May 12, 2000

The Catholic News & Herald 1

May 12, 2000

May 12, 2000 Volume 9 t Number 35

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 Catholic evangelist to headline tent revival ...Page 3

“... If a mother knows that heart’s flash in her child’s eyes, then I, in your Mystery wholly attentive, endure.”

Perpetual adoration a key to eucharistic devotion

— Pope John Paul II

By ELLEN NEERINCX SIGMON Correspondent HICKORY — Formerly thought of as a rite reserved for those near death, the sacrament of anointing of the sick is now looked upon by the Church as a gift from God to assist in the healing of body, mind and soul.

During a healing Mass at St. Aloysius Church on Thursday, May 4, Father Ed Sheridan, pastor of the church, pointed out that the ages of those in attendance ranged from the very young to the very old.

“We are all in need of this sacrament — spiritually and physically,” he said. “The idea is to give spiritual consolation and strength as well as physical healing — body and soul.”

“It gives us all an opportunity to look and see in the life we live that there is suffering, there is sickness,” he said. “We don’t have to have a physical sickness. Sometimes physical sickness is not as bad as some of the other sicknesses we could have.

“I think all of us need the grace of God in our lives.”

Father Sheridan referred to the biblical passage of James 5: 13-16 as the scriptural basis for the sacrament.

...Page 3

Three priests care for infant left on their doorstep

Local News Teen retreat provides cultural and spiritual foundation Living the Faith

— excerpt from “Mature Attention” in “The Place Within: The Poetry of Pope John Paul II”

Volunteer teacher absorbs culture and rediscovers roots

...Page 16

Every Week Entertainment ...Pages 10-11

Editorials & Columns ...Pages 12-13

Faith Alive!

“Science and Faith” ...Pages 8-9

Healing Mass offers glimpse of God’s grace

Photo by Joann S. Keane

See HEALING MASS, page 4

Funeral recalls Cardinal O’Connor’s pro-life witness run against Mrs. Clinton to succeed Moynihan, but the funeral of Cardinal O’Connor, who died of cancer May 3, may have brought more personal reflections for the mayor, whose father died of prostate cancer and who recently announced that he has it, too.

As the two-minute ovation continued, people began standing in a wave that began at the back and quickly filled the entire church, including the hundreds of priests in the congregation and the dozens of cardinals, archbishops and bishops around the altar.

Eventually the Clintons and Gores also rose to their feet, although they did not applaud.

Cardinal Law took the standing ovation as a sign of Cardinal O’Connor’s continuing impact in the cathedral from which he became a

By Tracy Early Catholic News Service NEW YORK (CNS) — The pro-life witness of Cardinal John J. O’Connor of New York continued to resound at his funeral, celebrated at St. Patrick’s Cathedral May 8 by Cardinal Angelo Sodano, Vatican secretary of state and personal representative of Pope John Paul II. A dramatic demonstration arose spontaneously when the homilist, Cardinal Bernard F. Law of Boston, said Cardinal O’Connor’s “great legacy” was “his constant reminder that the church must always be unambiguously pro-life.”

Some in the cathedral began applauding, others joined them and, as the applause went on and on, growing

in volume, it seemed evident much of the congregation wanted to send a message to public officials and candidates for office in the front pews.

They included President Clinton and his wife, Hillary, as well as the two main candidates for the presidency, Vice President Al Gore and Texas Gov. George W. Bush.

Also attending were former President Bush, who sat in a pew with Cardinal O’Connor’s family, New York Gov. George E. Pataki, New York City Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, and the state’s two U.S. senators, Daniel Patrick Moynihan and Charles E. Schumer.

Giuliani has been planning to

See CARDINAL O’CONNOR, page 7

2 The Catholic News & Herald 1970 the shrine purchased gold as an investment and deposited it in a local bank. The bank, which has since failed, borrowed some of the shrine’s deposit and repaid the loan in 1976 “with some bars which bore the mark of the Third Reich,” Father Guerra said. Between 1982 and 1986, he said in a May 2 statement, the shrine “sold a considerable quantity” of its gold deposits to pay for construction projects. All the bars with Nazi markings were among those sold.

Tens of thousands in Mexico mark National Eucharistic Congress MEXICO CITY (CNS) — With the sound of indigenous drums echoing loudly off walls, tens of thousands of Mexicans joined in the first religious procession in nearly 150 years through the historic center of their ancient city. The May 6 procession and an earlier Mass in the city’s main plaza, the Zocalo, capped a weeklong National Eucharistic Congress. Mexico City, founded by the Aztecs in 1325, had not seen such events since before a series of “reform” laws beginning in 1855 restricted the role of the church: In 1857, marriage and divorce were removed from church jurisdiction; in 1873, outdoor religious ceremonies were prohibited; the country’s 1917 constitution went still further by proclaiming that the Catholic Church did not exist.

CRS hopes to make social justice a basic subject in school BALTIMORE (CNS) — Social justice shouldn’t be a foreign subject in Catholic schools, according to Catholic Relief Service officials who gave presentations at the National Catholic Educational Association convention in Baltimore. That’s why the U.S. bishops’ overseas relief and development agency has been recruiting teachers and parent-teacher organizations to become more familiar with the work of CRS around the globe. “We must bridge the gap. We must teach our students to care,” said Patrice Harty, a teacher at Bishop Fenwick High School in Middletown, Ohio, who was among a group of presenters giving an NCEA workshop April 26.

Outdoor Mass in Mexico An estimated 50,000 worshippers attend an outdoor Mass in Mexico City’s main square May 6. It was the largest outdoor Mass held in more than 70 years in the capital’s main square.

CNS photo from Reuters

Jubilee year event draws 20,000 young people to Fenway Park BOSTON (CNS) — Thousands of young Catholics were encouraged to commit their lives to Jesus and consider priestly and religious vocations April 29 at what was billed as the first nonsporting event at Boston’s Fenway Park in 50 years. Teen-agers, young adults and adult leaders began the day on the Boston Common with games, music, eucharistic adoration and vocations information, then marched to the home of the Boston Red Sox for talks, music and a twilight Mass at which 11 people were baptized and confirmed at home plate.

Rector says Fatima shrine briefly owned Nazi gold FATIMA, Portugal (CNS) — The Marian shrine in Fatima, Portugal, briefly owned some gold bars bearing the Nazi insignia, but only 30 years after World War II ended, the rector of the shrine said. Father Luciano Guerra, the Fatima rector, said that in

Episcopal May 12, 2000 Volume 9 • Number 35

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.

May 12, 2000

The World in

c a l e n-

Bishop William G. Curlin will take part in the following events: May 15 — 7 pm Confirmation Our Lady of Mercy, Winston-Salem May 16 Presbyteral Council Meeting Pastoral Center 7 pm Confirmation St. Dorothy, Lincolnton May 17 — 9:30 am Mass and May Procession St. Ann, Charlotte 7:30 pm Confirmation St. James, Concord May 18 Foundation Board Meeting Catholic Conference Center, Hickory 7 pm Confirmation St. Patrick Cathedral, Charlotte May 22 — 7 pm Confirmation St. Leo, Winston-Salem

Puerto Rican bishop sees continued peaceful protests over Vieques CAGUAS, Puerto Rico (CNS) — Church-sponsored civil disobedience on Vieques will continue as long as the U.S. Navy uses the inhabited island as bombing range, said Puerto Rican Bishop Alvaro Corrada del Rio. “We are assessing the situation with the people of Vieques. We will return to areas where we can do civil disobedience,” he said in a telephone interview several hours after federal agents removed scores of protesters from Vieques. Bishop Corrada is apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Caguas, which includes Vieques.

Colombian peace needs citizen effort, say activist, priest WASHINGTON (CNS) — The proposed U.S. aid package for Colombia constitutes “a very high risk of escalating the war” in the country, and wider citizen involvement in peace efforts is greatly needed, said a Colom-

Diocesan

plan -

tuality and how this experience has an influence on societal values, the pursuit of goals, dealing with failures and being open to God’s call. For further information on the retreat being held June 9-11, call the Living Waters Catholic Reflection Center, 103 Living Waters lane, at (828) 926-3833.

ROCK HILL, S.C. — The Oratory: Center for Spirituality’s annual conference on faith and doctrine is scheduled for June 11-14 at the Pope John Center at the Oratory. The conference, “Visions of Faith,” is a yearly gathering for continuing education in doctrinal and moral faith for teachers and pastors involved in faith formation and parish, campus and social ministries.

This year’s speaker is Dr. Paul Wadell, theology professor at St. Norbert College in DePere, Wis., and author of several books. The seven sessions will be offered in the late afternoons from

bian peace activist. Meanwhile, a Colombian church official said the church aims to strengthen citizen participation in peace efforts, and, despite ongoing violence, people remain hopeful the war will end. President Clinton urged Congress May 2 to pass a $1.6 billion aid package, mostly military aid, to fight illegal drug trafficking in Colombia. He said the funding was to support Colombians in their fight to stop drug trade and drug-related violence.

Understanding Jewish roots key to reading Scripture, says priest ROME (CNS) — When reading the New Testament, Catholics must remember that Jesus and his Apostles were believing and practicing Jews, said the secretary of the Pontifical Biblical Commission. Understanding the Jewish roots of the Christian faith is essential for an accurate interpretation of the New Testament and for a reading of the Scriptures that leaves no room for anti-Jewish or anti-Semitic sentiments, said Jesuit Father Albert Vanhoye. The Jesuit spoke to Catholic News Service May 3 during the annual meeting of the Pontifical Biblical Commission in Rome.

Survey finds pastors undercount Catholics with disabilities WASHINGTON (CNS) — A new survey of U.S. pastors indicates most substantially underestimate how many Catholics with disabilities are in their parishes, said Mary Jane Owen, executive director of the National Catholic Office for Persons with Disabilities.

“I’m not surprised at all,” Owen added.

“I don’t think most pastors have been trained in who’s out there, who needs to be welcomed. There are many people with disabilities who need to be welcomed home.” She said many Catholics with disabilities are no longer visible to the church because they have repeatedly experienced “rejection, disrespect, in some case outrageous insults, or simply disinterest,” leading them eventually to quit trying to connect with the parish.

4-5:30 p.m. and evenings from 7-9 p.m.

For registration and other information, call Sarah Morgan at (803) 3272097, weekday mornings.

ROCK HILL, S.C — The Oratory Religion Camp will hold two separate oneweek sessions at Camp York in Kings Mountain State Park during the weeks of July 9-15 and July 16-22. Boys and girls under 12, entering grades 2-6 in Sept., can apply for consideration. For more information and application, write to: The Oratory Religion Camp, P.O. Box 11586, Rock Hill, S.C., 29731-1586.

Those wishing to volunteer as counselors can write for a staff application.

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

May 12, 2000

Around the

Catholic evangelist to headline tent revival

Perpetual adoration a key to eucharistic devotion, say

By JIMMY ROSTAR Associate Editor Every late afternoon, Richard Cox of Charlotte makes his way to St. Gabriel Church to spend some quiet time in the presence of Jesus.

For several years, Cox has made the daily trek to the church as a participant in perpetual eucharistic adoration. In a chapel of the church, a consecrated host — the true, sacramental presence of Christ, in Catholic belief — is exposed in a vessel called a monstrance 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The graces he receives from this ministry are plenty, Cox says.

“It’s very helpful for me to come here,” said Cox, whose wife, Loraine, died last year. “You know, there’s a real bad period you go through after the loss of a spouse. Now, I feel closest to her at Mass and at adoration.”

Outside of the Mass, adoration is one of the primary forms of devotion to the Eucharist. Three sites in this diocese host adoration perpetually, while many parishes have holy hours with exposition, as well as scheduled periods of time each month for adoration.

In the perpetual adoration chapels, people are scheduled to be in the chapels at all times, 365 days a year. Organizers schedule volunteers to adore, usually in one-hour periods. The spirit of volunteerism is essential to the program, from the adorers themselves to the organizers who coordinate specific time frames and oversee the ministry in their parishes.

Adorers spend their holy hours in a variety of ways, from reading prayer books to praying the rosary, from quiet meditation to reading from Scripture.

St. Gabriel Church, the chapel at Maryfield Nursing Home in High Point and a chapel on the grounds of Belmont Abbey in Belmont are three sites within the Diocese of Charlotte that host perpetual adoration. The ministry got its start in the diocese having their annual May luncheon at Sedgefield Country Club, beginning at 11:30 a.m. with a cash and spirits bar, fashion show featuring items from a local women’s clothing store and raffle prizes. For May 18 deadline details and more information, call Janet Law at (336) 288-6022.

25 ASHEVILLE — All are invited to come to St. Joan of Arc Church, 919 Haywood Ave., for a healing Mass tonight at 7 p.m. Refreshments will follow the Mass. For more information, call the church office at (828) 252-3151.

Upcoming CHARLOTTE — A volleyball camp will be held for rising sixth- through ninthgraders from July 17-20 from 9 a.m.-3 p.m.

The coaches are going to be Tim Leary from CCHS and Bettie Berry, a former CCHS coach. For more information, call Bettie Berry at (704) 521-8721.

MAGGIE VALLEY — Augustinian Father Anthony M. Genovese is the facilitator of a retreat, “Take Courage and Be a Man,” emphasizing male spiri-

The Catholic News & Herald 3

Photo by Joann S. Keane

Adorers kneel in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament at the Basilica of St. Lawrence in Asheville. back in May 1989, when the Basilica of St. Lawrence in Asheville opened a perpetual adoration chapel.

The Asheville basilica still hosts adoration, daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

“Adoration has changed my life completely,” said Jane Sorrells, an adorer and a coordinator of the adoration ministry at St. Lawrence. “It’s made me so much more aware of what’s going on around me. It has helped me to discern a lot of things.”

Sorrells, who returned to the church in 1991 and has been a regular adorer since 1993, said eucharistic adoration helped her “absorb the truth” of the Catholic faith. She is now a daily communicant as well, a development in her faith life she owes to adoration.

For many adorers, a deeper sense of appreciation for the Mass and the

See ADORATION, page 4 May 16 WINSTON-SALEM — There is a natural family planning session at St. Leo the Great Church, 335 Springdale Ave., at 7:30 p.m. For details, call Tom and Mary Beth Young at (336) 9220479.

17 CHARLOTTE — Jeff Cavins, Catholic apologist and host of the EWTN teen and young adult program “Life on the Rock,” is speaking about the Book of Revelation tonight at 7:30 p.m. at St. Vincent de Paul Church, 6828 Old Reid Rd. Call the church office at (704) 554-7088 for further information.

CHARLOTTE — Room at the Inn, a Catholic-sponsored home for unwed mothers providing a structured environment for pregnant women, is holding their annual Roman Gabriel Sports Benefit and Raffle tonight from 7-9 p.m. at St. Ann Church, 3635 Park Rd. The evening’s festivities include a silent and live auction and a raffle for two PSL’s (permanent seating licenses)

By Joann S. Keane Editor CHARLOTTE — If the notion of a tent revival conjures images of days gone by, and you enjoy a gospel celebration, mark your calendar for the weekend of June 23. Tent preaching is coming to town, Catholic style.

“Revival of the Spirit 2000, from everlasting to everlasting, God is still God” is the theme for this millennial celebration. It is, what the African American Affairs Ministry of the Diocese of Charlotte sees as a step towards breaking down misconceptions of Catholicism with their Protestant brothers and sisters.

Rev. Mr. Curtiss Todd, Vicar for African American Affairs, hopes a public display will bring in the neighbors. Moreover, Rev. Mr. Todd hopes to make this first-time revival a true diocesan event, with participation from across the diocese. With preaching and singing throughout the weekend — as well as food vendors and merchants selling African art, clothing and books on Saturday — Rev. Mr. Todd envisions a festival of the senses, culminating with Sunday liturgy.

“There are many converts to Catholicism that belonged to Protestant denominations where tent revivals were fairly commonplace,” says Rev. Mr. Todd. “The revival is a connection back with history, and our roots.”

Under what Rev. Mr. Todd calls “the biggest tent we can get,” northwest Charlotte will sway with Our Lady of Consolation’s gospel choir, and the acclaimed Kabaka drummers and dancers. If that’s not enough to get folks out of their seats, the Pinn Memorial Baptist Choir from Philadelphia, African storytellers and a gospel rapper join the playbill as headliners for the weekend.

The weekend’s esteemed visitor is a Franciscan from New York: Fran-

ciscan Father James Goode, nationally known as a Catholic evangelist preacher. “He’s a revivalist,” says Rev. Mr. Todd. “He’s a preacher, not a homilist.

He’s not fire and brimstone preaching, but he is fervent.”

Father Goode is president of the National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus. Last year, he was re-elected for a second term, becoming the first reelected president in the three decades of the Caucus. He is president of the National Black Catholic Apostolate for Life. His vitae also lists him as Guardian of St. Clare Friary, the spiritual Leader for Solid Ground Ministry, a member of the National Black Congress and a commissioner for black Catholics in the Archdiocese of New York.

Father Goode is considered the founder of the black Catholic revival movement, preaching his first revival in 1974. “He is in great demand,” says Rev. Mr. Todd. “We started planning this with him three years ago because his schedule is so tight.” The jubilee year was the perfect timing for such a celebration, says Rev. Mr. Todd.

“Revival of the Spirit 2000, from everlasting to everlasting, God is still God” is scheduled for June 23 - 35, at the corner of Statesville Ave. and Oaklawn Ave. in Charlotte. While it is a free event, donations will be accepted to offset expenses. Blocks of rooms are reserved at both McDonald Travel Lodge and the Downtown Sheraton.

Mention Tent Revival while making reservations. Rooms are limited, and early booking is encouraged. For more information, call Rev. Mr. Curtiss P. Todd, (704) 370-3339. t

to the Carolina Panthers’ Stadium. All proceeds raised from the event will benefit the clients of Room at the Inn. For more information, contact Christine Lively at (704) 521-2774.

CHARLOTTE — Jesuit Father Gene McCreesh is the facilitator of “Spiritual Direction for Gays and Lesbians” tonight at 7 p.m. at St. Peter Church, 507 South Tryon. For more information, call the church office at (704) 332-5342.

18 CHARLOTTE — Spring Cursillo is an ongoing movement in the church for building a better Christian community.

The men’s weekend takes place through May 21 at St. Matthew Church, 8015 Ballantyne Commons Pkwy., and the women’s weekend happens June 8-11 at St. Barnabas Church in Arden. For details, call Rosemary and Art Kingsley at (828) 274-0318.

19 GREENSBORO — “Living the Jubilee Year” is the theme for the annual Catholic Renewal Conference being held at Greensboro College, 815 West Market St. All are invited to share in this jubilee year gathering filled with

music, praise and worship, speakers and morning Mass. A dorm lodging and meal package are available along with a weekend bookstore.

The opening session starts tonight at 7:30 p.m. with sessions all day May 20. For more information, call Bette Steinkamp at (336) 882-9717 or e-mail for return message at Rstienkamp@infoave.net.

21 ASHEVILLE — The Catholic Association of Family Educators (C.A.F.E.), Western North Carolina’s Catholic home school support group, is hosting a moms’ evening tonight at 7 p.m. For more information, call Penny Tax at (828) 236-3216.

24 CHARLOTTE — There is a memorial Mass being held at St. Patrick Cathedral, 1621 Dilworth Rd. East, tonight at 7:30 p.m. for all those who have passed away during the month of May. Call the church office at (704) 3342283 with the name(s) of loved ones so they can be remembered at Mass.

GREENSBORO — The Greensboro Council of Catholic Women is

Contact Editor Joann Keane by calling (704) 370-3336 or e-mail jskeane@ charlottediocese.org.

4 The Catholic News & Herald

May 12, 2000

Around the Di-

Healing Mass, from page 1

Photo by Ellen Neerincx Sigmon

Father Ed Sheridan, pastor of St. Aloysius Church in Hickory, and Father Bill Tanguay, pictured far left in background, administer the sacrament of anointing of the sick to parishioners during a healing Mass on May 4. Father Tanguay is in residence at St. Aloysius and is diocesan director of Hmong and Lahu ministries.

Perpetual Adoration, from page 3 sacramental life goes hand in hand with eucharistic adoration. Theresa Hansen, a coordinator of perpetual adoration at Maryfield Nursing Home in High Point, said adoration increases her hunger to participate in the eucharistic celebration of Mass.

“Once you’ve been at eucharistic adoration and you’re there in (Jesus’) presence, you know how special it is to have that time, gazing at the Lord,” she said. “But when you’re able to receive him into your very being during Mass, it’s awesome. It’s the best time of the day.”

Marie Siebers, a coordinator of perpetual adoration at Belmont Abbey, said adoration allows participants to experience the mystery of the eucharistic Christ in a profound and intimate way.

“It’s just the most wonderful thing

in the world to be headed for the chapel and seeing somebody come from the chapel all aglow,” said Siebers. “They’ll look at you and say, ‘I don’t know what happens in there; I can’t explain it. It’s so wonderful.’”

Siebers herself is a devoted adorer, too.

“It (adoration) has carried me through a lot of storms,” she said, referring in part to a period in which her husband, Eugene, faced and survived heart surgery and cancer. “It has helped me to trust the Lord more, knowing that God is there for me and that Jesus is taking care of me.”

That kind of trust has strengthened Richard Cox, too. Other than receiving the Eucharist at Mass, he said, praying before the exposed Blessed Sacrament is “the ultimate” union with Christ.

It reads, “Is anyone among you suffering? He should pray. Is anyone in good spirits? He should sing praise.

Is anyone among you sick? He should summon the presbyters of the church, and they should pray over him and anoint [him] with oil in the name of Lord, and the prayer of faith will save the sick person, and the Lord will raise him up. If he has committed any sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed.

The fervent prayer of a righteous person is very powerful.”

Father Sheridan talked about how important the forgiveness of sins was in the healing of a person, and he discussed about how this forgiveness was part of the sacrament. He referred to a passage from the Gospel of Mark, the story of the paralyzed man whose friends lowered him through the roof on a pallet so that Jesus could heal him (Mark 2: 1-12). Before physically healing the man, Jesus forgave his sins.

“We see where the Lord took care of what was important,” Father Sheridan said. “First things first — your sins are forgiven.”

He also said that the rite was a powerful reminder to those who are suffering that they are not alone in

their journey. “This sacrament gives us the grace to carry the cross,” he added.

“Suffering is a cross. The grace of God helps us to face it.”

During the Mass, Father Sheridan and Father Bill Tanguay administered the sacrament to anyone who wished to receive it. They used oil to anoint the forehead and both palms of each person receiving the sacrament, and then held the person’s hands together for a moment with their own. The oil they used during this Mass was among the oils blessed by Bishop William G. Curlin during the chrism Mass held at St. Patrick Cathedral in Charlotte on Tuesday, April 18, during Holy Week.

Each parish in the diocese recently received some of the oil to use during the year.

Father Sheridan said that he hopes to celebrate more healing Masses in the future, but that parishioners could stop by his office any time they felt in need of the sacrament. He said that a person could receive the sacrament as often as once a month, and suggested that parishioners stop by the church on the way to the hospital for tests or elective surgery.

“Take advantage of the grace of God,” he said. t

“The Holy Father, all our theologians and all the priests teach that the heart of our church is the eucharistic sacrifice,” he said. “That’s what we’re all about. This is the heart of our faith.

It is what we are.”

For more information on perpetual adoration at St. Gabriel Church in Charlotte, call call Kathleen Potter at (704) 366-5127; at Belmont Abbey in Belmont, call Marie Siebers at (704) 827-6734; and at the chapel at Maryfield Nursing Home in High Point, call Theresa Hansen at (336) 273-1507.

For information on daily adoration at the Basilica of St. Lawrence in

Asheville, call Jane Sorrells at (828) 298-0334. Adorers from any parish are welcome at any of the sites, and volunteers are always needed. t Contact Associate Editor Jimmy Rostar by calling (704) 370-3334 or e-mail jtrostar@charlottediocese.org

May 12, 2000

Around the Di-

The Catholic News & Herald 5

Retreat provides cultural and spiritual foundation for African-American

By Alesha M. Price Staff Writer CHARLOTTE — A mixture of nearly 100 participants, coordinators and volunteers gathered at the Johnston YMCA for a retreat filled with information, games and youth group performances from April 28-30. The Fourth Annual Sankofa African-American Heritage Weekend, coordinated by the Kabaka Dancers and Drummers of Our Lady of Consolation Church in Charlotte, drew approximately 65 teens away from their usual weekend activities to an Afro-centric experience of history and culture.

“This is a means by which our African-American children can learn about their culture, history and heritage, which they do not readily hear about in school,” explained Sandy Murdock, co-founder of the Sankofa weekend and founder of the Kabaka Dancers and Drummers. “The intent of Sankofa is to have a positive effect on the lives of youth through exposure to educated adults close to their ages who own their own businesses and are working throughout the community and exposure to historical and cultural information they may not already know.”

The word “sankofa,” an Akan word, meaning “reaching backward in order to move forward,” was reflected in this year’s theme, “to know your roots is to know yourself.” The Akan language is derived from the Kwa language of Southern Ghana.

The symbol of the sankofa bird with its head turned around to face those behind it was represented on the literature about the event, the t-shirts that each child and coordinator received and the advertisement posters.

The idea is that knowing about one’s background and history can have an effect on his or her present and future life, said Murdock.

The participants of various denominations from different areas of North and South Carolina were separated into small groups and led by two adult coordinators who guided them through introductory and closing presentations, a family tree activity, songs and talks from presenters, which included the Rev. Sheldon Shipman, pastor of Walls Memorial AME Zion Church in Charlotte, Ayaba Bey, owner and director of Sankofa Enterprises and Taharka, who combined poetry, rap and storytelling into his presentation.

The activities and talks were based on this year’s featured movie “Roots,” Alex Haley’s multi-generational saga about his ancestral background from tribal Africa to slavery to modern times. From the showing of the first part of the mini-series, first shown on television in the 1970s, the guest speakers kept with the theme when presenting their supplemental historical facts about the black influence in all aspects of life.

“Events like these are important not only for African-American youth but for all youth because it serves as an informative and positive force in the larger community,” said Father Mauricio West, vicar general and chancellor

Photo by Alesha M. Price

Tia Murdock from Our Lady of Consolation Church helps LaTayvia Moore with her family tree project at the Sankofa African-American Heritage Weekend from April 28-30 at the Johnston YMCA in Charlotte. and the Sankofa steering committee chairman. “What the children learn at Sankofa is then spread to others, thereby enacting a positive chain of information.”

The meals and other items were provided by a number of sponsor donations including Mecklenburg Area Catholic Schools (MACS), Urban Essentials, a local Afro-centric clothing store, House of Africa, a local store specializing in authentic African art, sculptures and clothing and national fast food chains.

This is the third year that MACS has donated snacks, breakfast food and bev-

erages to the event.

Joseph Willis, co-founder of Sankofa, said, “We want to plant a seed of curiousity in the minds of these youth, so somewhere along the way, even if they didn’t necessarily absorb everything during the weekend, that seed will grow into a better apprecation of their history.” t Contact Staff Writer Alesha M. Price by calling (704) 370-3354 or e-mail amprice@charlottediocese.org.

Jesuits welcome correction of U.S. report alleging terrorist

By John Norton Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The Jesuit order welcomed the U.S. Department of State’s prompt correction of a terrorism report which originally said Jesuit priests founded Colombia’s largest terrorist group.

“We are very grateful that the State Department reacted so quickly,” said Jesuit Father Jose de Vera, the Rome-based spokesman for the order

worldwide.

In a statement May 5, the State Department said its annual terrorism report’s allegation that Jesuit priests founded Colombia’s National Liberation Army was “absolutely false.”

“We sincerely regret the error,” the statement said. “We offer our most sincere apologies to the Jesuit community and want to assure them that the Department of State had no intention of impugning the Society of Jesus or

their pastoral work throughout the world.”

The original report, “Patterns of Global Terrorism: 1999,” released May 1, said that the guerrilla group, known by its Spanish acronym, ELN, was “formed in 1965 by Jesuit priests inspired by Fidel Castro and Che Guevara.”

See JESUITS, page 14

6 The Catholic News & Herald

May 12, 2000

People in the

Bridgeport’s Bishop Egan named Cardinal O’Connor’s

By Patricia Zapor Catholic News Service WASHINGTON (CNS) — Pope John Paul II has appointed Bishop Edward M. Egan of Bridgeport, Conn., 68, as archbishop of New York, succeeding the late Cardinal John J. O’Connor, who died May 3.

Archbishop Gabriel Montalvo, apostolic nuncio to the United States, announced the appointment in Washington May 11.

Archbishop Egan is a Chicago-area native and canon lawyer who served 12 years as a judge in the Roman Rota, the church’s central appellate court.

He was a New York auxiliary bishop for three years under Cardinal O’Connor and was archdiocesan vicar of education there before he was named to head the Bridgeport Diocese in November 1988. He was installed the following month.

In Bridgeport, he oversaw a program to regionalize the diocese’s elementary schools and helped raise millions of dollars to support education programs and to support religious and homes for retired clergy.

He also was part of the creation by the state’s bishops of the Connecticut Federation of Catholic Schools in 1990 to lobby for legislative support and encourage enrollment.

The Catholic population of Bridgeport has grown during his tenure there, from 331,000 in 1988 to 361,000 now, according to the Official Catholic Directory. But at the same time, the number of active diocesan priests has shrunk, from 223 to 183, and the number of parishes has gone from 91 to 88.

Archbishop Egan will be moving to the second largest U.S. archdiocese, which has a Catholic population of about 2.4 million and has 413 parishes

People in brief Priest urges action against

‘campaign’ to discredit Pius XII ROME (CNS) — Catholics must react with clear and well-documented facts to “the campaign to denigrate” Pope Pius XII, said the Jesuit promoting his beatification. “The Holy See, and specifically the supreme pontiff Pius XII, made every possible effort to stop the crimes” of the Nazis and to help those whom the Nazis were persecuting, said Jesuit Father Peter

and 585 active diocesan priests.

The New York Archdiocese, which includes Manhattan, Bronx and Staten Island and seven upstate counties, is home to 238 Catholic elementary schools, two diocesan seminaries, two seminaries run by religious orders and 12 Catholic colleges and universities.

Archbishop Egan also will have the assistance of a half dozen auxiliary bishops in his new see.

Edward Michael Egan was born in Oak Park, Ill., on April 2, 1932. He studied at Quigley Preparatory Seminary in Chicago, St. Mary of the Lake Seminary in Mundelein, Ill., and the Gregorian University in Rome.

He was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Chicago in December 1957 and, after an early assignment to Holy Name Cathedral parish, served as assistant chancellor and secretary to Cardinal Albert Meyer of Chicago until 1960. Then he was named assistant vice rector of the North American College in Rome. While there, he earned a doctorate in canon law from Gregorian University.

Upon his return to Chicago in 1964, he served as assistant chancellor until 1968 and then as co-chancellor for human relations and ecumenism from 1968 to 1972. He also was secretary to Cardinal John Cody. In 1972 he returned to Rome as a judge in the Roman Rota.

While assigned to the Rota, he also taught juridical practice at its postgraduate school for canon law.

He also served in 1983 as a member of the committee of six canonists who reviewed the final draft of the revised Code of Canon Law with Pope John Paul.

In 1978, while on the Rota, thenMsgr. Egan was one of three U.S. priests among 88 noncardinals auGumpel. The priest, the relator of Pope Pius’ beatification cause, said communists, Masons and “some Jewish circles” had mounted a campaign against the pope, who reigned during World War II. Church studies healing attributed to Blessed Padre Pio SAN GIOVANNI ROTONDO, Italy (CNS) — Church authorities and doctors have begun studying a healing that might be the miracle needed for the canonization of Blessed Padre

CNS file photo

Bishop Edward M. Egan is seen in an undated file photo. Several news outlets were reporting that Bishop Egan of Bridgeport, Conn., was at the top of the list to take the place of Cardinal John O’Connor as archbishop of New York. Cardinal O’Connor died May 3 at age 80.

July, after a lengthy investigation, the Vatican permanently barred the pair from continuing their ministry, citing “doctrinally unacceptable” positions regarding homosexuality.

A spokesman for then-Bishop Egan said at the time that the bishop thought it would be inappropriate for the pair to give a retreat in the Bridgeport Diocese in light of the ongoing investigation. t

Pio. Capuchin Father Gianmaria Cocomazzi, guardian of the church where Padre Pio is buried, said a 6-year-old boy was healed of severe meningitis in January after thousands of people prayed for Padre Pio to intercede with God to heal the boy. Father Cocomazzi

thorized to be inside the conclave that elected Cardinal Karol Wojtyla as Pope John Paul II. His assignment at the conclave that October was to check material sent into and out of the conclave area.

Other Americans allowed in were Franciscan Father Emmanuel Klump, English-language confessor in St. Peter’s Basilica, and then-Father Donald Wuerl, now bishop of Pittsburgh.

Bishop Wuerl then was secretary to Cardinal John Wright, who was recovering from surgery.

Until this year, Archbishop Egan chaired the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Science and Human Values, of which he remains a member. He also is a member of the bishops’ Ad Hoc Committee on Nomination of Conference Officers.

He is fluent in Latin, French and Italian and is said to be fond of swimming for exercise.

In 1994, Archbishop Egan was the homilist at the national Red Mass in Washington, held annually just before the Supreme Court term begins. He used the occasion to criticize what he said had become “politically correct” intolerance toward faith-based views on issues such as abortion and taxfunded support for religious schools.

He told the congregation of judges, lawyers, Cabinet members and others involved in the legal profession that lawyers should be “first and foremost” in insisting that minority and faith-based views be allowed “free and objective expression.”

Archbishop Egan also received coverage of his 1997 decision to cancel a retreat in his diocese for Catholic parents of gays and lesbians that was to be led by Salvatorian Father Robert Nugent and Sister Jeannine Gramick, a School Sister of Notre Dame. Last told of the boy’s healing May 2 during celebrations at the Church of St. Mary in San Giovanni Rotondo marking the first anniversary of Blessed Padre Pio’s beatification.

May 12, 2000

From the

The Catholic News & Herald 7

Cardinal O’Connor, from page 1

national and international voice. As the applause finally died down he remarked: “I see he hasn’t left the pulpit.”

The message reached far beyond those in the cathedral, to crowds outside listening to loudspeakers and to far larger numbers across the city and nation who followed the two-hour service live on CNN or other broadcast media.

In the prepared text, Cardinal Law observed that Cardinal O’Connor “did not shy away from the task of preaching.”

“He made this pulpit unique in the history of the Catholic Church in the United States,” he said.

In a personal vein, Cardinal Law, one of Cardinal O’Connor’s closest friends, told about joining family members and others in saying the prayers for the dying shortly before the cardinal’s death.

“In the midst of those prayers, there was a moment of profound grief as each of us realized with a sudden clarity what was happening,” he said.

“Just as suddenly, we realized our tears were not for him, but for ourselves.”

Cardinal Law said the Eucharist was “the source and summit” of Cardinal O’Connor’s life, and told of concelebrating Mass with him in his private chapel “just a few weeks ago.”

“It was clearly for him the highlight of that day, and for me it will remain a most precious memory,” Cardinal Law said.

He said Cardinal O’Connor’s illness had made it impossible for him to read by that point, but he recited the eucharistic prayer from memory. “So much was the Mass a part of his life that when some things began to fade, the Eucharist did not,” he said.

If attendance at the Mass by a president and former president, neither Catholic, testified to the extraordinary place Cardinal O’Connor had gained in American life, his standing in Rome was confirmed by the decision of the pope to send the Vatican secretary of state to preside and serve as principal celebrant.

After a welcome from Auxil-

iary Bishop Robert A. Brucato, interim administrator of the archdiocese, Cardinal Sodano made introductory remarks expressing gratitude for “this great churchman who has done so much both for the Catholic community and for so many men and women of good will.”

“His name will be forever etched on the annals of the history of the church,” the secretary of state said.

Pope John Paul and Cardinal O’Connor were both born in 1920, the cardinal Jan. 15 and the pope May 18, and Pope John Paul ordained Cardinal O’Connor to the episcopacy in 1979 and made him a cardinal in 1985.

They developed a close working relationship and seemed to embody the same outlook on matters affecting the church, leading to a widespread impression that Cardinal O’Connor was the primary voice in the United States for the mind of the pope.

“As a sign of his profound esteem for the late Cardinal O’Connor, and to demonstrate concretely his spiritual union with the church in New York,” Cardinal Sodano said, “the Holy Father sent me to represent him personally at this solemn liturgy.”

Cardinal Sodano also expressed the pope’s condolences to Cardinal O’Connor’s two sisters, brother and other relatives present, as well as to “the entire archdiocesan family,” and imparted an apostolic blessing at the conclusion of the service.

Cardinal William W. Baum, a Vatican official who was another of Cardinal O’Connor’s close friends, spoke at the conclusion of the Mass.

He cited Cardinal O’Connor’s work for Christian unity, and called attention to retired Greek Orthodox Archbishop Iakovos, who was present along with his successor, Archbishop Demetrios, and officials of other churches and other religions.

Cardinals Law and Baum both spoke of the Sisters of Life, an order established by Cardinal O’Connor to pray and work for the pro-life cause.

Members of the order attended the many services held for Cardinal

O’Connor over the weekend following his death, and at the funeral Mass their superior, Mother Agnes Donovan, read the first lesson from the Book of Wisdom, beginning, “The souls of the just are in the hand of God.” After Cardinal Baum spoke, the Book of the Gospels and the pall were removed from the coffin, made in upstate New York of red African mahogany from the Ivory Coast, and the cardinal was lifted onto the shoulders of six men for his final trip down the center aisle of his cathedral, and then back up another aisle to go down into the crypt.

There, under the high altar, with only family and a few church officials present, the coffin was deposited in the 13th of 21 vaults available.

The 12 previously placed there include seven former archbishops of New York; Coadjutor Archbishop John J. Maguire, who served under Cardinal Francis J. Spellman; Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, who was identified with the

cathedral in a special way through his preaching there; two former cathedral rectors; and Pierre Toussaint, whose remains were brought there after Cardinal O’Connor began his cause for canonization.

After the cardinal’s body was deposited in its permanent resting place, Cardinal Sodano and the others returned for the end of the service.

After the final blessing, the organ and brass in the choir loft thundered forth with the introduction and accompaniment to one of Cardinal O’Connor’s favorite hymns, one he had the congregation sing at his installation March 19, 1984: “Lift high the cross, the love of Christ proclaim.” t

8 The Catholic News & Herald

C

an science be reconciled with Christian faith in a loving, powerful, creative and redemptive God? Some would say no, others would be doubtful. But most of us have a hunch that science and religion can live together.

Still, it is not always clear how to make the science-faith connection, and much confusion comes from not doing it thoughtfully. Superficial liaisons are worse in the long run than an indefinite standoff. However, a standoff is hardly ideal either.

But won’t exposure to new scientific information undermine my faith?

Isn’t it simpler to keep the timeless truths of faith carefully quarantined, sealed off from contact with the transitory views of scientists?

Can the most interesting scientific ideas, especially those having to do with evolution, ever be reconciled with religious belief ? Finally, what does the evolution of life, or of the whole Big-Bang universe, possibly have to do with my trust in God? Actually, when carefully separated from the materialist ideology in which some scientists package it, evolution may prove to be not so much a “danger” as a great gift to theology.

No matter how difficult the pursuit of truth is — and often it is difficult — believers can trust that it always will lead back to God. Embrace the truth, no matter how initially shocking it might be, and, as the French writer Simone Weil put it, you will fall into the arms of Christ.

In the past, prominent leaders in the church at times resisted genuine encounter with new scientific ideas.

We need only recall the reactions by some to Copernicus, Galileo and Darwin. Even today many religious people turn away from the idea of evolution.

What fundamentally is at issue in the case of evolution is whether we any longer plausibly can think of the universe as a purposeful creation of God. At first sight, the meandering, apparently blind and experimental character of life’s lumbering terrestrial journey, along with the immensity of time it took for life and humans to emerge on this planet, might make us wonder what is going on in such a strange world.

May 12, 2000

Faith

A way of viewing evolution through a Christian lens

By John F. Haught Catholic News Service

“Christian faith gives us a sense of God as self-abandoning, self-giving mystery,” notes theology professor John F. Haught. “The evolutionary picture of nature invites us to embrace ... this surprising, disturbing and powerfully salvific image of God.”

CNS photo by Bill Wittman

Would an intelligent God have “fooled around” for 3.8 billion years after the first appearance of life before creating intelligent beings? Why so much cruelty and suffering, wasteful extinctions, discarding of the illadapted and survival of the reproductively “fit” along the way?

Evolution, we know today, is not unambiguously cruel and heartless. It also could be said to involve a wonder-

ful cooperation of life with life; and Earth’s life-story, viewed in its entirety, exhibits a breathtaking “grandeur” that enraptured Darwin himself.

Still, evolution is not always benign, and a sound Christian theology must face the harsh facts along with all the marvelous beauty nature has brought forth.

What I believe a theology of evolution will find is that the notion of

God can be deepened and expanded by its encounter with biological evolution.

The understanding of nature implied in Darwinian evolution demands that people abandon any view of God that ignores the self-giving and self-effacing character of the divine mystery.

This understanding affirms that all of the struggle and suffering in life’s evolution is God’s struggle and suffering too. Nature itself is cruciform.

According to this understanding, the God whose image radiates from the humble, self-giving, suffering love of Jesus is not one who overpowers the world, forcefully cramming it into a prefabricated frame. Instead the Creator wants a world that will flourish in a way that renders it distinct from God. Only such a world can enter into loving relationship with an infinite love.

Divine power, therefore, includes a measure of loving self-restraint in which the world is permitted to emerge over the course of time as something other than God. A world truly loved by God must have room to wander about, experimenting with various possibilities.

Love allows the universe to remain unfinished for now. If God had completed creation in such a way that the world was frozen into a deadness with no future, it would have been an extension of God’s being rather than an independent creation.

Evolution, therefore, seems to me to be essential to a world truly loved

by God. And this means that the lifestory is permitted to be experimental.

To be alive at all, life must have room to wander as it finds its way into God. Christian faith gives us a sense of God as self-abandoning, self-giving mystery. The evolutionary picture of nature invites us to embrace, in a wider way than ever before, this surprising, disturbing and powerfully salvific image of God. t Haught is chairman of the theology department at Georgetown University. His most recent book is “God After Darwin: A Theology of Evolution.” Westview Press, 2000.

Discussion Point:

On the Jubilee Day for Scientists (May 25), what event is planned in your “We list the jubilee intentions for the upcoming month in our parish bulletin and ask people to pray for them.

Included in May are our prayers for the scientific community.”

Dory Davis Houston, Texas

“While we are not doing anything on May 25 per se, we are having a series of dialogues with community leaders. Our fourth such dialogue is scheduled with the scientific community for sometime in the fall. These talks are initiated by Bishop Carlos Sevilla, SJ, to build good will, to remind the secular leadership of their moral responsibility and to remind them that the church has an important contribution to make to their work.”

Robert Fontana, Director of Evangelization Diocese of Yakima, Washington

“Besides including information about St. Albert the Great — our patron saint and the patron saint of scientists — on our Web site (www. albertusmagnus.org), we are sharing information about him with our students so that they might better appreciate the impact he has had on science.’’

Joseph Troy, President Albertus Magnus High school Bardonia, N.Y.

Lend Us Your Voice An upcoming edition asks: What is a common, yet challenging, ethical issue that arises in ordinary daily life?

If you would like to respond for possible publication, please write: Faith Alive!

3211 Fourth St. N.E., Washington, D.C. 20017-1100

May 12, 2000

May 25, 2000:

Jubilee Day forB John Scientists B. Reynolds y

Catholic News Service

Two Catholic scientists recently shared their views on the relationship between faith and science. They are among a cadre of members of the scientific community who will be saluted on the church’s Jubilee Day for Scientists May 25.

Francis Castellino is the dean of the College of Science at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana. He takes a pragmatic approach to the subject of the relationship between faith and science, explaining, “The church has always paid attention to science.

Whether it always has supported it is another matter.”

Castellino received his doctorate in biochemistry from the University of Iowa and completed post-doctoral work at Duke University. He now spends nearly half of his working hours at Notre Dame involved in blood-coagulation, molecular-biology and gene-targeting research. Much of his work, especially his gene-targeting activity, is related to the field of medicine.

Castellino is a member of Corpus Christi Catholic Church in South Bend, Ind. He reflects that faith and science perhaps do go hand-in-hand, albeit not in the most conscious of ways. He believes it is incumbent upon all individuals to develop their Godly gifts. Just as musicians are obligated to develop their individual talents, so too are scientists obligated to do so.

Scientists are obligated, he says for example, to find cures for disease, and in so doing to enhance the quality of human life. “To better understand God, we must better understand God’s world,” Castellino adds.

Peter Reilly is a distinguished professor in chemical engineering at Iowa State University. He is also a member of St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church, the church ministering to the university community on the campus in Ames, Iowa.

Reilly received his doctorate in chemical engineering from the University of Pennsylvania and was employed by DuPont and the University of Nebraska before arriving at Iowa State. His scientific duties there include instruction in chemical engineering along with his related research. Additionally, Reilly is a speakers’ bureau member of the American Chemical Society and the American Institute of Chemical Engineers.

Reilly sees himself as both a scientist and a person of faith. When he speaks on his genetic-engineering and enzyme-structure research, such talks sometimes lead to inquiries about the existence of God. He is quick to respond that science cannot prove or disprove the question. “Science is science, while the existence of God is a matter of faith,” he explains. t Reynolds is a free-lance writer in Chicago, Ill.

Faith

The Catholic News & Herald 9

The scientists in our midst

By David M. Byers Catholic News Service

P

ope John Paul II always has had the greatest re spect for the scientific en terprise. In 1988, for example, he declared: “Science can purify religion from error and superstition; religion can purify science from idolatry and false absolutes. Each can draw the other into a wider world, a world in which both can flourish.”

The pope’s attitude is thoroughly refreshing, since modern Catholics have no choice but to live their faith in a world dominated by science and technology.

Despite sometimes contradictory conclusions — studies show that eggs are bad for the heart one day, good the next — we have an unbounded faith in scientific pronouncements.

Like everyone else, Catholics derive much of their knowledge of the world from science, and technology is changing this world with astonishing speed. This cultural perspective poses a serious challenge for pastoral ministers and catechists in the church: how to speak of faith in terms that people understand today.

The number of babies born through various forms of assisted reproduction worldwide is approaching 1 million.

Development of an artificial womb may make pregnancy obsolete for elite women in two or three generations.

How will the church present its concerns so that the link between sex and reproduction will be understood?

Particular advances in technology present Catholics with new moral choices, because these advances often have unintended consequences. Splitting the atom produced new diagnostic tools for medical research, but also nuclear power plants, which some fear, and nuclear weapons, which all fear.

These days, the spotlight is on the biotechnologies. A few seem clearly un-

acceptable from a Catholic perspective.

Scientists have now succeeded in cloning five species of animals, and many consider human cloning inevitable. However, this technology involves the destruction of embryos, violating the right to life. Moreover, it raises issues of social justice. How shall we treat human clones? Would we be inclined to discriminate against them, as people now discriminate against others on racial grounds?

Some emerging biotechnologies promise benefits to humanity but at the same time pose serious moral ques-

CNS photo by Nancy Wiechec

“Some emerging biotechnologies promise benefits to humanity but at the same time pose serious moral questions,” writes David Byers. tions. Embryonic stem-cell research may allow science to probe the cellular origins of cancer, diabetes, spinal-cord injury, arthritis, and a host of other lethal or disabling illnesses and conditions. Yet the church must oppose such work because embryos are destroyed in the process of obtaining their cells.

A question in the future may go something like this: May a Catholic accept a lifesaving transplantation of embry-

Food for Thought Science and faith need each other, and each may suffer by “going it

alone.” The Jubilee Day for Scientists May 25 will accent that point.

Actually, this day now has become known as the Jubilee for Men and Women From the World of Learning because, as one Vatican official explained, by science is meant every exercise of human intellectual activity directed to the search for truth in a rational and methodical way.

Cardinal Paul Poupard, president of the Pontifical Council for Culture, announced plans for this jubilee day, calling for “a new season of dialogue between science and faith.”

The jubilee for science “will take place in a profoundly different climate” than existed at the time of Galileo in the 17th century, the cardinal said.

A Vatican scientist, Jesuit Father George Coyne, director of the Vatican Observatory, said in a 1996 speech that today’s religious and scientific leaders ought to be able to appreciate each others’ benefits.

And Pope John Paul II said — also in 1996 — that “the need for dialogue and cooperation between science and faith has become ever more urgent and promising.” t David Gibson Editor, Faith Alive!

onic stem cells, knowing their source?

Less controversial new technologies are likewise mixes of light and shadow. The church welcomes genetic testing when it functions as an extension of sound medical practice, giving physicians and patients the information they need to make sound treatment decisions. However, the information genetic testing reveals would be of great interest to insurance companies and potential employers; the potential for abuse is enormous.

The same is true of genetic screening, which scans large groups of people

for defects. The principal medical justification for screening is as a tool for finding the incidence of disease in a population, opening the door to prevention or therapy. However, the same information can become the basis for selective abortion or even for eugenic policies aimed at “improving the human stock.”

Faith and morality need to be fully aware of contemporary reality so that they do not gradually lose their power to guide Christians living in a scientific and technological world. t Byers is the executive director of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Science and Human Values.

In a Nutshell

Can science and religion live together happily? Can the most interesting scientific ideas be reconciled with religious belief ?

It is not always clear how to make the science-faith connection. Yet the pursuit of truth always leads back to God. Science and religion each can “draw the other into a wider world, a world in which both can flourish,” Pope John Paul II said.

1 0 The Catholic News & Herald Book Review

National Shrine ‘a uniquely American expression,’ says

By Nancy Hartnagel Catholic News Service WASHINGTON (CNS) — The Catholic basilica that dominates northeast Washington is “a uniquely American expression,” said the author of a new history.

“Never before had American Catholics rallied for one such cause,” said Gregory W. Tucker, who wrote “America’s Church — The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.”

Early in the 20th century, the shrine became “a statement that Catholics had arrived in this country, and were in fact gaining acceptance and leaving an indelible imprint,” he said.

The church’s growth through immigration is reflected in the shrine’s more than 65 chapels representing different cultures, pieties and devotions, and in the countless donor names inscribed in Memorial Hall, he said.

“Perhaps it’s of a style of Catholicism that we’d roll our eyes at and say, ‘Oh superstitious,”’ he added, “but it all comes together under this great dome as a monumental expression of Catholicism in this country.”

Tucker’s pictorial narrative was published by Our Sunday Visitor in Huntington, Ind. A former shrine communications director, he currently directs public relations and community affairs for the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.

May 12, 2000

Read-

Speaking with Catholic News Service by phone, Tucker said the initial plan was for a university chapel to accommodate growing needs at The Catholic University of America, begun in 1887.

As early as 1895, he said, the priest considered the shrine’s founder, Father Thomas J. Shahan, “looked upon the sprawling campus and envisioned this monumental tribute to Mary.” A church history professor, he became

See BASILICA BOOK, page 14

Weekly Scripture Readings for the week of May 14 - 20, 2000 Fourth Sunday of Easter, Acts 4:8-12, 1 John 3:1-2, John 10:11-18; Monday (St. Isidore the Farmer), Acts 11:1-18, John 10:1-10; Tuesday, Acts 11:19-26, John 10:22-30; Wednesday, Acts 12:24-13:5, John 12:44-50; Thursday (St. John I, pope, martyr), Acts 13:13-25, John 13:16-20; Friday, Acts 13:26-33, John 14:16; Saturday (St. Bernardine of Siena), Acts 13:44-52, John 14:7-14 Readings for the week of May 21 - 27, 2000 Fifth Sunday of Easter, Acts 9:26-31, 1 John 3:18-24, John 15:1-8; Monday, Acts 14:5-18, John 14:21-26; Tuesday, Acts 14:19-28, John 14:27-31; Wednesday, Acts 15:1-6, John 15:1-8; Thursday, Acts 15:7-21, John 15:9-11; Friday (St. Philip Neri), Acts 15:22-31, John 15:12-17; Saturday (St. Augustine of Canterbury), Acts 16:1-10, John 15:18-21

Word to Life May 14, Fourth Sunday of Easter, Cycle B Readings: 1) Acts 4:8-12 Psalm 118:1, 8-9, 21-23, 26, 29 2) 1 John 3:1-2 3) Gospel: John 10:11-18

By Beverly Corzine Catholic News Service One of the most familiar and comforting psalms in Scripture begins, “The Lord is my shepherd.”

Psalm 23 provides us with images of love and protection that extend beyond death into eternity.

The metaphor of the shepherd’s tender care of his sheep frequently appears in Scripture. Jesus emphasizes in one of the Gospel stories the dedication of the shepherd who will search in the dead of night for the one lost sheep even though 99 are safely in the pen.

In this week’s Gospel reading he again uses the figure of the shepherd. In his description of the “good shepherd,” Jesus tells us that this is no ordinary person. The good shepherd is one who knows each animal; likewise, each animal knows the shepherd’s voice. The shepherd Jesus describes would go so far as to sacrifice himself for the welfare of the sheep.

Though we can see through the eyes of Easter faith that Jesus is speaking about himself and his love and commitment to us, sometimes we ask ourselves what all these images about sheep and shepherds really mean to us.

Our knowledge about sheep may only come from movies centered on the conflict between sheep and cattle raisers. The agricultural images of the Bible often escape our life’s experience. However, once in a while we have a graced moment when we make a discovery.

My moment of insight occurred last summer when my husband and I watched a man and his dog work as one to move his flock of sheep down a steep hillside in northern England.

After working with his dog, the man explained the challenges of raising sheep in the modern world. He noted the harsh winters, declining prices and his responsibility for the flock.

While he talked about caring for his sheep, I could see the quiet pride he took in his flock when he told us he always knew exactly how many sheep he had. His years of hard work had left their mark on his face, but here was a man with the dignity of one who shares a bond with his animals, the earth and God. I knew we had shared a conversation with a good shepherd.

Question: Are you able to take comfort in an image of our relationship to God that emphasizes our total reliance on him for our safety, our comings and goings, our conduct through this world?

“I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep, and my sheep know me.... For these sheep I will give my life” — John 10:13, 14b

May 12, 2000

Entertain-

The Catholic News & Herald 11

“Cirque du Soleil Journey of Man” comes to IMAX in

By Gerri Pare Catholic News Service NEW YORK (CNS) — The emotional development of man from birth to maturity is symbolically realized in the large-format Imax film, “Cirque du Soleil Journey of Man” (Sony Classics).

Performers in Cirque du Soleil, founded in Quebec, have engaged the imagination on a universal level since “Cirque du Soleil Journey of Man” (IMAX) The U.S. Catholic Conference classification is A-I — general patronage. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is G — general audiences.

1984 with their startling live dance and acrobatic numbers.

Captured on film with a 3-D process on the huge Imax screen, the effect is so magnified it’s initially almost overwhelming. The film’s threedimensional aspect requires wearing a headset with glasses, which does feel increasingly heavy on the head once the half-hour mark has passed. Even at its 38-minute running time, the movie would have benefited with a little trimming as some shots are held too long, losing some of their magical effect.

However, the visuals, with their reach-out-and-touch-me dimensionality, are glorious. Opening after a “Big Bang” explosion in the universe, a primitive cave is the setting for Taiko Drummers, who practice an ancient Japanese style of drum playing, as a child appears among them in awe of their boldly pulsating sounds.

Synchronized swimmers follow with graceful underwater routines which

seem a cross between ballet and old Esther Williams movies.

Abruptly, the youngster finds himself in a dense redwood forest where a clown-like couple guide him to experience his instincts and emotions as he enjoys the beauty of nature and the joys of carefree childhood.

Other scenes as the boy changes to a youth and finally reaches adulthood include segments of the Cirque du Soleil company: yellow bird-like Bungees diving from treetops; a Cube Man spinning a fiery giant metallic form; and the acrobatic feats of the Banquine performers.

A standout scene illustrates the bond between man and woman as the boy observes a statue of an entwined man and woman on a lily pad come to life with extraordinary movements that underline their trust and indivisibility, not to mention the unbelievable muscle control and strength on display.

The final scene is set before Berlin’s Brandenberg Gate, a hopeful symbol the future as a voice-over intones that with dreams, faith and love anything is possible.

Filmed in numerous locations under trying conditions and with daunting technical challenges, the film is quite a eyeful, especially for anyone who has not seen the Imax format, a contemporary 3-D film or the remarkable Cirque du Soleil performers. It’s colorful and captivating without relying on dialogue to explain the joyful images. t

CNS photo from Dreamworks and Universal Pictures

“Gladiator” Actor Russell Crowe plays a former Roman general who was sold into slavery and trained as a gladiator in the Dreamworks action epic, “Gladiator.” Set in 180 A.D., Rome’s leading general (Russell Crowe) escapes the vicious new emperor’s (Joaquin Phoenix) execution order but is enslaved as a gladiator and is determined to survive the bloodthirsty arena spectacles so he can wreak revenge by usurping the new ruler. As directed by Ridley Scott, gruesome mortal combat scenes suggest that might is right, but impassioned performances, an absorbing narrative and staggering visuals are nonetheless impressive in capturing the brutal era of human sacrifice as entertainment for the masses. Recurring stylized violence and a depiction of a character’s incestuous longings. The U.S. Catholic Conference classification is A-IV — adults, with reservations. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is R — restricted.

New at the Box Office

Pare is director of the U.S. Catholic Conference Office for Film and Broadcasting.

Now you can look film reviews up on America Online. Once you’re connected to AOL, just use the keyword CNS to go to Catholic News Service’s online site, then look for movie reviews.

“I Dreamed of Africa” Underwhelming drama about the remarkable real-life story of Kuki Gallmann (Kim Basinger), a wealthy wife and mother who leaves her comfortable life in Italy for the adventures of Africa. Director Hugh Hudson’s visually grand but narratively weak film fails to convey what drove the real Gallmann to suddenly transplant to Africa, while feebly drawn supporting characters and a sluggish tempo also undermine the film. Implied sexual encounters with shadowy nudity and brief violence. The U.S. Catholic Conference classification is A-III — adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 — parents are strongly cautioned.

Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

1 2 The Catholic News & Herald

May 12, 2000

Editorials & Col-

The Pope Speaks

POPE JOHN PAUL II

Pope praises Cardinal O’Connor’s years of ‘courageous witness’

By Benedicta Cipolla Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope John Paul II mourned the death of U.S. Cardinal John J. O’Connor, praising his “many years of dedicated and courageous witness to the Gospel.”

“As a deeply spiritual man, a warm and zealous pastor, and effective teacher of the faith and a vigorous defender of human life, Cardinal O’Connor modeled his own life and ministry on the figure of the Good Shepherd who, to the end, gives his life for the flock,” the pope said in a May 4 telegram to Auxiliary Bishop Robert A. Brucato of New York.

The pope expressed his appreciation for the late cardinal’s efforts toward “better ecumenical and interreligious relations” and his work on behalf of the poor, calling him “a source of inspiration in serving God in our less fortunate brothers and sisters.”

“Through the years he has been of great support to me in the service of the universal church,” said the pope.

In a statement released May 4 at the Vatican, papal spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said the pope was “deeply saddened by the news of Cardinal O’Connor’s death.”

“Cardinal O’Connor was an extraordinary figure in the Catholic Church in the United States,” the statement said. “He was a truly faithful shepherd and an outstanding witness to faith and human dignity.”

The pope was to send Cardinal Angelo Sodano, Vatican secretary of state, as his envoy to the funeral, scheduled for May 8 in New York’s St. Patrick’s Cathedral, the Vatican announced.

U.S. Cardinal Edmund C. Szoka told Catholic News Service he also planned to attend.

“He was a great churchman, an outstanding churchman, who gave his whole life to the service of the church as a priest, a bishop and a cardinal,” said Cardinal Szoka.

“He was a man of great talents and touched the lives of countless people with own special charism,” he said.

Cardinal Szoka said he admired Cardinal O’Connor for his communication skills and excellent work “as a proclaimer and defender of church teaching and church doctrine.”

He said the late cardinal was “fearless in promoting and defending church teaching,” even in the face of criticism.

A memorial Mass was being planned in Rome at the late cardinal’s titular Church of Sts. John and Paul.

Msgr. Timothy Dolan, rector of the U.S. bishops’ seminary in Rome, said the Mass was “for the benefit of the American community (in Rome), because so many people have expressed the desire to pray for the cardinal.”

Tragedy leads family to help others Carole Carrington never wanted to be in the public eye. But this California woman — mother of five and grandmother of nine — and her husband of nearly 50 years found their lives radically altered last year when tragedy made them the central survivors in a high profile murder case.

The story made the national news because it was so horrendous: A mother, a daughter and a friend from South America all were murdered during a visit to Yosemite National Park. They were the Carringtons’ daughter Carole Sund, their granddaughter Julie Sund and a dear friend from Argentina, Silvino Pelosso.

I had the privilege of being a part of a two-day anti-violence conference in Connecticut where Carole Carrington was a keynote speaker. She said that having loved ones taken away “is the hardest thing that ever could have happened to me in my life.”

I’m sure my readers remember this terrible story.

Carole Sund had taken the two girls on a trip to show them the western United States. They expected to have a wonderful time visiting Yosemite National Park and then going for a grand finale at the Grand Canyon. Sund’s husband would then join them with their other three children.

When the family couldn’t contact Carole Sund, they knew something was wrong. It was more than a month before their rented car, burned beyond recognition, and their mutilated bodies were found. The family absolutely had to know what had happened to their loved ones. The Carringtons offered a reward for information. About five months later there was a break in the case; a man who had been the caretaker at Cedar Lodge where the women had stayed confessed.

From their pain, the Carringtons have reached out to help others. “We offer rewards for the safe return of missing people and to bring violent persons to justice. We also want to raise public awareness about missing persons and violent crime in this

Hispanic Ministry FATHER VINCENT H. FINNERTY Guest Columnist to encourage Hispanics to become leaders; however, 60 percent also acknowledged that most Hispanics still lacked the leadership skills and experience to serve in diocesan administration.

Sixty-three percent of the dioceses with Hispanic Ministry have no Hispanics in management positions in the central offices, and 73 percent have no Hispanics in the management of Catholic Charities. b) Hispanic programs are most effective with Hispanic adults who speak Spanish. Only 18 percent of the diocesan directors said their diocese was not effectively reaching Spanish-speaking adults.

However, 37 percent of the dioceses are not reaching Spanish-speaking youth; 43 percent are not reaching English-speaking Hispanic adults; and 51 percent are not reaching English-speaking Hispanic youth.

Vincentian Father Vincent H. Finnerty is director of Hispanic Ministry for the Diocese of Charlotte.

The Bottom Line ANTOINNETTE BOSCO CNS Columnist

country. That’s what I’m doing running around the country,” talking to media and groups, something that would have been unheard of for her to do two years ago, she said.

Carole Carrington said she has learned there are some “very bad people” who should be “put away forever.” But there are also “kind, generous people in this world,” hundreds who have sent them cards and letters. She has also learned that she has “a whole lot more spirituality and faith than I thought I did.” Speaking of the victims, she said, “I do believe they’re all in a better place.”

She spoke of receiving a poem saying that if a breeze came up as she was thinking of her loved ones, she would know they were there with her. They went back to Yosemite for a segment on the “Leeza Show,” and when she mentioned this poem, there, on a still 95-degree day, “suddenly a breeze came up.”

There were other similar instances that all gave her “the overwhelming feeling that I was getting a message.”

Working for the Sund/Carrington Memorial Reward Fund, she said, is showing them that helping other people is essential “for coping with this agony that will be with us for the rest of our lives — but we can go on.”

Evaluating Hispanic Ministry This month we want to examine “Lay participation and Leadership” in the 1998 study commissioned by the Secretariat for Hispanic Affairs of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops. The study offers the following: On the plus side... a) Hispanics already active in the church have increased their levels of participation. Seventy percent of the diocesan directors report that Hispanic men are more active in their parishes than in 1990.

Much of the credit is due to the expansion of the lay apostolic groups, particularly the cursillos and the charismatic renewal.

Seventy-seven percent of the directors also report that Hispanic women are in higher positions of diocesan and parish leadership than in 1990. b) Forty-three percent of the dioceses administer a separate lay leadership institute or lay leadership program for Hispanics. Most of these new programs focus on the formation of leaders for parish ministry, though a few offer opportunities for advanced training and education. Some, and perhaps most, were established with assistance from regional training centers such as the Southeast Pastoral Institute, the Mexican-American Cultural Center, and Northeast Institute for Pastoral Formation, as well as smaller institutes such as Keno and Tepeyac.

On the down side... a) The level of Hispanic leadership in the dioceses remains low. Sixty-three percent of the diocesan directors said their diocese was “not doing enough”

We welcome your letters and comments.

Please send your Letters to the Editor to Joann S. Keane, The Catholic News & Herald, 1123 South Church Street, Charlotte, NC 28203.

May 12, 2000

Editorials & Col-

Light One Candle FATHER THOMAS J. McSWEENEY Guest Columnist Runway rudeness and the man in 21B Life’s little lessons come in unexpected ways.

Like in a TWA cabin packed with LaGuardia-bound New Yorkers itching to pull away from the West Palm Beach terminal.

I knew the majority of passengers had to be New Yorkers. Everyone — and I mean everyone — was talking at once about the holdup. We had been strapped in our seats for 15 minutes but were still moored to the boarding ramp. A lady provoked loud applause when she boomed: “What gives! Somebody gonna tell us why we’re just sittin’ here?”

And then the drama began. A flight attendant’s voice came over the PA system: “Passenger Herbert Brown in seat 21B, please collect your belongings and come to the exit.” Every head swiveled to the center of the cabin. Mr. Brown (No, that is not his real name), a middle-aged fellow in a business suit, wasn’t budging.

A stewardess, followed by a very pregnant young woman, marched down the aisle and quite audibly confronted Mr. Brown: “You see this woman?” she snapped, “She has a ticket for this seat. You were issued a boarding pass on a standby basis. You must give up this seat now, or else things could become very embarrassing for you!”

Mr. Brown flatly refused, “I have a ticket for this seat, and I am not giving it up.”

The expectant mother stood silently, while a may reappear when the memory of injuries recurs.

But again, that does not rule out forgiveness. Anger, just as the other normal human passions, is often necessary and proper. It’s how we respond to it that is important. When we cease to harbor the desire for vengeance and give up our need to get even, to punish the other person for what he or she did, we are well on the road to forgiveness.

Two very ordinary actions can be signs that, however much we still hurt, we are in the process of forgiving.

— First, we can pray for the other person. When we do that we are also, even if we don’t realize it, praying for our own healing.

— And second, we can be willing to treat the other person with civility and charity. We don’t need to seek him or her out, and we don’t need to be friends or buddies. But we should be open to simple Christian decency if the situation presents itself.

I know that many who say they cannot forgive have already reached this point. If not, it is something doable to aim at, much more sensible that attempting to suppress our memories.

Holy Days of obligation Q. We have become totally confused about holy days of obligation, which ones apply and which do not. Now it seems Ascension Thursday is changed to Sunday in our area. What is the story?

A. Several years ago, the Vatican gave permission for five provinces (groups of dioceses) in the United States to transfer observance of the feast of the Ascension to the Sunday before Pentecost. Last year, the National Conference of Catholic Bishops authorized all ecclesiastical provinces to do the same.

The purpose is to give more Catholics a greater opportunity to celebrate and reflect on this major feast of the church.

The bishops of your state are among many in this country who have implemented this change, beginning this year. Catholics in several other countries

chorus of boos and variations of “Yougottabekiddingme!” filled the cabin. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” the stewardess advised, “because the next person you will deal with is Security.” In disbelief we all watched the attendant help the passenger-without-aseat make her way back up the aisle, as the unmoved Mr. Brown coolly perused his flight magazine. The minutes had now turned into a half-hour delay that was clearly ticking off the captive audience. “Ah, come on, you dummy, you’re making us all pay for your rudeness!” The buzz was intensifying rapidly.

Enter the Law — a security officer straight out of Central Casting, a Brian Dennehy in uniform.

“You, sir, are going to get up and leave the plane.

Now.” And in a second Mr. Brown was moving up the aisle with his carry-on luggage in his arms. All the way, he yelled, “I’ll pay 300 dollars to anyone who gives me a seat!” The response was deafening: “Forgedaboutit!”

“Shame! Shame!” “Swim home, you idiot!”

But the drama wasn’t over. No sooner had Mr. Brown been ejected, when another man jauntily glided down the aisle and took seat 21B. Non-plussed we all wondered aloud about the pregnant lady’s whereabouts. As we taxied out to the runway, the flight attendant’s voice announced: “You may all be wondering about the man now seated in 21B. Well, you’ll be happy to know that while we were all dealing with the notorious Mr. Brown, this terrific fellow gave up his seat in First Class to the mother-to-be.”

No fanfare, no gallant speech, no fuss. He simply and quietly went about doing the right thing — get up and give the woman a seat. While we were cursing the villain, he was looking after the leading lady.

While we were finding fault, he provided a solution.

If you try, there usually is some way to make a bad situation a little better. If you try.

Father Thomas J. McSweeney is director of The Christophers.

Question Corner FATHER JOHN DIETZEN CNS Columnist

Is it really possible to forgive?

Q. Through the years I have been very badly hurt by several people, especially when I was younger. I know there is a mandate from God that we are to forgive those who offend us, even those who do grave injustice against us.

This is troubling me because I am finding it so difficult to forgive these people deep in my heart. What can someone like myself do?

A. The volume of mail I’ve been receiving in recent months on this subject surprises me. People, obviously very good people, find themselves spiritually frustrated and guilty because they, as you, feel they cannot forgive and don’t know what to do about it.

From this mail, and from my own pastoral experience, it seems that a large part of the problem stems from the old admonition to forgive and forget.

In most cases, especially when the hurt has been grievous, it is impossible to forget, even after many years.

The supposition then is that one has not forgiven the wrongdoer, and that is a mistake. We forgive others by letting go of resentment and the desire to take revenge, to inflict harm in return on those who have violated us.

Memory of what happened may remain. It is normal and healthy to be angry when someone does violence to us or to someone we love, and that anger

The Catholic News & Herald 13

On the Light Side DAN MORRIS CNS Columnist All worked up over this hand-holding thing One of the more traumatic aspects about attending Mass in the United States in this day and age is that it has become of paramount importance that you pay full attention to germs and your hands.

Actually, it is easier to monitor your hands because most germs are really, really tiny and hard to see with the naked eye, and most of us have eyes that are, to be candid and blunt, naked.

In the old days one could blithely saunter into a Mass (this was in a time before they were called eucharistic liturgies) and not worry about one’s hands. You could pick up hymnals, touch the back of pews, touch the holy water font, open doors and even go “poink” on the nose of your or friends’ children with the tip of your index finger.

However, if you “poink” your own or anyone else’s children’s noses now, the Hand Police will charge out of the corners of the church and scream at you: “Don’t anyone touch this person during the Sign of Peace. He has ‘poinked’ the nose of a germ-laden child and wants to infect you. Cast him out.”

And that’s just at the Sign of Peace.

If you are in a parish where people form human chains during the Our Father, the hands/ germs thing can get ugly. Much of this, of course, could be avoided if the U.S. Liturgy Gestapo would listen to my oft-repeated request that churches be cordoned off into “hand-holding” and “nonhand-holding” sections.

With decent signage and a couple of volunteers from the parish Scout troop equipped with cattle prods, parishes could easily funnel people into the appropriate pew areas.

I realize this would publicly acknowledge what we all know in our hearts is the truth. We are a church in schism. Some people like to shake hands, hold hands and use their hands to share the Communion cup. Others — you can tell who we are because we attend Mass with our hands in our pockets or behind our backs — do not.

The shake-hold-share crowd will argue that there is no more chance of spreading germs through such contact than, say, pushing open the church door where other folks have touched the door with the same hands that they will be shaking yours with.

But they totally forget the axiom that says, “But, duh, we were not thinking about it then.”

I even had a friend claim that people who want to criticize shaking, holding and commoncupping will think nothing of going to a bowling alley and using a rental ball.

“Think about it,” she said. “People go straight from eating pizza with their hands to sticking their fingers into those holes and then rolling that ball on the floor, and then back to eating pizza.”

I could not help but think, as I was gagging, that it might be a nice thing if parishes started handing out latex gloves as we enter church, especially if there are any bowling alleys in the neighborhood.

1 4 The Catholic News & Herald

In the

Basilica Book, from page 10 university rector in 1909 and a bishop in 1914.

“He sent out the first appeal just to Catholic women in 1911,” said Tucker.

“He saw them as his soldiers in the task.”

At a 1913 Vatican meeting, thenMsgr. Shahan got “all the approval he needed,” Tucker continued. “Pius X was so taken with the notion that he enthusiastically endorsed it, and then reached into his desk drawer and presented Shahan what amounted to $400 in Italian lire as a down payment.”

One architect proposed a French Gothic design, but Cardinal James Gibbons of Baltimore, university chancellor, favored the work of Charles Maginnis, a well-known architect of Catholic edifices.

Tucker said Maginnis preferred the Byzantine-Romanesque form as “truer to the earliest beginnings of Christianity” and “most harmonious and compatible with the architecture of Washington.” Also, he didn’t want to compete with Episcopalians who “were building a Gothic structure on the other side of town.”

The crypt level — which once announced “National Shrine” in neon letters — was completed in 1924.

Then it sat until 1954, said Tucker, “looking more like an overgrown turnof-the-century prison” than the largest Catholic church in the Western Hemisphere. “Bishops even talked about maybe demolishing it,” he said.

The project had been slowed by

Depression and war economies, as well as debts already incurred. Tucker said control of the project was “a constant issue” between university and shrine officials, until the shrine was separately incorporated in 1948.

Many prominent 20th-century Catholics are associated with the shrine story. But in Tucker’s view, its greatest champion after Bishop Shahan was Bishop John F. Noll of Fort Wayne, Ind., founder of Our Sunday Visitor.

After World War II, Bishop Noll, chairman of the first episcopal committee for the shrine, took up its cause in the pages of his national newspaper and at annual bishops’ meetings.

“You can almost see the bishops’ eyes rolling back in their heads, saying, ‘Here comes Noll again about the shrine,”’ Tucker said.

The bishop appealed to all Catholics, even school children, and his fellow bishops eventually approved a plan of diocesan quotas to complete the building.

Construction resumed in 1954, and the shell of the Great Upper Church, plus the $1-million campanile from the Knights of Columbus, was finished in 1959.

Said Tucker: “It was completed in a very small window of opportunity in the ’50s,” as a response to atheistic communism, in gratitude for the end of war, and following the 1950 papal

May 12, 2000

Jesuits, from page 5

Father de Vera told Catholic News Service May 8 that the report caught the Jesuits by surprise. The order’s provincial in Colombia, Father Oracio Arango, immediately sent a letter of protest to the country’s U.S. ambassador, he said.

The report’s original wording “was rather obnoxious to say that we are inspired by Fidel Castro,” Father de Vera said. “We have other sources of inspiration to put our lives on the line.”

The Jesuit spokesman said that the mistaken information also potentially put Colombian Jesuits in physical danger, given the country’s ongoing civil war.

“To point to the Jesuits as the inspiration or foundation of a terrorist group was really a blow in the present situation and could be very dangerous indeed,” he said.

When he learned of the correction, Father de Vera sent a note of thanks to Lindy Boggs, U.S. ambassador to the Holy See, he said.

In addition to issuing the statement, the State Department corrected its Internet version of the report to read instead that the ELN was “established in 1964 nominally as (a) military wing of (the) Colombian Communist Party.” t

proclamation on Mary’s Assumption.

The book details shrine construction, as well as the burst of ornamentation in marble, mosaics and stained glass that began in the ’60s and ended in 1999 with installation of the “Universal Call to Holiness” sculpture.

It also tells the story of prominent visitors, from future popes and presidents to Dorothy Day, who said she found her vocation while praying in the Crypt Church on Dec. 8, 1930.

Tucker personally recalled unannounced visits by the wife of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. “She loved to go into Memorial Hall and kneel

down at Our Lady of Mankind and pray,” he said.

The “Catholic piety and mindset that made the shrine possible” are absent on a large scale today, he said. But the fact that hundreds of thousands of pilgrims come annually shows “that the shrine has a place still and somehow does express the deeply held sentiments of Catholics.” t

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Bernard Campbell, CSP, P.O. Box 112, Clemson, SC 29633 or (864)654-1757.

EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES Administrative Assistant: Part-time. Approximately 12 hours/week. N/S with excellent communications, phone, computer skills. Prefer financial background. Resume and references to: MGH, 4801 E. Independence Blvd., Box 601, Charlotte NC 28212.

Computer Teacher: K-8, for 2000-2001 at St. Leo Catholic School, 333 Springdale, Winston-Salem, NC 27104. NC certification required (or in process). Call (336) 748-8252 for application and information. Submit resume to Georgette Schraeder, principal.

Cosmetologists/Barbers: Full-time and parttime. Charlotte area upscale salon seeking warmhearted, skilled stylists and barbers. Convenient south Charlotte location. $12 per hour + tips.

Please call (704) 341-4260.

Elementary and Middle School Positions: Immaculate Heart of Mary School has openings for the following positions for the 2000-2001 school year: Assistant Principal/Teacher (Master’s in Administration, practicing Catholic): Middle School teachers of Social Studies, Language Arts, Science and Math; Grades 4 and 5 teachers. Interested certified teachers may contact Margene Wilkins, principal, 605 Barbee Avenue, High Point, NC 27262; or call (336)887-2613; or fax (336)884-1849.

Music Ministry Director: St. Aloysius Catholic Church is seeking a Director of Music Ministry for

Beautiful, affectionate gray and white female cat looking for a good home. Three years old; fixed; up-to-date on shots. Found abandoned and brought inside. Needs a home without other animals. Please call Joyce: (704)896-0152.

Classified ads bring results! Over 110,000 readers! Over 43,000 homes!

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. a well-established music program. Send resume and references to: Search Committee, St. Aloysius Catholic Church, 921 Second St. NE, Hickory, NC 28601.

Queen Mattress Set: New, in plastic. Full warrantee.

Retail $400; sell for $195. Call (704)556-9674.

resume and a statement of your vision of Youth Ministry to: Search Committee, St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Church, 2715 Horse Pen Creek Rd., Greensboro, NC 27410 or fax to (336)294-6149.

Teachers: Our Lady of the Assumption Catholic School in Charlotte has openings beginning in August for a Pre-School Teacher and a Transitional Kindergarten Teacher. Part-time positions. NC teacher certification required. Call (704)531-0067.

Home Care: In-home care for your loved one. Thorough background checks on all caregivers. Serving Henderson, Transylvania, Polk counties. COMPASSIONATE COMPANIONS, INC., (828)696-0946.

Teachers, Campus Minister, Library/Media Director: Charlotte Catholic High School has the following full-time teaching positions open for the 2000-2001 school year: Math, Chemistry, English, Religion, Social Studies, Spanish, and Drama. Must have NC Teaching Certification. Also, Library/ Media Director and part-time Campus Minister are needed. Call (704)543-1127.

SALE position as a Youth Youth Minister: AFOR half-time Minister is available at Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish in High Point, NC (1000 households). The parish has a Total Youth Ministry Program, which includes the Confirmation Program, for middle and high school youth. Applicants must be a practicing Catholic and a member of a Catholic parish. ExpeSERVICES rience in Youth MinistryOFFERED and Religious Education is desirable. Send resume and references to Search Committee, IHM Church, 605 Barbee Ave., High Point, NC 27262. Fax (336)884-1849. For more information call (336)884-5212.

Thanks to St. Jude, St. Joseph, and the Blessed Virgin Mary for prayers answered. B.F.

Youth Minister: Our growing parish community of 1900 families is seeking a full-time Youth Minister for our established Total Youth Ministry program for youth grades 6 through 12. Responsibilities include spiritual and program development while working together with a committed team of 50 adults. CanTO A GOOD HOME didate should FREE be: faith-filled, enthusiastic, organized, creative and team-oriented. Experienced with a B.A. in Theology or related field. Salary and benefits commensurate with degree and experience. Send a

Youth/Young Adult Ministry Director: A tri-parish (including one Hispanic) Catholic community of 1800 families in a university setting is PRAYERS & INTENTIONS 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.

May 12, 2000

In the

The Catholic News & Herald 15

Three priests care for infant left on their

By Patricia Rudy Catholic News Service VIENNA, Va. (CNS) — As the three priests at St. Mark Church in Vienna were getting ready to turn in for the night one evening in late April, the sound of a baby crying came from outside.

Father Stewart Culkin, pastor, heard it from his room and Fathers Francis deRosa and Christopher Pollard, parochial vicars, noticed it from the living room.

“We all converged at the front door at the same time,” said Father de Rosa.

Alone on the doorstep was a 4-month-old girl, Sadgi Gill. The priests learned later that she had been abducted from an apartment building in nearby Manassas shortly before 9 p.m. Her mother had left her briefly in her second-floor apartment, strapped in her car seat, while she went to unload groceries from her vehicle in the parking lot. The infant arrived at St. Mark’s unharmed.

“It was tragic, but obviously there were some comical aspects to it,” Father deRosa told the Arlington Catholic Herald, diocesan newspaper.

“We felt like three priests and a baby,” he told the Fairfax Journal newspaper. “At first we felt bad for her. Then we thought we just might have an addition to our family. We even thought about raising her as a nun.”

“It was like a movie,” said Father Pollard. “At first we were incredulous, and then we thought, hey, maybe some-

one should pick up the baby. We’re not taught about this in the seminary.”

The priests brought her in and called Fairfax County police. The parents are not parishioners at St. Mark’s.

Father deRosa said that there is no known connection of the incident to the church.

Father Pollard, who does not have nieces and nephews, held her most of the time, said Father deRosa. “He did very well with the baby.”

“I was born to be an uncle,” said Father Pollard. “It’s my God-given innate natural ability. It was kind of an adventure to have her there.”

Father Culkin, for his part, said Father deRosa, was relieved that he had his two associates with him. In his nearly 29 years as a priest, the pastor said, nothing like this had ever hap-

pened to him.

After the baby had been there a while, “she started getting cantankerous and needed changing,” said Father deRosa. Since no diapers or formula are kept at the rectory, the priests called a pediatrician parishioner whose daughter had a newborn child, and the needed supplies were brought.

For her name, “I chose Arizona, from the movie ‘Raising Arizona,”’ said Father Pollard. “Father deRosa chose Clotilde and Father Culkin didn’t choose a name.”

“We had given thought to keeping her and even baptizing her, but three priests and a baby is not enough,” said Father Pollard. “It was the subject for my homily this week. In addition to being baptized, the faith has to be taught; (one is) not to be baptized and then live

life as though it had never happened.”

The baby was at the rectory for slightly over four hours, until the parents came to retrieve her. Since the infant’s abduction and abandonment occurred in different counties, said Father Pollard, he understood that jurisdictional problems caused some time delay.

“It was a very happy ending that her parents were able to come so quickly,” said Father Pollard. “It was nice to go back to bed at 2:30 a.m. and not lose any more sleep over it.”

“The mother was very relieved to see her baby,” said Father deRosa. The parents, believing that it was God’s hand that brought the baby to the church, said, “She was in the hands of God,” he recalled. t

Scholars report progress in study of Vatican’s WWII documents

War II and the Holocaust.

Prominent Jewish organizations have called on the Vatican to open its wartime archives in order to clarify allegations that church leaders knew the extent of the Holocaust yet failed to raise their voices in defense of European Jews.

The Vatican responded by saying all relevant documents had already been published in an 11-volume collection prepared by Jesuit researchers, but that scholars had not taken the time to study the material thoroughly. t

LONDON (CNS) — Catholic and Jewish scholars reported “substantial progress” in examining published Vatican documents related to World War II and the Holocaust.

“Collaborating as Catholic and Jewish scholars on a difficult and controversial subject, we are confident that our work will contribute to a deeper understanding of this painful subject,” the scholars said in a statement May 7 after a four-day meeting in London.

The commission, established in

October, includes scholars appointed by the Vatican’s Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews and by the International Jewish Committee for Interreligious Consultation.

“We hope that our combined effort will take the discussion beyond the realm of heated polemics,” the scholars said.

The commission was formed to study one of the thorniest issues in Catholic-Jewish relations: the activity of the Catholic Church and, particularly, of Pope Pius XII during World

1 6 The Catholic News & Herald

Living the

May 12, 2000

Volunteer teacher absorbs culture and rediscovers

By Alesha M. Price Staff Writer CHARLOTTE — Joe Tronco had traveled to Italy before on vacation but not to the less-explored Puglia region in Southern Italy and not to stand in front of a room of children for two weeks this past March.

Earlier this year, after reading about the work of supplemental English language instruction to children through Global Volunteers in Italy, Tronco wanted to be a part of that experience.

“It sounded like an interesting and creative way of giving service to a part of society I had never thought of,” said Tronco, a St. Gabriel Church parishioner.

He had taught kids before, however, as a high school chemistry and biology teacher over 35 years ago. But, he said, “I felt comfortable with the idea because of that experience.”

It is an alternative to a vacation of sitting on the beach and sipping flowery drinks in coconut shells. This “getaway” serves as a way to get more involved with different cultures and to experience life through others’ eyes.

According to their website, Global Volunteers, based out of St. Paul, Minn., is a non-profit organization that arranges volunteer trips for more than 150 teams of volunteers in locations around the world like Africa, Asia, the United States and other places — a total of 20 countries.

The volunteer work is the actual vacation, tax-deductible in most cases and paid for by the volunteer, as expenses incurred if he or she were to travel elsewhere.

Tronco arrived in Italy to the predominantly Catholic town of Ostuni and was met with the sight of miles of olive and almond trees and the white homes and shops and the smell of the Adriatic Sea, approximately three

miles from the small city where he lived for the duration. Ostuni is in the Puglia region located on the heel of the boot-shaped country.

Also upon his arrival, he met the rest of his team, a group that consisted of a Jewish person, a Serbian Catholic and those with no stated religion.

Tronco said of the differences in religion of the volunteers and working in a traditional Catholic country, “We all embraced it in our own way. The Jewish person and the ones with no stated religion had done this work before.

They were teachers by profession and had been on prior assignments.”

The school provided a car for the group to travel the 25 miles from Ostuni to Martina Franca where the school was located. Tronco taught three junior high classes, some with and without his Italian language arts teacher and guide.

When not in class or doing extra volunteer English tutoring at the hotel, he and the other volunteers were invited on walking and bus tours in their honor to neighboring towns and cities to visit the massive cathedrals and other landmarks.

“When these fairly young children entered the cathedrals, their demeanors changed to one of reverence for their churches. They were proud of those cathedrals and wanted to show them off to us,” added Tronco.

Global Volunteers gives their participants a teaching guideline, and the volunteers follow along with the textbook. The teaching consisted of exaggerated gestures and demonstrations to children who had already had between one and three years of English but have no one with which to practice. This is where the volunteers come in, as sounding boards and seemingly large vats of information for the American world with which the Italian children are acquainted.

Courtesy Photo

Joe Tronco is pictured with junior high school students in Martina Franca in the Puglia region of Italy. Tronco taught English to Italian students for two weeks in March as a part of the Global Volunteers program.

“The kids had practiced the questions they were asking. They wanted to know what types of sports I liked and other things about America and what I thought about certain topics,” said Tronco.

The students were like any other students with the class clown, the best athlete, the one serious student. They embraced Tronco and, and he did the same. “It was such an exciting opportunity to be with people to learn more and broaden all of our lives,” he said.

Tronco, whose family tree can be traced back to Southern Italy, not far

from Puglia, is traveling back to visit some of the same areas and surrounding cities with his wife Katherine in July.

“When you spend those two weeks with them, you learn a lot more than you would as a tourist,” he continued.

“We all change as we become more aware. You go there to teach, but you realize that you have learned.” t Contact Staff Writer Alesha M. Price by calling (704) 370-3354 or e-mail amprice@charlottediocese.org.