall they be pastured on the mountains of Israel.” (Ez 34: 14) Sister Mary Michael tends to the sheep and goats on the 25-acre property of the Congregation of Our Lady, Help of the Clergy in Vale. The congregation has served in the Diocese of Charlotte since 1978, when Bishop Emeritus Michael J. Begley invited its members from Connecticut. The sisters have lived in Vale since 1980, and operate Maryvale Daycare School, host retreats for groups from throughout the diocese, serve the needy, raise livestock and offer a variety of spiritual and charitable services. For related photo, see page 14.

Diocesan youth “hip” on peace alternated with discussion, to keep things lively. “I thought it was really fun,” said Kate Urbowicz, a youth from Holy Family Catholic Church in Winston-Salem. “I got a lot out of it.”

Shannon Hollars, a youth from St. Mark Catholic Church in Huntersville, agreed. “They make it fun. It’s not all work.”

The games are not chosen at random. Specific concepts are learned from each one. For example, in one of the activities, participants were told to close their eyes while a sticker was placed on each of their foreheads. They were then told to open their eyes and find their group, without talking. The task of sorting

BY ELLEN NEERINCX SIGMON Correspondent HICKORY — There are some new special agents in the Diocese of Charlotte. Paul Kotlowski, diocesan director of youth ministry, deputized a group of middle school youth that participated in the Help Increase the Peace (HIP) program Feb. 18 to 20 at the Catholic Conference Center.

His charge to them was to “be active champions of peace and to try to help us spread the peace” throughout the diocese.

HIP is a national program sponsored by the American Friends Service Committee, a Quaker organization

that includes people of various faiths who are committed to social justice, peace and humanitarian service. Staff in the Syracuse, N.Y., office originally developed the program in 1990 to address increasing violence in schools.

Through workshops in schools and church groups, participants learn communication and conflict resolution skills that allow them to deal with confrontation in a creative and non-violent manner. They increase their awareness of different types of prejudice so that they can reduce it in their daily lives, and they learn about positive leadership and community building.

Some play goes along with all of this work. The workshops use games, role-playing and hands-on activities,

See MIDDLE SCHOOL, page 4

2 The Catholic News & Herald Big Family,” was in a book called “The Beginner’s Bible.”

Committee extends ‘charitable choice’ to literacy program WASHINGTON (CNS) — Faithbased organizations may be able to participate as partners in a $500-million federal literacy program for disadvantaged families as a result of a recent House committee vote. Members of the Committee on Education and the Workforce Feb. 16 adopted an amendment extending the “charitable choice” provision to Even Start, the federal program that provides tutoring for preschool children and literacy and job training for their parents. Under charitable choice, states and localities are encouraged to utilize charitable and faith-based organizations for the delivery of social services to the poor and needy.

Vaccine from aborted fetus cell lines judged morally acceptable ST. LOUIS (CNS) — The St. Louis Archdiocesan Pro-Life Office says using a hepatitis vaccine derived from cell lines developed from an aborted fetus is morally acceptable because it is the only available alternative to the spread of the disease. The office said it had been receiving inquiries about the ethics of such vaccinations when a bill was passed in St. Louis County ordering food handlers to be vaccinated.

Some of them have refused to get the vaccine because of their pro-life views.

Hepatitis A, a viral infection of the liver, is usually contracted by consuming food or drinks handled by an infected person. The vaccination against it requires an initial shot followed by a booster shot.

Chiapas paramilitary closes church; 33 shut down in diocese MEXICO CITY (CNS) — A paramilitary group operating with the support of local officials seized a church in northern Chiapas and forced its closure, the Diocese of San Cristobal de las Casas reported. A Feb. 16 statement from the diocese said the group, known as “Peace and Justice,” closed the church Feb. 14, bringing to 33 the number of Catholic churches in the diocese closed because of paramilitary violence. The church is located in the

Protests in Kosovo An Albanian student holds a banner amid a sea of umbrellas during a Feb. 17 rally in Kosovo’s capital, Pristina. Religious leaders were among those condemning recent violence.

CNS photo from Reuters

Court considers school’s ban on first-grader’s Bible story PHILADELPHIA (CNS) — Twelve judges on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments Feb. 16 in Philadelphia on whether a first-grader’s rights were violated when he wasn’t permitted to read a Bible story to his public school classmates. The case, which has been wending its way through the courts since 1997, pits a Catholic mother, Carol Hood, as guardian for her son, Zachary “Zack” Hood, against the New Jersey Department of Education, the Medford (N.J.) School Board and the teachers and administrators at Medford’s Haines Elementary School. In 1996, when Zack was in first grade, his teacher had invited her best readers to read a favorite story to the class.

Zack’s selection was the story of Jacob and Esau, two brothers who had been estranged then reconciled. The problem was, according to court briefs filed on Zack’s behalf, the story, called “The

Episcopal February 25, 1999 Volume 9 • Number 25

Publisher: Most Reverend William G. Curlin Editor: Joann S. Keane Associate Editor: Jimmy Rostar Staff Writer: Alesha M. Price Production Associate: Julie Radcliffe Advertising Representative: Cindi Feerick Secretary: Jane Glodowski 1123 South Church St., Charlotte, NC 28203 Mail: P.O. Box 37267, Charlotte, NC 28237 Phone: (704) 370-3333 FAX: (704) 370-3382 E-mail: catholicnews@charlottediocese.org The Catholic News & Herald, USPC 007-393, is published by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte, 1123 South Church St., Charlotte, NC 28203, 44 times a year, weekly except for Christmas week and Easter week and every two weeks during June, July and August for $15 per year for enrollees in parishes of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte and $18 per year for all other subscribers. Second-class postage paid at Charlotte NC and other cities. POSTMASTER: Send address corrections to The Catholic News & Herald, P.O. Box 37267, Charlotte, NC 28237.

February 25, 2000

The World in

c a l e n-

Bishop William G. Curlin will take part in the following events: March 3 — 7:30 am Knights of Malta Mass St. Patrick Cathedral, Charlotte March 3 — 7 pm Confirmation Hispanic Center, Charlotte March 4 — 11 am Diaconal recommitment day St Patrick Cathedral, Charlotte March 8 — 7:30 pm Mass Ash Wednesday St. Patrick Cathedral March 11 — 3:30 pm Mass Our Lady of the Americas Biscoe

indigenous community of Jol-Ako in the municipality of Tila, close to the Chiapas-Tabasco state border. Residents told the diocese that the church was seized Feb. 14 by Peace and Justice members accompanied by local civil authorities, including the public prosecutor.

Church regrets 16th-century execution of philosopher ROME (CNS) — As academics and politicians placed flowers on the spot where rebel philosopher Giordano Bruno was burned at the stake 400 years ago, a Vatican official apologized for the execution but said the Inquisition’s judges had acted in good faith. Bruno’s “atrocious death” in a Rome square on Feb. 17, 1600, is viewed with “profound regret” by the modern church, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, Vatican secretary of state, said in a message to an Italian conference.

But Cardinal Sodano said it was not up to modern church leaders to pass judgment on the motives of those who

Diocesan

plan -

Church, 3016 Providence Rd., is sponsoring a group session on in-law relationships tonight at 7 p.m. in the Ministry Center in Room D. Call the church office for details at (704) 364-5431.

CHARLOTTE — St. Patrick Cathedral, 1621 Dilworth Rd. East, is celebrating a charismatic Mass today at 4 p.m. with prayer teams available at 3 p.m. and a potluck dinner after Mass.

Call Josie at (704) 527-4676 for details.

13 CLEMMOMS — Holy Family Church, 4820 Kinnamon Rd., is having Parish Retreat 2000 today through March 15, featuring Dominican Father Michael Burke. There are two sessions daily beginning with 9 a.m. Mass and a 7 p.m. prayer service. The themes include “finding God in daily life,” “experiencing and sharing forgiveness” and “family spirituality.” For childcare and other information, call the church office at (336) 778-0600, Ext. 200.

sentenced Bruno for heresy or carried out the execution.

Officials say Zimbabweans’ vote shows deep dissatisfaction CAPE TOWN, South Africa (CNS) — A referendum result that spelled Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe’s worst defeat in his 20-year rule was a sign of Zimbabweans’ deep dissatisfaction with the economic crisis in the country, church officials said. The 55 percent vote against a new constitution that opponents said would strengthen Mugabe’s already considerable powers revealed “people’s reaction to the economic situation in the country, rather than to the constitutional issues involved,” said Father Walter Nyatsanza, general secretary of the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops’ Conference.

Israel criticizes Vatican-PLO accord, but pope still welcome JERUSALEM (CNS) — As a diplomatic controversy continued over the signing of a Vatican-Palestinian accord, Israeli officials criticized the Vatican move but said Pope John Paul II would still be welcome in March. “Israel views the upcoming visit of the pope in the region as an important historical mission,” said Israeli Foreign Ministry Director-General Eytan Bentsur. “We are expecting a message of peace and conciliation that will not include any pre-determination of the results of the negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians,” Bentsur said.

Pope to lead mental pilgrimage to Abraham’s birthplace VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Unable to visit Iraq, Pope John Paul II said he will lead a special mental pilgrimage to the land of Abraham’s birth. “This will be the beginning of my jubilee pilgrimage to the places linked to the biblical account of God’s interventions in history,” the pope said Feb. 16 at his weekly general audience. The pope said he would lead a special reflection on the life and faith of Abraham Feb. 23 at the Vatican. Pope John Paul was scheduled to travel to holy sites in Egypt Feb. 24-26 and in Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian territories March 20-26.

15

CHARLOTTE — “Faithful Citizenship: Civic Responsibility for a New Millennium” is a workshop on this U.S. Bishops’ election year 2000 statement, being given by Joan Rosenhauer of the U.S. Catholic Conference, tonight from 7-9 p.m. at St. Peter Church, 507 S. Tryon St. Topics for discussion include Catholic teaching and principles of faithful citizenship, correct church political activity involvement and moral priorities for public life and questions for campaigns. The workshop is also being held tomorrow from 7-9 p.m. at St. Pius X Church, 2210 North Elm St. in Greensboro.

Please submit notices of events for the Diocesan Planner at least 10 days prior to publication date.

February 25, 2000

Around the

The Catholic News & Herald 3

St. Julia Church responds to immigration protest with

By John Strange NC Catholic SILER CITY, N.C. (CNS) — St. Julia Church in Siler City responded to a local anti-immigration rally in perhaps the only way it could: with the Eucharist, and with prayer.

The church always holds a bilingual Mass on Friday nights, but the Mass Feb. 18 held more significance as it came the night before a demonstration aimed squarely at the hundreds of Spanish-speaking people who have settled in this small Chatham County city.

Several hundred people attended the afternoon rally Feb. 19 in front of City Hall. The demonstration featured former Ku Klux Klansman David Duke, who only recently established a group called NOFEAR — the National Organization for European American Rights.

Participants listened to Duke and other speakers and carried signs bearing slogans as “America: World’s Septic Tank,” “The Melting Pot is Boiling Over” and “Repatriate Aliens.”

But Friday night belonged to St. Julia’s. More than 250 people — Hispanic, white and African-American — filled the little church to celebrate Mass and pray for peace, understanding, and that Spanish-speaking residents will find welcome and belonging “beyond these walls.”

“St. Julia’s has been blessed from the beginning by the Latino population,” said Father Dan Quackenbush, pastor of St. Julia’s, during his homily. “It’s been an experience of two cultures coming together and learning from one another.”

Catholic North Americans in Siler City have been “sensitized,” Father Quackenbush said. “Our eyes have been opened to the plight of many people in other parts of the world, a plight that the North American has been spared to a great extent.

“We’ve come to know people who want a better way of life for their children and for their families. They come here to find that. And that’s certainly what I thought America was all about,” said Father Quackenbush, whose grandmother was an immigrant from Ireland.

Dr. Amanda Slater, a family physician who works in a local clinic, said she came to Siler City to show support.

“I’m here because these are my patients. It’s because I love them very much. They are a very gracious and hardworking people,” she told the NC Catholic, newspaper of the Raleigh Diocese.

Slater, a parishioner at the Newman Center at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, said she had talked to several of her patients, and found that many of them were offended by the coming demonstration.

“They said, ‘We were invited here to work. The jobs we’re working, nobody who lives in this country wants to do — cutting the wings off chickens in freezing plants, working in the fields.

We’ve been invited, and we’re bringing commerce into these areas.”’

Nolo Martinez, director of

CNS photo by John Strange, NC Catholic

Father Dan Quackenbush prays with altar servers before the start of Mass at St. Julia Church in Siler City, N.C., Feb. 18, the night before former Klan leader David Duke led an anti-immigration rally in the city. Parishioners prayed for unity and peace in their community, in which the Hispanic population has risen with a recent influx of immigrant workers.

Hispanic/Latino Affairs for Gov. Jim Hunt’s office and a Catholic, attended the Mass, and said afterward that the strong protests expected at Saturday’s rally were rare.

“I have been in North Carolina for 14 years, and I have not ever experienced this kind of manifestation against Hispanic immigrants,” he said.

“In my experience I hear more opinions and comments about the wonderful things that Hispanics bring to our state.”

Martinez said the Siler City demonstrations may prove to be a catalyst for ethnic groups, churches and activists to begin to work together to better welcome Spanish-speaking peoples.

“It would be beautiful if we have

Supporters of David Duke, former grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, gather for an anti-immigration rally in Siler City, N.C., Feb. 19. The local Catholic church responded with prayers for unity and peace in the community the night before.

3833.

11 CHARLOTTE — The Fourth Annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade is taking place today in uptown Charlotte, beginning at 12 noon at Stonewall and Tryon Streets and finishing at Fifth and Tryon Streets. The parade is organized by Dyer-Hart Productions, the Ancient Order of Hibernians and the Knights of Columbus. Local church groups, businesses and schools are welcome to participate, and volunteers are also needed for the parade and the Irish Festival afterward. Contact Jim Lawson at (704) 522-9728 for more information.

GREENSBORO — Single Again Catholics is hosting a St. Patrick’s Day party and artist’s reception at McKenzie’s Gallery tonight at 8 p.m.

The featured artist is Paul Gould from New York. Food and beverages are being provided. For directions and other information, call Patrick at (336) 379-7300.

12 CHARLOTTE — The Newly Married Couples’ Group of St. Gabriel

March 1 ASHEVILLE — The Basilica of St. Lawrence, 97 Haywood St., is offering a course on the doctors, scholars and fathers of the Church. The series of classes are being held in the St. Justin Building across the street from St. Lawrence. Tonight’s class focusing on St. Ignatius of Loyola takes place from 7:30-9 p.m. Upcoming classes include St. Theresa of Avila on March 7 and St. Eusebius of Caesarea on March 15.

Call the church faith formation office for further details at (828) 252-8816.

CHARLOTTE — There is a St. Gabriel Church support group is for those living with cancer and their family and friends.

Tonight’s meeting takes place after Wednesday night dinner on the third floor of the ministry center, located at 3016 Providence Rd. For more information, call Bob Poffenberger at (704) 553-7000 or Eileen Correll at (704) 362-5047, Ext. 217.

WINSTON-SALEM — There is a pre-Lenten Taize service taking place

this evening at 5:30 p.m. at Joseph’s House, 1903 South Main St. For further information, call (336) 722-0028.

Joseph’s House is a ministry of Our Lady of Mercy Church.

3 KERNERSVILLE — The Holy Cross Church Columbiettes are hosting their Spring Children’s Consignment Sale this weekend from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. today and a half-price sale from 8 a.m.-1 p.m. tomorrow. The items are being sold in the commons of the church, located at 616 South Cherry St. All are invited to sell gently-used infant to pre-teen clothing, shoes, car seats, cribs, swings, toys and other items, with 30 percent of the proceeds going to the group. To volunteer or for more information, call Melanie Feeney-Lewis at (336) 869-5151 or Evelyn Lawrence at (336) 788-4998.

5 CHARLOTTE — The St. Gabriel Church Respect Life Committee hosts a rosary prayer session this afternoon at 3 p.m. in front of Our Lady’s Grotto, located at 3016 Providence Rd. In case of rain, the session moves to the daily

the African-Americans and the Hispanics together on this,” he said. “In that respect, thank you to David Duke for bringing us together.”

St. Julia’s also heard from Bishop F. Joseph Gossman of Raleigh, whose letter to the Hispanic community in Siler City was read in English and Spanish at all weekend Masses.

“Society has not always welcomed you as our God welcomes strangers,” he wrote. “Be assured that the church stands with you on your journey and will work to respect your dignity as persons and your place in our society.”

After it was all over, Father Quackenbush said, “I think we’re all breathing a sigh of relief, and we’re hoping it’s not too premature.”

But St. Julia’s did not come through unscathed.

When Father Quackenbush opened

See ST. JULIA CHURCH, page 4 chapel. Call the church office at (704) 364-5431 for further details.

6 CLEMMONS — Holy Family Church, 4820 Kinnamon Rd., is holding a charismatic Mass tonight at 7:30 p.m. Call the church office at (336) 778-0600 for more details.

10 CHARLOTTE — St. Luke Church, 13700 Lawyers Rd., is hosting an evening of traditional music of Ireland and Scotland, performed

by The Poor Clares, regular musicians at O’Flaherty’s Irish Pub in New Orleans, tonight at 8 p.m. For details on advanced tickets or tickets by mail, call the church office at (704) 454-1224 or check their website at: www.stlukechurch.net.

MAGGIE VALLEY — Rev. Barbara Nelson is leading a retreat focusing on the losses we experience in life and healthy ways of grieving through them. Living Waters Catholic Reflection Center is the location for the weekend retreat at 103 Living Waters Lane. For reservations and other information, call (828) 926-

4 The Catholic News & Herald

Around the

February 25, 2000

St. Julia Church, from page 3

“We survived,” Father Quackenbush told the NC Catholic. “But I can’t say that I feel totally comfortable now.

“I think this is the first time I’ve ever been able to identify with the Beatitude, ‘Blessed are you who are persecuted.”’ t John Strange is editor of the NC Catholic in Raleigh.

Photo by Ellen Neerincx Sigmon

Middle school students and facilitators engage in one of the many activities included in the HIP weekend. In this photo, Peter May is on the far left and John Robichaux is on the far right.

Middle School, from page 1 themselves into groups led the participants to discuss how people classify themselves and others as members of various groups in society. From there, the participants discussed the positive and negative aspects of groups. This led into a discussion about prejudice.

Peter May, HIP coordinator for the southeastern regional office of the American Friends Service Committee, came from Atlanta to help with the weekend retreat. He, along with Kotlowski and John Robichaux, youth ministry event coordinator for the diocese, worked with the group, which was the first in the diocese to participate in the program. “I’m really pleased,” said Kotlowski. “This is my first HIP experience. I was really eager to introduce this to the diocese, in light of what’s been happening recently in the middle schools and high schools.”

Kotlowski said that the pilot program in this diocese was for youth in middle school, but that the plan was to offer the program to high school students as well, while also training some youth and adults to be facilitators. He said that he did not plan to alter the program, but wanted to add

Catholic and Christian components to it. Robichaux, from St. Pius X Catholic Church in Greensboro, went to Atlanta in July 1999 to be trained as a facilitator. He said he was planning his first high school HIP weekend for the fall, and that he hoped eventually to open the program to college campus ministries.

May, who is working to expand the program in the southeastern United States, talked about this group of middle school students. “I was really impressed with them,” he said.

“They were an incredibly sophisticated group. They grasped the concepts immediately. It was almost like working with adults.”

Shannon Hollars said that the program made her feel that way. “I liked that the facilitators treated you as an equal,” she said.

“It was more than just sitting around,” added Rachel Weiner, a youth from St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church in Charlotte. “We interacted and got to know everyone.”

“I got to know a whole bunch of different people,” said Zachary Carter, a youth from St. Barnabas Catholic

the church Feb. 19, he saw that a lighted bilingual sign in front of the church had been vandalized, and that two tires on a van recently donated by a family had been slashed.

Maj. Al Craven of the Siler City Police Department said the letters on the English side of the sign were arranged to read, “White Power.”

Also left behind was a poster-size sign which told immigrants to leave and declared “This is our land.”

According to Craven, the vandalism was being investigation. If arrests were made, he said, it would be likely that suspects would be charged with a felony under hate crime laws.

“I think this is the first time I’ve ever been able to identify with the Beatitude, ‘Blessed are you who are persecuted.”

— Father Dan Quackenbush of St. Julia Church, Siler City, N.C.

Photo by Ellen Neerincx Sigmon

Diocesan middle schoolers pause for this photo Feb. 20. Peter May, far right, and John Robichaux, center back, along with diocesan director of youth ministry, Paul Kotlowski, second from left, facilitated the weekend program.

Church in Asheville. “I got to learn new techniques to stop violence and keep peace.”

Kristan Cardinali, a youth from Holy Family Catholic Church in Winston-Salem, also talked about the non-violent strategies she had learned during the program. “This made me realize that I could use my mind to ac-

complish almost anything,” she said.

t

Youth Ministry is one the 35 ministries and programs that receive funding from the annual Diocesan Support Appeal.

February 25, 2000

Around the Di-

The Catholic News & Herald 5

Busy Mocksville parish overflowing with

By Alesha M. Price Staff Writer MOCKSVILLE — It can be called the little parish that could. The church began as a vision and a dream for three families in the Mocksville area in 1955, and 45 years later, St. Francis of Assisi Church is a visible and thriving presence in the area.

Now and Then From celebrating Mass in the homes of the original three families to the present building, Mary and Eugene Pope have been there from the beginning. The family had been attending Mass in Winston-Salem when they decided they wanted their own parish.

“We were very close-knit then, and we still are,” said Mrs. Pope. “I am surprised about the growth. When people started coming from up north, the congregation just started getting bigger.”

When there were 11 families, the liturgy began to be celebrated in the local National Guard Armory, moved to a small house that was purchased, and then, the present structure was built where the house once stood.

“We keep things very personal, and we are interested in what one another is doing. We try to involve everyone in the parish activities,” continued Mrs. Pope.

The parish has seen many administrators and priests come and go over the years, including Mercy Sister Bernadette McNamara, Mercy Sister M. Anita Sheerin and Mercy Sister Mary Carmelita Hagan.

“I enjoyed working in that community because there is a great spirit among the people,” said Sister Bernadette, now the administrator at St. Joseph of the Hills Church in Eden.

“They had to bond together to keep the church going.”

November 1998 brought cooler weather and the arrival of a pastor.

Third Order Regular of St. Francis Father Andrew Draper, who had been the chaplain of Maryfield Nursing Home in High Point, where his parents are in residence, was sent to the parish.

“We want to build a new church because our parish is expanding. I can’t believe how many new people have come in the past three months. We grew up together and everyone knows everyone else. The youth are the reason why we need a new church because they are important; they are the ones who will be here after we are gone.”

— Vince Mannino, parish fundraising chairperson “When I arrived, there were about 98 families, now, there are about 120 families,” said Father Draper. Along with the installation of the first pastor, Father Draper attributes the growth to additional Masses, a Saturday vigil and daily Masses, and the steady growth in the Mocksville and surrounding areas.

“What amazes me is how the parishioners can rearrange the building from a church to a hall to something else by simply moving the folding chairs,” joked Father Draper.

As more families poured into the parish, there came a time when some of the male parishioners agreed that in order to better serve the needs of the community, St. Francis needed a Knights of Columbus council of its own. The fact that Father Draper is a fourth-degree knight himself may have a little something to do with the newest council in the diocese.

Good Knight Through the efforts of Grand Knight Roger Hunckler, Past Grand Knight Jim Gildean, District Deputy Knight Matt Reilly and State Deputy Knight Bob Singer, the St. Francis of Assisi Knights of Columbus Council #12610 has the distinct honor of a Jan. 1, 2000, inception date. They are the first new council of the millennium in the United States.

“After Masses, Father Draper would encourage the men to sign up, and we were able to get the 30 men we needed for the council,” explained Gildean. “Anytime you start something new, that is already great, but being able to

tie it in with the millennium was really special and important.”

Some of the projects that the council has been involved in include repairing and replacing the front steps of the church, replacing the front doors of the church and doing electrical work in the kitchen and back areas of the building. Their meetings are held on the property of a fellow knight who owns a nearby hall.

Gildean is not only involved with the Knights of Columbus but has also been the Shamrock Run director for the last two years. The Shamrock Run has become an event that the parishioners and the community have looked forward to for the past 12 years.

The Luck o’ the Irish In 1988, while Sister Bernadette was the administrator, she, Vince Mannino, and his daughter, Anna-Jo Mannino, came up with the idea for a fund-raiser for the building fund.

“I felt it would be a great community builder and that people in the parish could work and do things together,” said Sister Bernadette. “Of course, the idea was that it would generate funds, but that wasn’t the original purpose. It was a way for the other area churches and surrounding community to become involved with the congregation.”

So, named after a symbol of her Irish heritage, the Shamrock Run was born. For the first year, there were 33 participants in the 5K walk and run and the 10K run. Last year, the number jumped to 182 runners and walkers.

This year, on March 11, with cooperation from the local Chamber of Commerce, the route will now pass through downtown Mocksville.

When Sister Carmelita asked Gildean to take over as race director, he had no idea how much he would have to do. He and the committee are in charge of advertising, and this year, there is a website running on the Internet. They worked with the local chamber to create a new course that would challenge the participants.

“This is the largest fund-raiser for the church, and there is a lot of parish and community involvement. There has been so much positive growth, and there is a positive spirit and friendship among the parishioners,” said Gildean.

Vince Mannino has volunteered his cooking talents in past years and managed to get many items donated and has generated support from local businesses through his work as the parish fund-raising committee chairperson.

“This event brings a community atmosphere to the town; it is the biggest event we have in Mocksville,” said Mannino.

“We want to build a new church because our parish is expanding. I can’t believe how many new people have come in the past three months,” added Mannino. “We grew up together and everyone knows everyone else.

The youth are the reason why we need a new church because they are important; they are the ones who will be here after we are gone.” t Contact race director Jim Gildein for registration forms, (336) 998-9242 or St. Francis Church, (336) 751-2973. Register on-line at www.racegate.com Contact Staff Writer Alesha M. Price by calling (704) 370-3354 or e-mail amprice@charlottediocese.org.

6 The Catholic News & Herald Bring Christ to the world, pope tells permanent deacons VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Permanent deacons must not let anything stop them from bringing Christ to the world, Pope John Paul II told deacons celebrating their jubilee at the Vatican.

“Do not let difficulties and opposition trouble your hearts but, on the contrary, grow in your trust in Jesus who redeemed men and women through the martyrdom of the cross,” the pope said. More than 2,000 people — deacons, their wives and family members — attended the Feb. 19 papal audience during the Jubilee for Permanent Deacons at the Vatican. Later the deacons, many holding hands with their wives, processed from the center of St. Peter’s Square, through the Holy Door and into St. Peter’s Basilica to renew the promises they made at ordination.

CEO of Best Buy gives $50 million to a Catholic university ST. PAUL, Minn. (CNS) — A high school graduate who never attended college has endorsed higher education — and the University of St. Thomas — in a big way. Richard Schulze, founder, chairman and CEO of Best Buy Co. Inc., and his wife, Sandra, have presented the university, with campuses in St. Paul and Minneapolis, with an unrestricted gift of $50 million. This is the largest gift in the school’s 115-year history, and the largest donation ever reported by a college or university in Minnesota. Schulze, who is on the university’s board and received an honorary doctor of laws degree in 1998, said his family, which includes four daughters and one son, has been blessed and that it is important to give back to the community in a meaningful way.

People in the Priest beaten with cross, stabbed in his Buffalo church BUFFALO, N.Y. (CNS) — A parish priest in the Buffalo Diocese was beaten with a cross and stabbed with a holy water sprinkler Feb. 14 by a man who told police he wanted to kill the clergyman. Father Arthur J. Mattulke, 30, was attacked at about 6:30 a.m. on Valentine’s Day at St. Margaret’s Church. He was hospitalized overnight with a puncture wound to the back, and contusions and abrasions to the head. He was released Feb. 15. The priest was assaulted not long after the front doors of the church were opened for morning Mass, according to police.

Archbishop Tutu gets honorary degree from Seattle University SEATTLE (CNS) — Though commencement is still months away, thousands of people flocked to Seattle University Feb. 13 to watch a special “graduate” receive his diploma. Retired Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate from South Africa, accepted an honorary degree from the Jesuit-run university for his role in dismantling apartheid and helping to heal its ugly wounds. “This is an important day in the history of Seattle University,” said Susan Secker, acting provost, calling the archbishop’s life “a model of justice for our students.”

Archbishop Alex J. Brunett of Seattle praised Archbishop Tutu for “the powerful message of justice and peace that you proclaim and witness in your own personal life.”

Texas bishops ask governor to suspend executions AUSTIN, Texas (CNS) — The Texas Catholic bishops have asked Gov. George W. Bush to suspend executions pending a thorough review of the state’s

February 25, 2000

CNS photo by Declan Walsh

Catholic gathering in Sudan People gather for an outdoor Catholic service at Mankein in Western Upper Nile province of southern Sudan. Continued government attacks on southern Sudanese people over access to oil have prompted international economic sanctions. system for carrying out capital punishment. In a Feb. 16 letter, Holy Cross Brother Richard Daly, executive director of the Texas Catholic Conference, asked on behalf of the state’s bishops that Bush suspend all future executions on a caseby-case basis. Under the Texas Constitution, the governor does not have the authority to issue a blanket order stopping executions, even temporarily. But it would be legal for the governor and the Board of Pardons and Paroles to suspend executions individually as they come up while a study is conducted.

Dallas high school soccer teammates make major league DALLAS (CNS) — It was a dream

come true Feb. 5 when Major League Soccer teams drafted two young men who were soccer standouts together while students at a Dallas Catholic high school. Nick Garcia and Dominic Schell, who played together at Bishop Lynch High School in the mid-1990s, were drafted by the Kansas City Wizards and the Columbus Crew, respectively. Both players won the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools state title in 1995. Garcia led the Lynch Friars to the state title again in 1996.

February 25, 2000

Teacher In-service

The Catholic News & Herald 7

From the

Gay and lesbian ministry and the school

By Alesha M. Price Staff Writer CHARLOTTE — “Are we opening wide the doors to Christ to anyone and everyone?” This was a question posed to the group of sixth- through twelfth-grade religion teachers by Jesuit Father Gene McCreesh, administrator of St. Peter Church in Charlotte. This session, held at Charlotte Catholic High School on Feb. 16, was the second of two days of in-service, entitled “The Catechism of the Catholic Church,” for diocesan teachers. The day before, teachers met at Bishop McGuinness High School for the same presentation.

“The Holy Spirit is in everyone — the inclusiveness of all as brothers and sisters of God,” said Father McCreesh.

“This is the great joy of our church; no one should be left out.”

He is a member of the 12-person Diocesan Commission for Ministry to the Gay-Lesbian Community and Their Families, a board that advises and supports the bishop on how to best reach out to gays and lesbians in the diocese, said Father McCreesh.

The topic involved reiterating the words found in the “Catechism of the Catholic Church,” on which the religion textbooks used in the diocese, including “Morality: A Course on Catholic Living,” are based.

“This session concerns what the church’s teachings are about homosexuality,” explained Mercy Sister Maureen Meehan, director of religious formation for schools and coordinator of the two days of teacher in-services.

“With the diversity of views of teach-

ers in the Catholic Church, we are asked to teach from the “Catechism of the Catholic Church.”

Father McCreesh gave handouts to the teachers from part three “Life in Christ” and chapter two “You Shall Love Your Neighbor as Yourself ” from the catechism.

The talk was based on the section about “chastity and homosexuality,” subsections 2357 through 2359. The passages read: “The number of men and women who have deep-seated homosexual tendencies is not negligible.

They do not choose their homosexual condition; for most of them, it is a trial.

They must be treated with respect, compassion, and sensitivity ... homosexual persons are called to chastity.”

“We cannot tell homosexuals that they do not belong to the church and are excluded and hated by God,” said Father McCreesh. He added that the church needs to ask itself if it is opening up the doors to Christ because everyone should be included.

He told the teachers that they need to be more aware of their students’ thoughts and feelings and not to focus on their own ideas, regarding gays and lesbians.

“We cannot let another generation of gay and lesbian youth grow up hating the Catholic church. This is a matter of justice, not of your fear, anxiety or feelings,” stressed Father McCreesh. “These youth are important because they are vulnerable to suicide and self-hatred. We are not encouraging a gay lifestyle; we are trying to make clear the fundamental teachings of the Catholic church.”

Photo by Alesha M. Price

Jackie Ferry, Charlotte Catholic High School religion department chairperson and freshman and sophomore teacher, introduces Jesuit Father Gene McCreesh, the speaker at the religion teacher in-service on Feb. 16 at Charlotte Catholic High School.

He talked about how some teachers, uncomfortable with the topic, may be as reluctant to address the issue in their classrooms. The children are also as reluctant and scared to share their feelings, so someone should take the first step, he said.

“One of the things you have to try to get over is your fear of association with people who might be different,” said Msgr. Richard Allen, pastor of St. Ann Church in Charlotte and a member of the diocesan commission, in attendance at the teacher in-service.

“You may be able to accept what Father McCreesh has said and may agree, but [you may wonder] what are people going to say about me if I try to help gay and lesbian people.”

“If this conversation begins and ends in this room, then it has not achieved its true purpose. I hope that you are not afraid to talk about this — make this your homework,” continued Msgr. Allen.

Gerie Schohn, a sixth- and eighthgrade religion teacher and a sixththrough eighth-grade science teacher from St. Michael School in Gastonia, said that after attending the session, she will bring up the topic in her class.

“I knew what the Catholic teaching was already, and this is a topic that we don’t need to ignore. This is a message that, as educators, we can spread, that we are all filled with the Holy Spirit and made in God’s image,” said Schohn.

Father McCreesh informed the teachers that statistically, according to the numbers of gays and lesbians in the population, that there are, more than likely, gay and lesbian students in their classes.

“You are the bearers of the church’s teachings, and change can begin with you,” said Father McCreesh.

“Kids are looking for one person they can talk to. Let them know that God loves them.”

“The teacher of religion within the Catholic school must be in touch and in tune with the teaching of the Church. In the fulfillment of his or her role, the religion teacher participates in the ministry of the Word,” said Father James Hawker, vicar for education. “We are blessed in having so many dedicated religion teachers in our schools. It is imperative that their commitment be complimented by their competency in speaking as the Church speaks.” t Contact Staff Writer Alesha M. Price by calling (704) 370-3354 or e-mail amprice@charlottediocese.org.

8 The Catholic News & Herald

February 25, 2000

Faith

She’s Presbyterian, He’s Catholic:

Can They Pray

In a Nutshell •••

The Jubilee of the Year 2000 has an ecumenical character, Pope John Paul II said.

By Mary Jo Pedersen Catholic News Service

F

or several years after their marriage, Jim and Diana alter nated between her Presbyterian community and his Catholic parish every other weekend. But since the birth of their two daughters, they attend Mass regularly at the Catholic parish and also attend the Presbyterian church on Easter, Christmas, Mother’s Day and several other holidays.

They, like thousands of other interchurch married couples, developed a system that “works for them.” What church leaders now are discovering is that such couples often seek and welcome greater church support in addressing their situations and bringing faith into their lives together.

At home, Jim and Diana pray together as a family and observe Christian traditions that their churches have in common, such as the Advent wreath.

Each parent talks about God with the children and respects the differences in the spouse’s worship services and traditions.

A recent national study from the Creighton Center for Marriage and Family at the Jesuit Creighton University in Omaha, Neb., found that about one-third of couples of all Christian denominations in the United States, married within the last 20 years, began their marriages as interchurch couples.

In Catholic dioceses the percentage of all marriages in which one partner is Catholic and the other is not varies greatly. In some U.S. dioceses, it is as low as 20 percent, in others as high as 90 percent.

Such marriages present both special responsibilities and unique opportunities for the families involved and for pastoral ministers in the church.

The Creighton Center’s research on interchurch marriage indicates that marriages between Catholics and nonCatholics have a higher divorce rate if they enter their marriages with lower rates of religiosity (religious practice and beliefs). Often these couples also feel that the church was not serving them as well as those in shared-faith marriages.

The research indicates that these couples have problems and strengths that differ from those experienced by couples in which the husband and wife belong to the same church.

There are highly diverse groups within this population of interchurch couples, and their needs must be addressed in different ways, the research

••• The pope expressed hope that “the different churches and ecclesial communities” would bring to the jubilee “everything that already unites” them and that the jubilee would become “a journey of reconciliation.”

••• Promoting Christian unity “is the privilege and responsibility of all Catholics,” Kentucky’s Catholic bishops said in 1999.

CNS photo by Mimi Forsyth

“Interchurch couples ... don’t have to believe the same things to have long-lasting marriages,” writes Mary Jo Pedersen. “But they do need to minimize conflict and share joint activities such as Bible study or religious education; ... working on church projects; participating in church-sponsored activities; praying together.” indicates. It shows that they don’t have to believe the same things to have long-lasting marriages. But they do need to minimize conflict and share joint activities such as Bible study or religious education; serving or working on church projects; participating in church-sponsored activities; praying together; discussing religious matters together.

Interchurch couples who both take their church seriously may have more conflicts over children than same-church couples do. But interchurch couples also may fare better in such matters than couples where one or both spouses are lukewarm about their faith.

Kentucky’s bishops recently pointed in a pastoral letter to some factors that can contribute to healthy interchurch marriages: —Mutual respect for one another’s religious convictions, an interest in and continued learning about the other’s community, positive support for the other’s religious practice and a willingness to make sacrifices for each other.

—Efforts to keep growing in knowledge of one’s own faith and to take part in as many religious activities together as possible.

The church is responding to the growth in the number of interchurch marriages with some creative adjust-

ments to marriage preparation and marriage support.

In the Archdiocese of Omaha, Neb., special panels made up of interchurch couples are part of marriage preparation for these couples, as are resources aimed at helping couples negotiate their differences. There is also an ongoing support group for interchurch couples that has been meeting for more than 10 years to discuss practical issues such as church attendance, baptism of children, home devotions and dealing with inlaws’ traditions.

Couples such as Jim and Diana are trying to assure that faith will be a source of strength in their marriages.

Just as they do, countless other couples need support in making religion a part of their lives.

In the current Jubilee of the Year 2000, an emphasis is being placed on the important work of creating unity among Christians around the world.

While church leaders and theologians continue their efforts at ecumenical dialogue, and adjustments are made in marriage preparation, couples in ordinary conversations and actions are contributing to an increased desire for the reality of Christian unity.

Pedersen is coordinator of the Leadership in Family Life Training Program for the Archdiocese of Omaha, Neb.

Lend Us Your Voice

When you think of the heart of the church — its central points of focus, so to speak — what first comes to mind for you?

If you would like to respond for possible publication, please write: Faith Alive! 3211 Fourth St. N.E., Washington, D.C. 20017-1100.

Faith in the Marketplace What do Catholic parishes

and other Christian churches do together in your community?

••• “We have a Palm Sunday service with a nearby Lutheran church every year.

We meet halfway between the two churches. We share prayers and sing songs. Then we process to our respective churches for services.”

— Helen Hinson, Charlotte, N.C. ••• “The primary thing we do is to help the needy of the community with food, lodging and the like. There is a communal soup kitchen worked by the various churches, and we also work together through the Salvation Army.”

— Father John Koelsch, Boise, Idaho ••• “We have an AMOS — a metropolitan organizing strategy — group. It’s a coordinated effort to bring about changes in the community through political activism. We have combined liturgy services several times a year.

There is also the Church United Shelter, which aids the homeless.”

— Kathy Shafer, Des Moines, Iowa ••• “We have a biannual interfaith — primarily Jewish, Muslim and Christian — celebration of the arts. One of its elements is a six-week-long, juried exhibit of liturgical and sacred art....

We are not trying to solve theological issues. We are celebrating the creative spirit which unites us all.”

— Father Thom Dennis, Springfield, Ill.

February 25, 2000

By Father John W. Crossin, OSFS Catholic News Service How might couples grow spiritually in interchurch marriages? In some ways the answer is that their spiritual growth is similar to that of same-church couples: — Pray for the Holy Spirit’s help and guidance.

— Attend church each week.

— Set aside time for daily prayer, and — Perform works of charity together in the community.

Such spiritual practices are important for all couples. We root our Christian life in daily life’s virtues such as patience, civility, honesty, wisdom and justice.

Yet each person is unique, each specially called by God. Each has a specific life history. Thus a couple’s everyday spirituality can be lived out in many different ways.

Interchurch couples have unique opportunities to grow together spiritually. They have unique talents and possibilities. They encounter unique challenges too.

Communication for couples — as for all good friends — is always important. Interfaith couples often

The Catholic News & Herald 9

Faith

Ecumenical Spirituality: Accent on have much to learn about each other’s Christian faith tradition.

Learning not only includes the doctrine of the church. It also includes the personal practices which make that faith come alive in worship, in family life and in the community. All the understandings and emotions — positive and negative — attached to these particulars of Christian living need to be explored.

We live out of our hearts and our heads. Thoughts and feelings often manifest themselves as Christmas, Easter or other special days come around. These days present couples with opportunities for dialogue, discussion and prayer.

Unfortunately, such special occasions can also be opportunities to ignore differences. Spouses or engaged couples may not want to risk upsetting each other. They sometimes submerge their differences by ignoring them.

This avoidance only creates a greater long-term risk for the couple’s unity.

Differences need to be worked on — often many times — rather than ignored.

Reducing religious practices creates later problems. The recent study of interchurch marriages by the Center for Marriage and Family at Creighton University in Omaha, Neb., indicates that these couples are at greater risk for divorce than same-church couples.

The study indicates that participation in joint religious activities can help couples grow together. Today there are many opportunities — such as ecumenical Bible studies or socialaction groups — for couples to live their Christian faiths together.

The study indicates that better marriage preparation can benefit interfaith couples. Good marriage preparation begins the process of learning from one another and building a common spiritual life.

Skilled clergy and lay leaders can help couples address questions arising from their varied religious upbringing

and education.

Recently, the institutions of the Washington Theological Consortium, an ecumenical group of Catholic and Protestant schools and associates, decided to offer an afternoon of practical, pastoral reflections on the Creighton study. The response so far from local clergy and laity has been positive and enthusiastic — almost overwhelming.

This indicates to me that there is a deep desire on the part of Christian clergy and laity of all denominational backgrounds to help couples grow spiritually — to share “how” we might aid couples in their preparation and in their faith-filled living.

Communion among the Christian churches will not grow by pretending differences don’t exist. It will grow by taking them seriously and exploring them forthrightly.

As interchurch marriage becomes more and more the norm, I believe that these couples can grow together spiritually. And they can bring their experiences to the ongoing search for Christian unity.

Oblate Father Crossin, executive director of the Washington Theological Consortium, wrote “Friendship: The Key to Spiritual Growth,” Paulist Press. His e-mail address is crossinwtc@aol.com.

Family traditions open doors to healing tunities to deal with personal matters.

Spouses, for example, can discover at holiday times that their different religious backgrounds mean more to them than they had thought. And family memories, both positive and negative, can surface.

There are really three points that I’m offering here for reflection: —Counseling couples with different religious backgrounds can highlight rich traditions that accent family life’s value.

—Examining these backgrounds in a respectful way can help us to deal symbolically with other personal issues.

—And in respecting different religious traditions we also bring broader cultural support for a solid family and marriage.

Father O’Rourke, a Dominican, is a free-lance writer in Oakland, Calif.

Food for Thought

Marriages in which one spouse is a Catholic and the other a member of another Christian community or a non-Christian tradition “are often referred to as ‘mixed,’ ‘ecumenical’ or ‘religiously diverse’ marriages,” Kentucky’s four Catholic bishops said in a 1999 pastoral letter.

“At a minimum,” the bishops said, “spouses in religiously diverse marriages should:

Dominican Father David K. O’Rourke counsels couples, many of whom have interchurch marriages. “As we talk about planning their own family celebrations, we also indirectly are giving new shape to personal matters that have proven difficult,” he says.

By Father David K. O’Rourke, OP Catholic News Service

F

or 35 years I have coun seled married couples seek ing ways to make their marriages work. The couples come, convinced that there just has to be a better way.

And they’re right. There are better ways. Getting there, however, often means recognizing that couples can benefit from cultural and religious supports to their relationship.

Our beliefs about the value of marriage and family life are examples of what I mean.

Today, of course, many couples come from mixed religious backgrounds. In my counseling I talk about

1. Respect the person and religious convictions of the other.

2. Be knowledgeable of the other’s faith expression and be able to interpret it well.

3. Continually attempt to learn more about the faith expression of the partner.

4. Be willing to make sacrifices for the other.

5. Positively support the other in the practice of his/her religion.

the strengths in each of these backgrounds and work with the couples to draw on the strengths of each tradition.

The key word here is “tradition” — that concrete sense of who my people are and what my people do.

This is actually easy to do. For whatever our combination of religious backgrounds (Catholic, Protestant, Jewish), each tradition really values the efforts married people put into creating happy marriages and strong families.

Every year, for example, our families have wonderful religious holidays

6. Feel obligated to do everything together in the practice of religion, except when the policies and practices of their individual churches prevent this.

7. Continually attempt to grow in knowledge of their own faith tradition and be able to interpret it well.”

David Gibson, Editor, Faith Alive!

CNS photo by Bill & Peggy Wittman

that we celebrate in our own homes.

From decorating the Christmas tree to preparing the table for the Jewish seder, we have opportunities for everyone to come together in celebrations where we comfortably can invite relatives and friends across religious lines.

In the process we can resolve important personal issues.

Many people find dealing head-on with the troubling issues in their marriage to be very difficult. If counseling means talking openly about tough personal issues, then they’d rather skip counseling. But many issues can be addressed indirectly just as well.

Our families’ religious traditions and their holiday preparations can provide us with indirect and safe oppor-

1 0 The Catholic News & Herald Books

Art produced on early Jesuit missions reflects cultural

By Nancy Hartnagel Catholic News Service WASHINGTON (CNS) — During an earlier era of globalization called the Age of Exploration, Jesuit missionaries worldwide contributed significantly to art and science and knowledge in general.

But, according to art professor Gauvin A. Bailey, tolerance is the lesson to be learned from the four Jesuit missions featured in his new book, “Art on the Jesuit Missions in Asia and Latin America, 1542-1773.”

Published by the University of Toronto Press, the work examines the blend of European and indigenous art and architecture produced on missions in Japan, China, Mughal India and the Paraguay “reductions,” 30 large mission towns where nomadic Guarani peoples were settled.

Over those two centuries, the number of conversions in Japan, China and Paraguay reached about 300,000 each, while the Jesuits “had virtually no luck converting Muslims” in India, said Bailey, assistant professor of Renaissance and Baroque art at Clark University in Worcester, Mass.

But, he told Catholic News Service in a phone interview, these missions enjoyed “flourishing artistic exchanges,” and the surviving art is “a really important document” of cultural tolerance.

“The fact that the Jesuits had success culturally, but in almost all these missions really blew it in terms of pastoral activities, was because they were willing to accept and adopt culture much more than they were what I call cult or religion,” said Bailey.

Though some Jesuits shared the prevailing European view that everything non-European was inferior, he said, “on the whole, they were a lot more tolerant of non-Christian, non-European societies in an attempt to communicate with them.”

Art was produced for practical reasons, he said. It was used to convert, educate and facilitate sacramental and ritual life. But its main use was “to cross the language barrier as an international way of communicating,” said Bailey.

Few people realize that Francis Xavier, founder of the Japan mission, never learned Japanese, he said. “He relied on converts, Japanese who would help him translate, but he also very much relied on images to teach.”

February 25, 2000

Read-

Word to Life February 27, Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B Readings: 1) Hosea 2:16b, 17b, 21-22 Psalm 103:1-4, 8, 10, 12-13 2) 2 Corinthians 3:1b-6 3) Gospel: Mark 2:18-22

CNS photo

A 15th-century scroll titled “Madonna of the Snows” from the Nagasaki Martyrs Museum in Nagasaki, Japan, illustrates the cover of a new book exploring artwork of Jesuit missions.

The art also was produced in a sequence, he said. First came images, most commonly of the Virgin Mary, especially the famous St. Luke Madonna in the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome, and of Christ as “Salvator Mundi” or savior of the world.

Next came the church building, then sculpture. These missions fell “within the region of the Spanish and Portuguese empires or just beyond them,” he said, and both traditions favored altarpieces and statues in their churches. Sculpture also was needed “for processions, for parades, for the kind of spectacle that goes on at the mission.”

Said Bailey: “The vast majority of people who did the artwork and built the buildings on the missions were indigenous people, mostly converts.”

Some 20 to 40 indigenous people

See JESUITS, page 15

By Jean Denton Catholic News Service Our 11-year-old was intrigued but not dismayed by the lifestyle of the impoverished family she met in the far south of Mexico. The young couple had six children under the age of 7. They lived in two rudely built tentlike houses with dirt floors and empty flour sacks for beds. This home was in a rural neighborhood on the outskirts of a large city. They wore simple, spare clothing — in fact, the baby and toddler wore none.

After we returned from a morning visit with the family, someone asked our daughter if their situation made her sad.

“No,” she answered. “They weren’t sad, why should I feel sad?”

In today’s Gospel, Jesus is asked why his disciples weren’t fasting like all the holy people. He replied, in effect, what’s to fast for? I’m here: There’s life; there’s love; there’s hope.

Such was the case with the poor Mexican family. They obviously loved and cared for each other, even though they didn’t have much.

A missionary group had provided them with a means to begin improving their life: money for materials that they used to make toys

that they sold in the city plaza. The enterprise was growing slowly, with the older children sharing in the work.

Their missionary mentors also encouraged them to go to school, and so there was hope — more than there would have been if they had been given a one-time donation of food and clothing.

The hope of maintaining a better life was the “new wineskin” given them with the provision of “new wine.”

Jesus’ Gospel message here is a jubilee message of new life in systemic change. When a teen-age girl with an unwanted pregnancy chooses life for her baby, that’s new wine. But if no one is willing to actively support and nurture her and her child, they’re in an old wineskin.

If we, as a nation, provide foreign aid to a developing country where it gets swallowed up by a voracious and insurmountable debt, it may be a briefly refreshing new wine, but quickly tainted in a hopeless old wineskin.

This week’s message reminds us, who live in a privileged society, that we should open our eyes to identify God’s real presence in the world, but we also must be awakened to the condition of the wineskin.

Questions: In the jubilee year, what is a systemic change you can work for to bring real hope to currently hopeless conditions? What active part will you take?

Weekly Scripture Readings for the week of Feb. 27 - Mar. 4, 2000 Sunday (Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time), Hosea 2:16-17, 21-22, 2 Corinthians 3:1-6, Mark 2:18-22; Monday, 1 Peter 1:3-9, Mark 10:17-27; Tuesday, 1 Peter 1:10-16, Mark 10:28-31; Wednesday, 1 Peter 1:18-25, Mark 10:32-45; Thursday, 1 Peter 2:2-5, 9-12, Mark 10:46-52; Friday (Blessed Katherine Drexel), 1 Peter 4:7-13, Mark 11:11-26; Saturday (St. Casimir), Jude 17:20-25, Mark 11:27-33

February 25, 2000

Entertain-

The Catholic News & Herald 11

Catholic cartoonist pays tribute to ‘Peanuts’ creator

By Christie L. Chicoine Catholic News Service PHILADELPHIA (CNS) — The late “Peanuts” cartoonist Charles Schulz “really was Charlie Brown,” said Philadelphia native and “Family Circus” creator Bil Keane, 77.

“He worried a lot. If something wasn’t going to work out right, he figured it wasn’t going to work out for him,” Keane said in a telephone interview Feb. 14 with The Catholic Standard & Times, newspaper of the Philadelphia Archdiocese.

“Right to the end, just as Lucy pulled the football and Charlie Brown never got to kick it, Schulz never got to see the final cartoon in the Sunday morning paper,” he added. “He left us

known cartoonist in the world today and possibly is the best cartoonist of the past century.”

Schulz “will always be remembered for his work, and for those who knew him he’ll be remembered as a genuinely nice, personal friend,” he added.

Both cartoonists were born in 1922, Keane on Oct. 5 and Schulz on Nov. 26. Keane said his last conversation with Schulz was in the summer of 1999, before Schulz was diagnosed with colon cancer.

He remembers their first conversation at a cartoonists’ meeting in New York in 1960.

“He was a very warm and friendly person, not at all the caricature of a cartoonist,” he said. Some people picture such artists as “Right to the end, just as Lucy pulled the being wildly funny and more football and Charlie Brown never got to or less burlesque comedians.

“He never was an extrokick it, Schulz never got to see the final vert. I used to kid him, I’d say, cartoon in the Sunday morning paper.”

‘You’re the only guy I know — Bil Keane, “Family Circus” creator who can walk into an empty room and blend right in.’ He would laugh,” recalled Keane. the evening before. He was Charlie Schulz was a religious man and Brown to a T.” at one time studied theology, he said.

Keane, who spoke from his home “He injected that into his strip — not in Paradise Valley, Ariz., drew his own on a regular basis, but occasionally he “Family Circus” tribute to Schulz upon would run words from Scripture. He hearing the news of his death. never was as open in showing his charSchulz died Feb. 12, the night acters practicing religion the way I do before his last original strip — a fond in ‘Family Circus,’ but it had a spiritual farewell to his fans — was published feel to it.” in newspapers around the world. The He also “devoted a lot of time to cartoonist, who suffered from Parkinhelping young people who wanted to son’s disease and had several small get started in the cartoon business,” strokes last November, was told he had Keane said. colon cancer. He announced he would Schulz “is going to be missed terretire so he could spend more time ribly,” he continued. “Certainly he is with his family. an icon in the comic business, a real His death “is a sad thing for all the gentleman.” comic readers throughout the world, If Schulz’s death could have been as well as for the cartoonists’ commuscripted, “it couldn’t have been done nity who were personally associated any better,” said Keane. “A lot of peowith Sparky,” said Keane. “Sparky is ple figure it’s just coincidence, irony. I what we always called him. I’ve known figure it was Providence. I think it was him for about 40 years.

God’s hand, really.” t “I think he is probably the best-

CNS photo from New Line Cinema

“Boiler Room” Vin Diesel and Giovanni Ribisi star in a scene from “Boiler Room,” about a shady brokerage firm that promises to make its salesmen into millionaires.

The U.S. Catholic Conference classification is A-III — adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is R — restricted.

New CD puts Mother Teresa’s words, prayers to music RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. (CNS) — A California composer and singer has put out a collection of songs written to the late Mother Teresa’s words and prayers.

Bradley James, who has worked as a volunteer with Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity in Los Angeles, said his CD, “Gift of Love: Music to the Words and Prayers of Mother Teresa,” is the only such collection authorized by Mother Teresa herself.

James, who wrote the 13 songs over a 10-year period, said many of them are sung by the Missionaries of Charity in their homes and convents all over the world. He produced the CD through his own record label, called Only Little Things Music.

The record label takes its name from Mother Teresa’s words, “We are not called to do great things, only little things with great love.”

The CD contains Mother Teresa’s voice blended into some of the songs.

In addition to James, singers include two California choirs — the Children’s

Choir of Sacred Heart School in Palm Desert and the Voices of Mount Calvary Church in Indio, Calif.

In the liner notes, James dedicated the CD to Missionaries of Charity around the world. “These are your songs, and as Mother asked Christ that with each photo taken of her, he must release one soul from purgatory, I am asking him that every time one of these songs is sung or played, he hears it as a prayer for each of you.

Your singing has been God’s gift of love to me.” t The “Gift of Love” CD is available for $16 each, plus $3 shipping for 1-3 CDs and $6 shipping for 4-8 CDs. California residents also pay 7.75 percent sales tax.

Write to Only Little Things Music, 42450 Bob Hope Drive, Suite 245, Rancho Mirage, CA 92270. Sound clips are available on the Web at www.giftoflove.cc.

END -Timestamp02/21/2000 10:35 AM ET Copyright (c) 2000 Catholic News

1 2 The Catholic News & Herald

February 25, 2000

Editorials & Col-

The Pope Speaks

POPE JOHN PAUL II

Pope says Auschwitz concentration camp must be reminder

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The Nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz must be a permanent reminder of the horrors people are capable of committing, Pope John Paul II said.

Greeting city officials and pilgrims from Oswiecim, the Polish town where the camp is located, the pope said, “Auschwitz is a particular witness to the terrible war which caused millions of victims.”

The pope spoke to the group Feb. 16 during his weekly general audience. The Oswiecim officials traveled to the Vatican to make Pope John Paul an honorary citizen.

“Your city bears the signs of the suffering and martyrdom of many nations,” the pope said, referring to the 1.5 million Jews, Poles, Gypsies and other peoples killed by the Nazis at Auschwitz and neighboring Birkenau.

“The voice of Auschwitz, the cry of the tortured, must continually awaken the world so that such a tragedy will never happen again in human history,” Pope John Paul said.

“I thank you for all you do to keep the memory of this painful past alive,” he told the city officials and townspeople.

In December, Oswiecim Mayor Adam Bilski said his district council made the pope an honorary citizen to commemorate his visit there in 1979.

The pope, who directed the closure of a Carmelite convent at the Auschwitz camp in 1993, holds honorary citizenship of 25 other Polish cities and towns.

Pope meets with Hungarian president, jokes about keeping fit VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope John Paul II met with Hungarian President Arpad Goncz, and afterward the two leaders joked about how hard work was keeping them fit.

“We belong to the same generation,” the 79-year-old pope told Goncz, who is two years younger, after their private meeting Feb 21. He told the president he looked in good form.

“So much work keeps us well, the Holy Father, too,” Goncz replied.

“That’s right,” the pope added as he slowly walked the president to the door.

The Hungarian leader was in Rome to preside over a ceremony marking the millennium of the founding of Hungary and the arrival of Christianity in the country.

Later, he held talks with Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the Vatican secretary of state. Sources said that among the topics they discussed was the drawn-out process of negotiating the restitution of church property seized under communism.

were hurting and in need of Christ. He reminded us that justice precedes peace. He urged priests not remain aloof from their brothers and sister, but to walk beside them in their journey of faith, He recognized the great treasures of the Church in the sacraments and works of charity. He believed that these gifts could change the world and make it a better world.

Mother Teresa was one of the greatest influences in my life. She professed that the Eucharist enabled her to discover Christ in the “broken bodies of the poor.’ For Her prayer was a continuing dialogue with God. The frequent reception of the Sacrament of Reconciliation kept her humbly at the foot of the cross. She believed that to know the Scriptures is to know the mind of God. What is a Catholic? It’s not a person who limits their relationship with God to Sunday Mass. It is to live the life of Jesus Christ. However, discipleship with Christ demands day-by-day reconsecration of our life to Christ.

I envy you, young people. This is a new century and the beginning of a new Millennium. What a wonderful opportunity you have to reveal God’s love and mercy to a world desperately in need of God. Do not allow anything or anyone to discourage you. I repeat the message of Pope John It to the young people of the world: “Do not fear! God is with you. He lives in you. Fill the world with His peace and love!”

Inspired by the Feb. 4 meeting with college students attending the Campus Ministry retreat at Camp Thunderbird in Clover, S.C.

From the Bishop BISHOP WILLIAM G. CURLIN Catholic Identity: Part II I was an ordained in 1957. At that time Catholics centered their life around their parish church and school. I enjoyed teaching religion to the children.

On occasion I even served as the school janitor. I remember offering the sacraments in Latin and then reading them in English so that people could understand them.

During Mass, celebrated with my back to the congregation, I would sometimes turn to greet them in Latin. We had no Latin scholars in the parish. So I smile when I hear some talk about “the good old days”.

Pope John XXIII succeeded Pope Pius XII. Everyone loved him. He was a very humble person who had a great love for Christ and the Church. During this Jubilee Year he will be canonized by Pope John Paul II. When Pope John announced his call for Vatican Council II, he said that he wanted the Church to go out into the world and touch the lives of all who

We welcome your letters and comments.

Send your Letters to the Editor to Joann S. Keane, 1123 South Church St., Charlotte, NC 28203 or e-mail jskeane@charlottediocese.org.

Family Reflections ANDREW & TERRI LYKE Guest Columnists

Christian marriage and modern families Many of the ideals of Christian marriage have fallen out of favor with modern families. No longer is it seen essential to family life. Pastors struggle with their roles as those who preserve what is sacred (tradition) and direct us to what is sacred (community).

For example, it is difficult to find “good news” in the teen mother who is without a spouse and pregnant with a third child. How does the Church preserve the sacredness of marriage and affirm the miracle of human procreation that our modern culture sees as not necessarily connected to marriage?

These and other questions concerning marriage in the modern world were addressed by the St. Joseph Society of the Sacred Heart on Feb. 9 and 10. Better known as “The Josephites,” these men religious gathered in Breaux Bridge, a community just outside of Lafayette, La., to pray, listen and learn about strengthening the institution of Christian marriage in the 57 parishes the order serves in Alabama, California, Washington, D.C., Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Texas and Virginia.

Founded in 1893, the Josephites have dedicated themselves to ministry among African Americans.

The Pastoring Workshop in Breaux Bridge focused on marriage preparation and marriage enrichment for African-American Catholics.

Andrew opened the program with a presentation

on marriage ministry with African-Americans. He shared our dubious beginnings in marriage, and how an effective marriage ministry evangelized us. He reported the important role that Marriage Encounter played in directing us to God at the center of our relationship.

However, he also reported how easy it is to misappropriate the workings of the Spirit to human formats. He emphasized the need to honor the cultural variances of peoples of color. “When programs are design for whites they don’t always fit well with African-Americans,” he told the group of priests. He suggested that established programs that have been successful among whites should be open to restructuring with African-Americans in mind. The concept of process over content applies here.

Fred and Connie Sambrone, a deacon-couple from Archdiocese of Atlanta, presented a condensed overview of their marriage preparation program, “The Greatest of These is Love.” One of few diocesan programs by and for African-Americans, Fred and Connie’s program presents couples with realistic challenges to living a Christ-centered marriage in a material-centered world. Part of their mission is to impart “simple wisdom” that is key to unlocking marital joy long after the honeymoon.

While it was clear from the presentations that Christian married life is under siege today, there was an air of hope among those gathered. Despite the expressed feelings of frustration by some priests, there was a sense that the Paschal Mystery is operative in marriage and family life today.

The Josephites, evidenced by their focused energy on African-American marriage, are continuing a tradition of serving African-American Catholic families.

Andrew & Terri Lyke are coordinators of marriage ministry in African-American community for the Archdiocese of Chicago.

February 25, 2000

Editorials & Col-

Light One Candle FATHER THOMAS J. McSWEENEY Guest Columnist tor Robert Torricelli of New Jersey (who manages not to include any of his own) and Andrew Carroll.

Having taught rhetoric and communications in college, I found that this volume’s particular value rests in its range across the political, social and cultural landscape. It clearly illustrates that the famous and not-so-famous have a role in shaping society.

Reacquainting yourself with great speeches of the past can enhance your ability to respond more critically to today’s speakers and office-seekers. We have more than a right to use our best judgment, we have a responsibility to do so. What we cannot afford to do is to give up our personal involvement in government and the political process. It’s just too important.

David Lloyd George, British Prime Minister during the First World War, said that “the finest eloquence is that which gets things done.”

It is not enough for citizens to listen or even to form opinions. We have to express ourselves through our words and our actions. Don’t be afraid to speak out, to get involved with campaigns and issues. Your voice just might transform our communities, our nation and our world forever.

And that’s my last word.

Father Thomas J. McSweeney is director of The Christophers. baptize children in situations where there is no Catholic life going on in the home and no expectation that the parents will give Catholic nurturing to their child. It would not be fair to the child, the parents or the Christian community.

It is wrong and unlawful, therefore, to baptize someone in these circumstances, but not invalid.

The same is true of the other sacraments. Several have written to me worried about an “invalid” Mass because a different form of wheat bread was used. By no means does that necessarily make the eucharistic liturgy invalid.

Bread made from wheat alone, in which nothing else has been added in such a quantity that the product can no longer be commonly considered wheat bread, is required for a valid Eucharist. Note the words between the two commas. (See the Instruction of the Congregation for the Discipline of the Sacraments, 1929.)

Thus, the common leavened wheat bread one buys at the supermarket would be illicit but valid for Mass. It has in fact been commonly used in some churches outside the Latin rite. By tradition, however, repeated over the centuries (by Pope Pius X for one, in September 1912), unleavened bread such as we are accustomed to at Mass is required for lawful celebration of the Eucharist in the Latin Church.

Similar distinctions apply concerning wine. Mass wine must be made from grapes, but more conditions (concerning mixture with water or other additives) are required for validity than for lawfulness.

To offer just one more example, the ordination of priests and bishops may be wrong in certain cases, but still valid. If, for instance, a bishop ordains another man bishop without proper authorization from the pope, that ordination ceremony is gravely illicit, but still valid; the newly ordained person is truly a bishop.

The theology concerning the overall intention of the Christian community, the church, in these matters brings in other important factors. It seems, however, that keeping the above points in mind would often serve to keep things clear, reduce anxiet-

Words, Words, Words As political rhetoric heats up this presidential election year, candidates and their wordsmiths are sculpting messages designed to persuade us to vote for them.

Some of us quickly tire, cynical of their methods: “You can’t believe anything they say!” Others side with candidates whose promises square more or less with their own interests. Many say they are more concerned with character than substance (the who rather than the what) and try to find the person behind the words.

Sadly, most of us won’t do much listening and just “tune out” all the voices. And that’s too bad.

Like it or not, the universe in which we live is a universe of words. Much of what we know, or think we know, we have learned through the words of others. Those men and women who have attempted to lead or to prod, to inspire or to intimidate, to defend values or attack conventions, have done so by using language to shape the actions and reactions of those who would listen.

On the plus side, language has at the very least helped us become civilized. As violent as our world is today, we still rely less on brute force and more on words to direct our relationships with one another.

Indeed, throughout history, we have increasingly turned to the persuasive power of speech to alter or reinforce our beliefs and values.

That is why I’d encourage anyone trying to navigate the rhetorical currents of today’s political scene to read a few speeches from our past. You’ll be impressed with a sense of how our viewpoints have been formed for good or ill. Speeches open windows on history that demonstrate the clashes and the compromises, the successes and failures experienced by those who would lead us.

If you’re interested in locating a good source for oratory born of the American experience, I’d recommend a new book I was thrilled to get as a gift this Christmas, “In Our Own Words: Extraordinary Speeches of the American Century,” edited by Sena-

Question Corner FATHER JOHN DIETZEN CNS Columnist

The difference between valid and lawful Q. Thank you for your informative column in our diocesan paper. In your answer to a question on baptism, you seem to indicate that if the water is poured rightly and the proper words invoking the Trinity are said, the sacrament would be valid.

But we have been told that the baptism of an infant is not lawful unless there is a well-founded hope that the infant will be brought up in the Catholic faith. This supposedly is canon law.

How then can the baptism you speak of be valid? The parents were not even aware of the baptism. In two years they have not bothered to have the baby baptized. There doesn’t seem much hope the child will be raised Catholic.

How do you explain your answer?

A. Yours is only one of numerous letters I’ve received recently confusing the meaning of valid and lawful (licit) sacraments. Valid administration of baptism, for example, means that the sacrament was truly, authentically ministered and received.

A sacrament may be valid, however, a real sacrament, and still be unlawfully celebrated. It is true, for example, that, outside of danger of death, canon law (868) requires the condition you mention for a licit baptism.

As I explained in the column you quote, the church has good reasons for saying it is wrong to

The Catholic News & Herald 13

Planned Giving CINDY RICE Guest Columnist What a will can do for you There are at least seven things a well crafted will can do for you.

1. A will can let you close the books on your earthly stewardship responsibilities. You’ve made careful decisions to conserve your estate during life, and you naturally want to do the same at death. Through your will, you can wrap up your affairs and “put your house in order.”

2. A will can help you express your love and thoughtfulness to others. When a person dies without a will, those who are left behind must sort out the estate and make difficult decisions.

The grieving process is compounded by frustration. What a difference when the bereaved are left with funeral instructions, an inventory list and a well-crafted will.

3. A will can remind your loved ones of your basic beliefs and commitments. The preamble can affirm not only your guiding principles, but also your aspirations for those who are left behind. Your words can provide comfort and encouragement. The way you distribute your estate can also express your commitments. Will you care for your family in an honorable way?

Will you affirm worthy charitable organizations? Your will can be an inspiration.

4. A will can ensure your desires are fulfilled. If you have dependent children, you can designate who will care for them. You can specify the person who will handle the closing of your estate. You can select the trustee to oversee one or more trusts. You can time the distribution of gifts to children and grandchildren. You can make provisions to support charitable organizations. A will puts you in the driver’s seat.

5. A will can conserve your assets, ensuring that more is available to meet your objectives. In many states, a will not only reduces the administrative costs of probate, it can reduce, delay or even eliminate estate taxes. Wise stewardship means making sure your assets go as far as possible.

6. A will can let you ensure the pattern of your lifetime support of your Church. With a bequest or endowment, you can continue to support your parish, Catholic school, the diocese or diocesan foundation just as you did during your life.

7. A will can provide peace of mind. You can relax in the knowledge that your temporal affairs are in order. You have cared for those persons and those concerns close to your heart.

Your will can also bring a sense of peace and security to others.

With all the benefits, one might expect that every person would have a will. But the opposite is true. Of the 1.5 million persons who die each year in the U.S., only 30 percent have a will. For most people, making a will is like preparing a tax return — they put it off as long as they can. You may recognize some of these excuses: “It’s too expensive ... I can’t handle the decisions ... My estate is too small ... I’ll do it later.”

We encourage you to call your attorney and make an appointment to have your will prepared or updated. Please do it today.

Cindy Rice is Director of Planned Giving for the Diocese of Charlotte.

1 4 The Catholic News & Herald

Around the Di-

February 25, 2000

Maryvale Sisters, parish youth score big in annual “Souper VALE — The youth group of St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Charlotte donated $1,431.50 to the sisters of the Congregation of Our Lady, Help of the Clergy in Vale Feb. 20. The youth group, which includes about 260 members, raised the funds for the congregation on Jan. 30 during the “Souper Bowl of Caring” drive.

Among the “Maryvale” sisters’ ministries are serving 98 children enrolled at Maryvale Daycare School, providing a variety of outreach to the needy and hosting retreats for groups from throughout the region.

The ecumenical “Souper Bowl” effort is led each Super Bowl Sunday by youth in churches throughout the United States and Canada who collect donations from parishioners for local charities. This year’s stats include an estimated total of $3 million raised by 12,500 church communities.

Pictured with members and sponsors of the youth group are Sister Mary Francis and Sister Mary Clare, both of Maryvale, and Capuchin Father Stan Kobel, parochial vicar at St. Thomas Aquinas Church. t

Photo by Jimmy Rostar

“Out of Africa,” from page 16

By Alesha M. Price Staff Writer CULLOWHEE — Before Marilyn Syagga left home for college, she, like many other young adults, would listen to Mariah Carey on her CD player, watch “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” catch the latest movie with her friends and attend Mass on Sundays. Who would guess that Syagga was born and raised in Nairobi, the capital city of Kenya?

The equator runs through Kenya, a country about the size of Texas, bordered by Ethiopia, Somalia, Uganda and Tanzania, on the Eastern coast of Africa.

ClassiEMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES Accounting Assistant - Part-time: Catholic high school seeks person with accounting background who works well with others to work part-time in the Business Office. Responsibilities include processing tuition receivables and vendor payables.

Provides assistance to the Business Manager in reconciling and managing monthly accounts. Good organizational and analytical skills required. M-F, 8am-12pm. Send letter of application and resume by 3/15/00 to: BMHS Employee Search, 1730 Link Road, Winston-Salem, NC 27103. EOE Child Care Provider and Weekend House Staff: Room At The Inn, a Catholic residential program for single, pregnant mothers located in Charlotte, NC, has openings for a full-time experienced Child Care Provider and Live-in Weekend Relief Staff.

Experience preferred, but not necessary. Call Trish for more information (704)525-4673.

Choir Director, Part-time: St. Barnabas Catholic Parish in beautiful western North Carolina (680+ families) is seeking a practicing Catholic to direct our music program. Applicant to have: experience in liturgical music and a working knowledge of Church documents on liturgy and music; keyboard skills - organ and piano; skills in choir directing.

A college degree in liturgy, music or related field preferred. Responsibilities include: working with pastor, staff and liturgy commission; fostering parishioner participation; coordinating music and volunteer musicians for all liturgical services, primarily for our three Masses each Sunday and Holy Day; directing the adult and youth choirs; working with cantors and musicians; collaborating with an independent folk group. Salary: $10,000 - $12,000 range plus some benefits. Call Mary Ann Demelfy (828)684-6098 or write to the address below for a job description. Send resume and references to: Search Committee, c/o Fr. Roger Arnsparger, St. Barnabas Catholic Parish, P. O. Box 38, Arden, NC 28740.

Fresh from her trip from abroad, Syagga, 20, transferred to Western Carolina University (WCU), sight unseen, as a freshman in December.

She had only heard about the school from a family friend who had moved to the Asheville area from Nairobi, but she decided to apply. Her older brother Michael was going to enroll at WCU but decided to attend school in South Carolina instead.

“It was my dad’s idea to come to America because he likes the educational system better,” said Syagga, one of five children, “but I also wanted a chance to go to school, see the world and explore my artistic abilities.” beginning late April. References required; pay negotiable. Call Katy at (828)698-2956.

Office Manager: Charlotte residential cleaning company. Monday through Friday. 40 hours per week.

Bi-lingual a plus but not necessary. Salary negotiable.

2 weeks paid vacation. Call (704) 904-8326.

Principal: Our Lady of Perpetual Help Roman Catholic School, Rocky Mount, NC (Grades PK-5) seeks a principal for the 2000-2001 school year.

Applicant must be practicing Catholic, hold teacher certification and principal’s license (or in progress).

Principal must establish residence in Rocky Mount.

Send resume to: Search Committee, 331 Hammond Street, Rocky Mount, NC 27804.

Youth/Young Adult Ministry Director: A triparish (including one Hispanic) Catholic community of 1800 families in a university setting is seeking a full-time Director of Youth and Young Adult Ministry to implement comprehensive youth ministry as described in “Renewing the Vision.” Candidate should have prior ministry experience, and be able to work collaboratively with staff and members of parish community. Background in Theology, Christian Formation, and/or certification in youth ministry desired. Please contact Rev. Bernard Campbell, CSP, P.O. Box 112, Clemson, SC 29633 or (864)654-1757.

Friendship Glen: Beautiful new high quality homes/ homesites. Northeast Guilford County. Large lots.

Please pass the word along to those moving to (or in) the Greensboro, Reidsville, Burlington areas. Thank you. Call for brochure. Philippe White - owner/broker (336)272-1011.

One earmark of her African heritage is her family’s acknowledgement of their tribe, a group of people descending from a common ancestor or tradition. Syagga speaks Swahili, a Bantu language distinctive to Eastern and Eastern Central Africa, English and Luo, a language derived from her tribe of the same name.

With her father having a doctorate in land economics and serving as the dean of faculty in architecture, design and development at the University of Nairobi, and her mother, a registered nurse and midwifery tutor, who has gone back to school to obtain her master’s degree in nursing, education has always been an important part of her life.

Syagga is an interior design major, one area of study not offered at many

universities, and is involved in graphic arts in her spare time.

However, Syagga did not have much room for extracurricular activities while attending boarding schools during her teen years. She attended Limuru Girls’ High School, where she and the other 600 girls wore, what she described in a distasteful tone, a uniform of “white shirts, brown skirts, light brown socks and brown shoes.”

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Rates: $.50/word per issue ($10 minimum per issue) Deadline: 12 noon Wednesday, 9 days before publication date How to order: Ads may be faxed to (704) 370-3382 or mailed to: Cindi Feerick, The Catholic News & Herald, 1123 S. Church St., Charlotte, NC 28203.

Payment: Ads may be pre-paid or billed. For information, call (704) 370-3332.

Director of Development: The Diocesan Office of Development has an opening for a full-time director of development for the Mecklenburg Area Catholic Schools. The candidate must be a college graduate with a degree in marketing, communications or related field. Appropriate experience in fund raising and marketing may be substituted for education. Must have ability to use computer software. Responsibilities include managing the annual giving campaign, handling all aspects of production of newsletters and annual reports, and serving as liaison to regional boards. Please submit resume by March 1, 2000 to Jim Kelley, Office of Development, 1123 South Church Street, Charlotte, NC 28203-4003.

Director of Faith Formation: Growing 450-family parish in Raleigh, NC, is seeking a full-time Director of Faith Formation. Responsible for directing pre-K through high school faith formation process and oversight of RCIA process and adult formation. Includes oversight of volunteer coordinators of formation processes for baptism, reconciliation, eucharist, RCIA, and adult Bible Study. Also includes collaboration with parish Faith Formation Council.

Strong people and communication skills a must, especially with middle and high school level youth.

M.A. in religious education or theology, or equivalent education and experience required. Salary mid-30s, commensurate with qualifications and experience.

Also diocesan benefits packages. Send resume and references to: Search Committee, St. Luke the Evangelist Catholic Church, 12333 Bayleaf Church Rd., Raleigh, NC 27614.

Director of Faith Formation: St. Philip Neri Church, Fort Mill, South Carolina, a growing Catholic parish of 700 families in the suburbs of

Charlotte, North Carolina, is seeking someone to direct its parish formation programs. This person would be responsible for directing K-High School, RCIA, and developing an adult education program.

Person should have a master’s in theology, at least three years’ experience, and three written recommendations. Person needs to recruit and train catechists and have good managerial skills. Send resume plus references to Search Committee, St. Philip Neri Catholic Church, 292 Munn Road, Fort Mill, SC 29715.

Faith Formation Office - Diocesan Regional Coordinator: Charlotte Diocese seeks person with Master’s degree in Rel Ed/allied field, five years of demonstrable successful experience in parish/diocesan work. Well-rounded in catechist formation skills. Collaborative. Sensitive to cultural minorities. Good written/oral communication skills. Position is located in the Smoky Mountain and Asheville Region. Please send resume and three letters of recommendation to: Dr. Chris Villapando, 1123 S. Church St., Charlotte NC 28203. (704)370-3246.

Application deadline March 24, 2000.

House Cleaners: Charlotte area. Monday through Friday days. 9-30 hours per week. $12 per hour.

Maid in Heaven. (704)643-5545. real estate Infant Care Provider: South Charlotte. Excellent pay and flexible hours for warm and loving person who can help out busy mom with infant. Nonsmoker and references required. Please call Judy at (704) 553-8136.

Infant Care Provider: Henderson/south Buncombe County. Seeking non-smoking, experienced adult to care for infant part-time; flexible hours

February 25, 2000

In the

Jesuits, from page 10 and one or two Jesuits, mainly brothers, created the art on a mission, he said. Often, those who became brothers were professional artists, then considered tradesmen, who felt a calling to use their skills to benefit the missions, he added.

Bailey finds the art so interesting because it “takes this very basic kind of late Renaissance-early Baroque ... very clear, emotional style from Europe and transforms it by making it a little more like the style of the area.”

In the Christian art produced in Japan and Mughal India, for example, the figures have the specific “eyebrow and nose and coloration” of contemporary Japanese and Muslim paintings, he said. The Guarani sculptures feature pre-conquest, pre-contact traditions, showing the “impact of indigenous

The Catholic News & Herald 15

weaving and ceramics coming out in the patterns on the drapery.”

This hybridization is “what makes it not just second-rate copies of European art,” Bailey said. “It’s a lot more.”

The missions were funded in a variety of ways.

Bailey said the Japan mission “was paid for largely by the silk ships” from China in which the Jesuits had invested. In Guarani territory, they had a monopoly on the production and export of mate tea. In southern India, they operated plantations worked by African slaves.

The Paraguay missions also made money from their artworks. “They produced so many ... they were able to sell them to most of the colonial centers in Argentina,” said Bailey.

Another new University of Toronto Press title — “The Jesuits: Cultures, Sciences, and the Arts, 15401773” — contains 35 essays originating in a 1997 international conference at Boston College.

Bailey, one of the book’s editors, said the missions had a great impact on the order before it was suppressed by papal edict in 1773.

“The worldwide missions served as a source for information about everything from pharmacology to anthropology to ethnography to geography that was sent back to Europe,” he said. This “made the Jesuits one of the world’s most important purveyors of knowledge.”

Jesuit missionaries found the cure for malaria in quinine, he noted, and Jose de Acosta, a Jesuit in Peru in the late 16th century, theorized “that Amerindians had crossed a land bridge from Asia.”

Amazingly, Bailey added, he came up with the Bering Strait theory long before

1 6 The Catholic News & Herald

February 25, 2000

Living the

“Out of Africa”

Student celebrates faith, adapts to “In Africa, study is the main focus, and you have to put in so much effort,” she stated firmly. “At the school, we had one TV that we could only watch on weekends, but I really didn’t mind because I focus better without TV and radio.”

She lived and worked in a school much like a college with weekend parental visits and trips home for the break. When not busy with her studies, she was the basketball team captain and secretary of the Catholic-based school g roup, Youth Christian Students.

Because her family resides in the capital city, the only sign that Syagga lived in Africa came through the appearance of an occasional runMarilyn Syagga away zebra escaping from captivity across the highway between her school and home. “But, we really have the same things that you do here,” she said seriously.

One earmark of her African heritage is her family’s acknowledgement of their tribe, a group of people descending from a common ancestor

or tradition. Syagga speaks Swahili, a Bantu language distinctive to Eastern and Eastern Central Africa, English and Luo, a language derived from her tribe of the same name.

Every child is given a Luo name based upon his or her time of birth; Syagga’s is Anyango because she was born in mid-morning.

The Luo tribe is based in the Western part of the country on the shores of Lake Victoria. Its economy and food comes primarily from the fishing industry, explained Syagga.

Some of the native foods that Syagga was taught to prepare include pilau, a spiced rice, chapati, a combination of wheat flour, water and oil, which makes a type of fried bread, and ugali, ground corn flour mixed with boiling water, which is eaten with vegetables.

With approximately 28 percent of the Kenyan population being Catholic, Syagga is one of many cradle Catholics in her country. Since her arrival in the states, Syagga has become involved with the Catholic campus ministry group at WCU. Syagga said, “As a Christian, I love religion and learning more about things I thought I knew. I like knowing who made me and why I am here.”

Gloria Schweizer, WCU Catholic

Photos by Joann S. Keane

Marilyn Syagga, pictured left, from Western Carolina University talks with Bishop William G. Curlin and Alberta Hairston, North Carolina A&T State University and Bennett College campus minister, at the diocesan Campus Ministry Retreat on Feb. 5 in Clover, S.C. campus minister, said that she first met Syagga when she looked out of her window and saw her sitting on a swing near the student center. When they began talking, Syagga admitted she was feeling disconnected with her surroundings and had found the center. “[Since I am feeling like this,] where else would I go except to my church?”

Syagga said.

“She needed to be at the Catholic center because her faith is at the center of who she is,” said Schweizer. “The way that she has made friends in such a short amount of time is amazing.”

Now that she is here in America, Syagga will have four years to adjust to this country. She will not return home

to see her parents until graduation because of the cost of the overseas flight.

Now, living in America, when Syagga turns on her CD player and listens to her favorite song or turns on the TV, she is reminded of home. t Contact Staff Writer Alesha M. Price by calling (704) 370-3354 or e-mail amprice@charlottediocese.org.

See “OUT OF AFRICA,” inside page 14