May 25, 2001

The Catholic News & Herald 1

May 25, 2001

May 25, 2001 Volume 10 t Number 36

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 Pope, cardinals identify challenges and solutions ... Page 7

Youth explore definitions of violence ... Page 14

Local News New BMHS nears completion, looks to future ... Page 5

Charlotteans thank priests through endowments

Every Week Entertainment ...Pages 10-11

Editorials & Columns ...Pages 12-13 “Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one of them. And they were all filled with the holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim.”

— Acts 2: 3-4

Photos by Jimmy Rostar

Leaders in religious education in the Diocese of Charlotte gathered in Hickory May 17 to hear Father James Hawker, vicar for education (top left), Dr. Cris Villapando, director of faith formation programs (bottom left) and regional faith formation coordinators lead a workshop introducing the new Handbook for Parish Catechetical Leaders.

Religious educators embrace Disaster relief explored locally new resource at workshop

By JIMMY ROSTAR Associate Editor HICKORY — At the most significant gathering of diocesan religious educators in five years, the Diocese of Charlotte’s vicar for education said the sharing of the faith is a holy calling.

“You are involved in something so sacred and so serious,” Father James Hawker, education vicar, told catechists from across the diocese. “The sacredness of who you are and what you do, along with the seriousness of your mission, is phenomenal.”

Father Hawker and the diocese’s faith formation officials addressed parish catechetical leaders and other faith formation personnel at the Catholic Conference Center May 17 to introduce the new Handbook for Parish Catechetical Leaders, the single most comprehensive religious education resource available in this diocese to date.

The handbook is divided into eight sections, replete with appendices that contain

diocesan forms needed to maintain records and other information. The sections cover the role, responsibilities and calling of the parish catechetical leader and other faith formation personnel; catechist formation; guidelines for the direction of life-long faith formation; textbook policies; catechesis for people with special needs; catechesis in multicultural communities; policies concerning preparation for and reception of sacraments; and important church documents relevant to the faith formation teacher.

Information includes religious educators’ job descriptions, descriptions of catechesis aimed at different age groups, criteria for evaluating textbooks, sample budget forms, and maps showing the demographics of the Diocese of Charlotte.

The handbook is the result of thousands of research hours spent compiling

See HANDBOOK, page 8

By Alesha M. Price Staff Writer MORGANTON — In the eastern half of the state, generations of homes, businesses, land and people’s spirits were devastated when Hurricanes Floyd and Irene washed out normal life for months.

Residents of North Carolina are still cleaning up and rebuilding after the surging storms hit, while other states have succumbed to various natural disasters within the past year. Areas in Minnesota, Illinois and Mississippi have been flooded out, while wildfires have raged across parts of Florida. Both Louisiana and South Dakota have been on the list of federally declared disaster states because of winter storms.

There is never a lack of disasters like these that unfortunately create opportunities for people to help those in

See DISASTER RELIEF, page 4

2 The Catholic News & Herald Immigrants comprise 28 percent of new U.S. priests WASHINGTON (CNS) — A higher percentage of foreign-born priests will be among the more than 400 men being ordained this year in the United States. The percentage of ordinands born outside the United States rose to 28 percent from 24 percent, according to a survey conducted by the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Vocations.

The largest number came from Mexico and Vietnam, with each of those countries represented by 5 percent. Of the 343 diocesan and religious seminarians preparing for ordination in 2001 who responded to the survey, 13 percent are Hispanic, 7 percent are Asian or Pacific Islander and 1 percent are African-American. Results of the survey were released by the U.S. Catholic Conference May 21 in Washington.

Mothers pledge to fight efforts to target children in advertising NEW YORK (CNS) — A coalition of mothers, community activists and national religious and other leaders has urged the U.S. business community to stop targeting children and teens in their advertising and marketing. “For you, our children are customers, and childhood is a ‘market segment’ to be exploited, a ‘demographic’ for which you are competing,” more than 100 women and their male supporters said in a report called “Watch Out for Children: A Mothers’ Statement to Advertisers.” The report, released May 9 in New York, called for: an end to all advertising, marketing and market research in schools; no targeting of children under age 8; no product placement in movies or TV shows aimed at children or adolescents; and an end to ads that promote “an ethic of selfishness and ... instant gratification.”

Refugee aid coalition urges reversal of declining U.S. help WASHINGTON (CNS) — Catholic and other refugee service agencies called on the U.S. government May 17 to reverse the decline in U.S. admission of refugees and funding for refugee aid. “Eight years ago the United States authorized the admission of 142,000 refugees. This year about half that number will be admitted,” said Mark Franken, executive director of the U.S. Catholic Conference’s Migration and Refugee Services. MRS is a member of the Refugee Council USA coalition, which

CNS photo by Debbie Hil

Solo pilgrim rides bike in empty courtyard Spanish Catholic pilgrim Fernando Videgain rides through the empty courtyard of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem May 14. The courtyard and Manger Square, usually teaming with tourists and pilgrims, have been deserted because of the fighting between Palestinians and Israeli forces Bush urges more participation in fighting poverty NOTRE DAME, Ind. (CNS) — Quoting Lyndon Johnson, Knute Rockne and Dorothy Day, President Bush used his commencement address at the University of Notre Dame to encourage individual and corporate participation in battling poverty.

“Welfare as we knew it has ended, but poverty has not,” Bush said. “When over 12 million children live below the poverty line, we are not a post-poverty America.” Speaking to 2,500 graduates, their families and faculty May 20, Bush urged the audience to consider a life of service. There’s more to citizenship than voting and paying taxes, Bush said. “Citizenship is empty without concern for our fellow citizens, without the ties that bind us to one another and build a common good.”

Episcopal May 25, 2001 Volume 10 • Number 36

Publisher: Most Reverend William G. Curlin Editor: Joann S. Keane Associate Editor: Jimmy Rostar Staff Writer: Alesha M. Price Graphic Designer: Tim Faragher 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 25, 2001

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Bishop William G. Curlin will take part in the following events: May 31 — 7:30 p.m.

Baccalaureate Mass for Bishop McGuinness Memorial High School Holy Family, Clemmons June 1 — 7:30 a.m. Mass Knights and Dames of Malta St. Patrick, Charlotte June 2 — 11 a.m. Ordination St. Gabriel, Charlotte 5:30 p.m. Confirmation St. Thomas Aquinas, Charlotte June 3 — 11 a.m. Pentecost Mass St. Patrick, Charlotte, 4 p.m.

10th Anniversary of Signing of Lutheran-Catholic Covenant St. Pius X, Greensboro June 6 — 7:30 p.m.

Baccalaureate Mass for Charlotte Catholic High School St. Matthew, Charlotte June 7 — 7 p.m. Confirmation Holy Infant, Reidsville June 10 — Noon Mass and blessing of cornerstone St. Joseph Vietnamese, Charlotte

held a press conference in Washington to mark the issuance of its 55-page report with detailed recommendations for improving U.S. refugee assistance in the 2002 fiscal year. The report urged the government to raise funding of the Migration and Refugee Assistance account to $800 million in 2002, an increase of $100 million over 2001, and to provide an additional $50 million for a separate emergency account for refugees.

Authors help children deal with anger in violent times SALINA, Kan. (CNS) — A new book co-written by a member of St. Mary’s Parish in Salina is designed to help adults teach children how to get along with others and deal with their anger and frustration. “The ABCs of Teaching Life Skills” was written by parishioner Diane Carrigan, psychosocial coordinator at the Central Kansas

Diocesan

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homeless, pregnant women and their children. Call Charity Gray at (704) 521-2774 for a team registration form and other details.

11 CHARLOTTE — The support group for adult children grieving the loss of a parent will meet tonight and June 25 from 7-8 p.m. in the family room at St. Gabriel Church, 3016 Providence Rd. For further details, call the church office at (704) 364-5431.

13 CHARLOTTE — The 50+ Club of St. John Neumann Church, 8451 Idlewild Rd., will be having a meeting this morning at 11 a.m. with a program and lunch in the parish center.

Donations are being accepted during the meeting. For more information, call Louise Brewer at (704) 366-8357 or Gloria Silipigni at (704) 821-1343.

14 CHARLOTTE — Churches in the Charlotte area are hosting ultreyas followed by a school of leaders on the

Mental Health Center, and Joyce Thomas, a former assistant family teacher at Boys Town, Neb., who now is family support coordinator for Salina schools. The book, which has implications for the tragedies happening today in U.S. schools, is divided into sections on anger management, respect, responsibility, communication, relationships and self-esteem.

Racism led to arrest of priest acquitted for robbery, says bishop CAPE TOWN, South Africa (CNS) — A South African priest found guilty of armed robbery three years ago was acquitted after a high court judge found the trial proceedings flawed and no cause for arrest.

His bishop said the appeal court’s findings in the case of Father Boniface Mashiane, formerly of Sts. Peter and Paul Church in Potgietersrus, raised questions of racism and collusion in the events that put the priest behind bars. “One gets the impression that, for whatever reason, Father Mashiane had to be arrested and punished,” Bishop Mogale Paul Nkhumishe of Pietersburg said in a mid-May statement. The bishop said that while he was “enormously relieved” that Father Mashiane has been acquitted, “strange collusions and probably racism” played a part in the priest’s case.

Pope says respect for other races, religions key to humanity VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Promoting respect for other races and religions is the key to protecting legitimate cultural differences while forming a true human family, Pope John Paul II said. In separate messages to nine new ambassadors to the Vatican May 18, the pope’s 81st birthday, he focused on dialogue as the way to build “a world in which all the members of the human race can occupy their rightful place and live in peace and harmony.” The new ambassadors represent Nepal, Tunisia, Estonia, Zambia, Guinea, Sri Lanka, Mongolia, South Africa and Gambia. The pope said that the U.N.sponsored World Conference on Racism, to be held in South Africa in August, is an opportunity for the whole world to reflect on the damage caused by ethnic hatred, prejudice and ignorance of one’s neighbors.

following dates and times: St. Vincent de Paul Church, 6828 Old Reid Rd., from 7-8 p.m. tonight for adults only with shared snacks; St. Thomas Aquinas Church, 1400 Suther Rd., from 1-2:30 p.m. on June 24 with childcare and a family potluck and St. Matthew Church, 8015 Ballantyne Pkwy., from 1:30-3:00 p.m. on June 24 with childcare and a family potluck. For more information, call Dan Hines at (704) 544-6665 or Aliceann Coon at (704) 540-8696.

Ongoing CHARLOTTE — “Forever Young” is an exercise group for people 55 and older at St. Matthew Church, 8015 Ballantyne Commons Pkwy. They meet every Monday and Friday from 11 a.m.-noon and are always seeking new members. Come and join these seniors for “just what the doctor ordered.”

Call Peg Hill at (704) 540-7255 for details.

CONCORD — St. James Church, 251 Union St. North, invites anyone needing a special favor, healing, petition or thanksgiving for the Our Mother of

May 25, 2001

Jesuit says no culture ever fully ‘culture of life’ or ‘of death’ BUFFALO, N.Y. (CNS) — Labeling an entire culture a “culture of death” is simplistic and unworthy of Christians, a Jesuit sociologist told a national meeting of catechetical leaders. “No culture is ever fully a culture of life or of death,” said Jesuit Father John A. Coleman, professor of social values at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. “Those who are serious about discerning culture in the light of the Gospel should cease using these gross terms to characterize a whole culture.”

Father Coleman delivered one of the major addresses at the 65th annual meeting of the National Conference of Catechetical Leadership. The meeting, held in Buffalo April 29-May 3, drew about 900 religious education professionals from around the country.

Vietnam church ‘limited’ but not persecuted, says USCC official WASHINGTON (CNS) — The Catholic Church’s ability to operate freely in Vietnam is “severely limited,” but the church is not persecuted, said a U.S. Catholic Conference official. Relations between the church and the Vietnamese government have improved during the past decade. However, certain issues, such as restrictions on the ordination, appointment and transfer of priests, need improvement, said Thomas E. Quigley, the U.S. bishops’ policy adviser on Asian affairs. “There can be no denying that religious freedom is severely limited in today’s Vietnam. But as with other communist states that have survived the Cold War, improvements have been noted,” Quigley said during testimony at a meeting of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus in Washington May 16.

Pope says even in Italy, people live as if God does not exist VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Even in Italy, where the vast majority of people are baptized Catholic, more and more people are living their lives “as if God does not exist,” Pope John Paul II said. “This tendency is often emphasized and spread by the media with serious risks for the moral formation of individuals and of the collective,” the pope told Italy’s bishops. The pope addressed Healing Companions, a grief support group for the bereaved, will be meeting tonight and June 17 in Conference Room A at 7:30 p.m. at St. Leo the Great Church, 335 Springdale Ave. Call the church office at (336) 7240561 for details.

10 CHARLOTTE — St. Matthew Church, 8015 Ballantyne Pkwy., will be hosting its Christian Coffeehouse Youth and Young Adult Night tonight from 7-8:30 p.m. in the parish center.

All are invited to participate in fellowship, Christian contemporary music provided by Kathy and David with Redeemed, refreshments and spiritual messages. For sponsorship opportunities and further details, call Kathy Bartlett at (704) 614-9100.

11 CHARLOTTE — The 1st Annual Links for Life Golf Tournament will be held today at Firethorne Country Club. Included in the package will be lunch, beverages, dinner and a posttournament awards reception. All proceeds will benefit Room at the Inn, a maternity home supporting single,

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CNS photo from Reuters

President attends Notre Dame commencement President George W. Bush is flanked by Holy Cross Father Edward Malloy (left), president of the University of Notre Dame, and Patrick McCartan, right, during commencement services at the university May 20. In his address the president urged faith-based groups to take the lead in fighting poverty. the country’s bishops May 17 during their annual general meeting at the Vatican. He told the bishops, “It is part of the mission of pastors both to encourage, with clarity, correct doctrine in matters of faith and morals as well as to support and encourage all initiatives which can be valid alternatives” to living outside church teaching.

At U.N. conference, Vatican calls for shared duty to poor BRUSSELS, Belgium (CNS) — At a U.N. conference highlighting an increase in extreme poverty in parts of the world, a Vatican diplomat called for a “worldwide movement” of shared responsibility for the poor. “Our task is to make solidarity a reality,” Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, head of the Vatican delegation to the third U.N. conference on poverty, told participants May 16 during the weeklong meeting. “We must create a worldwide movement which understands solidarity as a natural duty of each person, each community and each June 3 CHARLOTTE — The St. Maximilian Kolbe Fraternity of Secular Franciscans will be meeting today from 2-4 p.m. at Our Lady of Consolation Church, 2301 Statesville Ave. All visitors and inquirers are welcome. For more information, call Skyler Mood, SFO, at (704) 573-4299.

3 CHARLOTTE — Because of Pentecost, a charismatic Mass, celebrated

by Father Dean Cesa, will be held at St. Patrick Cathedral, 1621 Dilworth Rd. East, this afternoon at 4 p.m. with prayer teams at 3 p.m. and a potluck dinner at 5 p.m. in the school cafeteria.

For further information, contact Josie Backus at (704) 527-4676.

3 GUILFORD COUNTY — The Ladies Ancient Order of Hibernians Guilford County Division 1, an IrishCatholic social and charitable interparish group, will be having a meeting today from 3-5 p.m. at the Showfety Activity Center at St. Benedict Church, 109 West Smith St. in Greensboro. For

nation,” he said. The conference, which was expected to produce a program of action to combat poverty, brought together leaders of the world’s poorest and richest countries, as well as U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, World Bank President James Wolfensohn and private business representatives.

Seventy percent of Latinos identify as Catholic, says survey WASHINGTON (CNS) — A new national survey reports that 70 percent of the Latino population identified themselves as Catholic. The survey also showed a dropoff in the percentage of Latino Catholics with each generation born in the United States and an increase in the Protestant population with each passing generation.

The survey was done by the Tomas Rivera Policy Institute, a California-based think tank, as part of the Hispanic Church in American Public Life Project. The Hispanic further information, call Alice Schmidt at (336) 288-0983.

3 SALISBURY — Sacred Heart Church, 128 N. Fulton St., will be celebrating a charismatic/healing Mass at 4 p.m. today followed by prayer teams and a potluck dinner. Father John Putnam will be the celebrant. For further details, call Bill Owens at (704) 639-9837.

4 CHARLOTTE — Churches in the Charlotte area will be having their regularly scheduled cancer support group meetings for survivors, family and friends on the following days: St. Gabriel Church, 3016 Providence Rd., tonight at 7 p.m. in the ministry center library and St. Matthew Church, 8015 Ballantyne Commons Pkwy., on June 5 at 7 p.m. in the office building conference room. For more information, call: St. Matthew - Marilyn Borrelli at (704) 542-2283 and St. Gabriel - Eileen Cordell at (704) 352-5047, Ext. 217.

4 CHARLOTTE — Christians in Career Transition is a ministry of St. Matthew Church, 8015 Ballantyne

project is a three-year ecumenical research program funded by a $1.3 million grant from the Pew Charitable Trusts to examine the role of religion on the political and civic commitment of Latinos.

Survey on religion and stress needs online participants WASHINGTON (CNS) — Psychology researchers at The Catholic University of America are recruiting online participants for a 30-minute survey on how people turn to religion in times of stress.

The Web-based survey at http://research. cua.edu/psy is open to anyone who wishes to respond. Catholic University graduate students Michele Schottenbauer and Benjamin Rodriguez and their professors hope to recruit a sample from a wide variety of religious denominations, as well as participants who may not be affiliated with any religious denomination. Data from the survey will be used to study the ways people turn to faith and religion to help cope with stress.

Theologians must reaffirm church laws on sexuality, says Vatican VATICAN CITY (CNS) — In addressing moral problems facing modern men and women, Catholic theologians must recognize that certain concepts regarding the dignity of human life and sexuality are unchanging, the Vatican said. Moral theologians may be tempted to answer questions “with responses that are more conforming to the sensitivities and expectations of the world than to the thinking of Christ,” said an article in the May 16 edition of the Vatican newspaper. The article in L’Osservatore Romano, signed with three asterisks to signify its publication was approved at the highest levels of the Vatican, was published alongside a notification criticizing some works by Redemptorist Father Marciano Vidal, a Spanish moral theologian. The notification from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith said the priest’s work was erroneous or ambiguous on s e ve r a l m o r a l q u e s t i o n s, i n cluding contraception, hom o s e x u a l i t y, m a s t u r b a t i o n and in vitro fertilization.

Commons Pkwy., devoted to helping people in career crises. The meeting takes place tonight and June 18 from 7-9 p.m. in the office area of the parish center’s conference room. For more information, call Rev. Mr. Jim Hamrlik at (704) 542-6459 4 CHARLOTTE — The widowed support group for those grieving the loss of a spouse meets from 6-7 p.m. tonight and June 18 in the family room at St. Gabriel Church, 3016 Providence Rd. For further details, call the church office at (704) 3645431.

4 CLEMMONS — Holy Family Church, 4820 Kinnamon Rd., will be celebrating a charismatic Mass tonight at 7:30 p.m. The sacrament of reconciliation will be given at 7 p.m., and the laying on of hands will take place after Mass. The next Mass will be celebrated on July 2. For more information, call the church office at (336) 778-0600 or Jim Passero at (336) 998-7503.

7 WINSTON-SALEM — The

4 The Catholic News & Herald

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Catholic, Lutheran bishops to lead covenant anniversary celebration

By JIMMY ROSTAR Associate Editor CHARLOTTE — Ten years after the Catholic and Lutheran communities in North Carolina signed a covenant bonding them in the spirit of ecumenism and cooperation, three bishops will preside at an anniversary celebration of that signing and the progress that continues to be made since then.

Bishop William G. Curlin of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte, Bishop F. Joseph Gossman of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Raleigh, and Bishop Leonard Bolick of the N.C. Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America on June 3 at St. Pius X Catholic Church in Greensboro will lead a Pentecost Sunday celebration at 4 p.m.

The covenant includes a series of commitments made by the faith communities on Pentecost Sunday in 1991. The commitments include statements about prayer, communication and action; shared celebrations, programs and educational opportunities; and deeper spiritual and social relationships between the faith communities.

The original signers were Catholic Bishop John F. Donoghue of Charlotte, Bishop Gossman of Raleigh and Lutheran Bishop Michael McDaniel.

The anniversary celebration will mark a decade of statewide cooperation. Covenants between local churches, shared observances of celebrations such as the annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, and efforts at better understanding one another’s faith traditions and practices continue.

“Over the past ten years much has been accomplished in pursuit of these goals, and yet, there is so much more to do,” said Bishop Curlin in a May 18 letter to parishioners of the Charlotte Diocese. “It is my prayer that this celebration of renewal will breathe new life into the Covenant, that people who were not a part of our Diocese or Synod ten years ago would be active in its ongoing implementation.”

The June 3 liturgy will include a homily, statements of witness from youth, and remarks from the three bishops reaffirming the spirit and the outcomes of the covenant.

The bishops will re-sign the covenant near the close of the liturgy.

Efforts toward full unity between Catholics and Lutherans continue throughout the world. In October 1999, representatives of the Vatican and the Lutheran World Federation signed a joint declaration on the doctrine of justification, which focuses on the agreement that justification and salvation come by faith alone. The agreement states that justification does come through faith alone, but that good works are an essential sign of faith.

The doctrine on justification was a central issue of the Protestant Reformation and had been a point of argument between Catholics and Lutherans since the 1700s.

In a Lenten letter published March 5, 1999, in The Catholic News & Herald, Bishops Curlin, Gossman and Bolick expressed their hope for the day when Catholics and Lutherans will be able to share in the celebration of the Eucharist.

“We celebrate the authentic unity to which our prayers, dialogues and common service have brought us and will continue to assist us in resolving traditional differences and overcoming historic obstacles,” they said.

St. Pius X Church is located at 2210 N. Elm St. in Greensboro. From Highway 29 North, exit west onto Cone Street. Then take a left onto Elm Street. The June 3 celebration will begin at 4 p.m. The parish office number is (336) 272-4681.

Contact Associate Editor Jimmy Rostar by calling (704) 370-3334 or e-mail jtrostar@charlottediocese.org

Disaster Relief, from page 1 need. However, the question is what to do and how to go about doing it.

Catholic Social Services (CSS) Special Ministries has begun the steps to provide some of the answers.

In order for parishes and individuals to better serve those who have been the victims of disasters, the diocesan office invited Rev. Mr. Jerry Collins, director of disaster responses for Catholic Charities USA (CCUSA) and a permanent deacon at Holy Family Church in Hillcrest Heights, Md., to speak to a group at St. Charles Borromeo Church in Morganton on May 19. He provided the attendants with a guideline or sample outline of procedures, steps and facts in order to implement them into their own workable and executable disaster relief plans.

“The purpose of the workshop was to acquaint parishioners with a model for providing efficient and effective responses to disasters,” said Gerald Carter, diocesan director of CSS Special Ministries. “From this workshop, we see that there are still some areas on which we need to focus within our own diocesan plan, but this is only our first step.”

The diocesan plan, “Disaster Preparedness and Response,” is a recently adopted document based on information from Catholic Relief Services and CCUSA that addresses various topics such as the definition of disasters, the collection of goods and services, the elements of a disaster preparedness and response plan and other topics.

The goal is for parishes to have a disaster relief plan that is directly linked to plans on diocesan, local, state and national levels.

“Many churches don’t have a disaster preparedness plan because disasters, by definition, are sporadic and unplanned. Even though that sounds obvious, it is difficult to think in terms of the future,” explained Carter. “In our limited experience with disaster response in this diocese, it has been difficult to coordinate the supplies, manpower and money volunteered by well-meaning people who do not have a plan of action.”

Rev. Mr. Collins took the participants step by step through the provided materials of complied information from his work with CCUSA, the Red Cross and the board of the National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disasters. “The bottom line is for them to take the information and build their own local collaborative plan which should take care of their needs and the needs of others.”

Parishes should identify their resources, become better acquainted

May 25, 2001

with those in need before the disaster strikes and have a working plan in place that has been analyzed and organized at various intervals, said Rev. Mr. Collins. He also stated that through the forming of committees at the local level to address those needs that may not have been met or other local needs that a reciprocal relationship can be established between the disaster victims and those who are trying to assist them.

“The individual church has a really unique role because we can do some things that are not being done. The church has always been involved in disaster response, and we have a history of that,” he said.

The key to responding effectively to disasters is the adherence to a plan, but it also involves making sure that all channels are properly contacted and involved in the efforts at all times.

“When disasters occur, the first line of response typically comes from within the local region. Rescue and relief agencies already in place are in the best position to respond most immediately to the disaster,” explained Carter. “It is only when circumstances are beyond what local, civil and church authorities can manage that Catholic dioceses in other parts of the country are called upon to provide needed resources.”

Rev. Mr. Collins urged the attendants to share their information with their parish groups, to form committees that will identify the parish resources and community needs, and to continue to learn more about how they can be of further assistance through continuing education.

“You are in an area that is prone to disasters, and I am aware that most churches don’t have a disaster plan. I would like for you to begin to think about what you can do if your church doesn’t have a plan and how you can help to put one into place,” said Rev. Mr. Collins. “Don’t let this be your only encounter with disaster response training; utilize local programs at the Red Cross, Salvation Army, colleges and the state emergency management agency. Local preparedness is the backbone and the key to this effort.

Resources will go further; the community will recover faster; and it will help to bridge those gaps.”

Contact Staff Writer Alesha M. Price by calling (704) 370-3354 or email amprice @charlottediocese.org.

For more information about the diocesan disaster prepared-

May 25, 2001

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Foundations for faith and learning New Triad Catholic high school nears completion, looks to future

By Joann S. Keane Editor KERNERSVILLE — Highway 66 off I-40 in Forsyth County meanders into Guilford County and High Point. It’s a pleasant easy-driving road, with a huge surprise where you least expect it. Round the bend, and a new high school rises into sight, a shining beacon for Catholic education in the Triad.

There’s an amazing transformation in the Triad, and it’s all about Catholic education.

As this school year inches towards completion, one chapter in secondary Catholic education in the Triad draws to a close, literally. The Bishop McGuinness Memorial High School class of 2001 will be the last group of students to graduate off the campus on Link Road. Across town, the new Bishop McGuinness Memorial High School eases towards completion, and a new chapter readies itself. The metamorphosis of BMHS prepares to forever change Triad Catholic education.

On a recent perfect North Carolina spring afternoon, a handful of BMHS teachers got their first inside look at their new facility, punctuated by a roomby-room guided tour led by Principal George Repass. Between the ‘ooohs and ahhs,’ the educators are torn between exhilaration and speechless awe.

The new BMHS is architecturally a “Tuscan-Romanesque” beauty with the charm reminiscent of a monastic cloister keeping faith always in sight.

“It is designed to be a classic, transitional, so it doesn’t look like just a box

built to hold a program,” says Repass.

“The design and always-visible tower and chapel speak to the center of life on campus.”

The building, however, is just the beginning of what’s in store when BMHS students enter the hallowed halls this fall, their hunger for a faithlaced education ready to be satisfied.

From conception to reality, the facility is tangible proof of how Catholic education will move into the 21st century, ready to meet the needs of a savvy, technically aware population of tomorrow’s leaders.

It’s a solid twohour tour to take in the full effects of the new school. Quite a change from the current school where you can go end to end in a matter of minutes, the teachers say.

What’s not to love? The new school is state-of-the art in every way. Completely network wired, each classroom is outlet-ready for computer plug in. BMHS students and faculty have room to stretch, reach and test new limits. Expanded programs will encourage high school curiosity to flourish. Out back, athletic fields — prepped for soccer, track and field, football, baseball and softball — will place BMHS Villains on a whole new playing field. At the heart of the facility, a 225-seat chapel.

“The fact that it is state-of-the-art in every regard from its architecture to its technology has obviously had a big impact,” says Repass. “The more people see it, the more enthusiastic they get.”

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

“The design and always-visible tower and chapel speak to the center of life on campus.”

Photos by Joann S. Keane

Pictures of the under construction Bishop McGuinness Memorial High School. Top, the exterior of the chapel is flanked at the left by one of the archways constructed within the new facility. Right, Principal George Repass along with teachers Connie Rafferty, Shirley Shaw and Susan Layman, inside the new gymnasium, and below, the outside courtyard.

6 The Catholic News & Herald Astronomer urges informed dialogue between science, religion SANTA CLARA, Calif. (CNS) — There can be no productive dialogue between science and religion if either side is dominated by ignorance, said the director of the Vatican Observatory. That revelation came to Jesuit Father George V. Coyne while studying the Galileo affair as part of a Vatican-appointed commission in 1988. “I think the church should learn, from the Galileo case and from other circumstances, that listening is as important as speaking. That is, hearing what scientists are really doing is as important as the church speaking out on many issues,” he told The Valley Catholic, newspaper of the Diocese of San Jose. Father Coyne said the church’s initial response to Galileo demonstrated that it was largely ignorant of Scripture and science.

Archbishop Sheen television, radio award announced NEW YORK (CNS) — The Society for the Propagation of the Faith has established an award in honor of the late Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen that will recognize excellence in promoting the worldwide mission of the church on radio or television. “Archbishop Sheen, a master communicator, did much to promote the church’s teaching and worldwide mission on radio and television,” said Father John E. Kozar, national director of the New York-based society. Deadline for the first award, which will be open to radio and television programs broadcast during 2000 and 2001, is Jan. 31, 2002. Archbishop Sheen, a well-known radio and television missionary, was national director of the society from 1950 to 1966.

Bishop sorry he didn’t protest incidents that offended Jews ROCHESTER, N.Y. (CNS) — At a Catholic-Jewish celebration May 6, Bishop Matthew H. Clark of Rochester apologized for not speaking out sooner about two recent incidents that offended Jewish people.

One was the Easter Sunday publication of the cartoon “B.C.” in newspapers. The cartoon, titled “The Seven Last ‘Words’ of Jesus,” depicted the candles on a Jewish menorah extinguishing one by one. In the last two panels, the menorah becomes a cross. The second incident was the quoting of anti-Semitic remarks by New York Knicks basketball player Charlie Ward in an April 22 New York Times Magazine article. Among other things, Ward blamed

May 25, 2001

People in the

CNS photo by Nancy Wiechec

Veteran survivor of Pearl Harbor World War II veteran Francis E. Stueve, who survived the attack on Pearl Harbor, stands near a memorial to fallen soldiers at the U.S. Soldier’s and Airmen’s Home in Washington. ``I’ve prayed to forget about that day,’’ he said.

Jews for killing Christ. Bishop Clark made his remarks at the Strong Museum to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the Rochester Agreement between the Rochester Diocese and the Rochester Board of Rabbis and Jewish Community Federation.

Georgetown professor contributes to new AfricanAmerican Bible ALBANY, N.Y. (CNS) — Diana Hayes says a new African-American jubilee edition of the Good News Bible is cause for rejoicing, and not just because she contributed to it. “I’ve been rejoicing in it — not just the writing, but the artwork and everything else,” she said in an interview with The Evangelist, newspaper of the Diocese of Albany. Hayes, an Albany native and associate theology professor at Georgetown University in Washington, is one of about 20 African-American Catholic scholars who wrote analytical articles for the Bible,

published by the American Bible Society.

She noted that today’s black Catholics are “hungry” for evidence of their contributions to church history.

Florida Catholic state editor prays before game show appearance ORLANDO, Fla. (CNS) — Jean Palombo-Gonzalez will tell you now that the Roman numeral D equals 500. But when she was asked that question on a recent taping of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” she froze. Palombo-Gonzalez flubbed the question, “Which of these Roman numerals is the greatest?” ending her quest to be the latest instant millionaire on the top-rated TV show. The show aired on Mother’s Day, May 13. The correct answer was worth $4,000, meaning the 30-yearold state editor at The Florida Catholic diocesan newspaper walked away with just $1,000 (before taxes), a free round-trip flight to New York and hotel accommodations for

her and her husband, and $50-a-day meal money. Palombo-Gonzalez said that before the taping she went to an empty dressing room and prayed.

Making history? Cardinal wears Roman collar in Saudi Arabia WASHINGTON (CNS) — Washington Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick believes he may have made history in late March, during his visit to Saudi Arabia as a member of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. “I believe it was the first time any priest, as a priest, has gone into Saudi Arabia,” he said in an interview with the Catholic Standard, his archdiocesan newspaper. “Priests have gone in (dressed) as tourists or businessmen, never identifiable as priests.” Using his diplomatic passport, which clearly identified him as a priest, he wore his clerical black garb and Roman collar throughout his four-day visit.

The four other commission members on the trip included Rabbi David Saperstein, director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism. Summarizing religious freedom in that country, the cardinal said, “The situation there in Saudi Arabia is very tight.”

May 25, 2001

By John Thavis VATICAN CITY (CNS) — In the largest meeting of its kind ever held at the Vatican, more than 150 cardinals sat down to identify pastoral challenges and possible solutions at the start of the third millennium.

Pope John Paul II opened the May 2124 consistory with a prayer and a request for the cardinals’ input, saying he wanted a free and fraternal exchange of opinions.

The meeting’s first day provided short speeches on a wide range of topics: the role of the pope, the call to personal holiness, pastoral problems of the family, opportunities offered by modern media, and the need for justice and charity in globalization.

Two particular suggestions came from U.S. cardinals: preparation of a document that would clarify what the church means by “new evangelization” and an annual worldwide Synod of Bishops with an open agenda.

In his welcoming talk, the pope avoided specifics. He said the church needs to find the best ways to evangelize in modern societies, and that means prioritizing goals and evaluating every level of its pastoral operations.

He described the meeting as a followup to the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000 and to his recent document, “Novo Millennio Ineunte” (“At the Beginning of the New Millennium”), which outlined pastoral aims and obstacles for the coming years.

The cardinals, seated in the shellshaped Vatican Synod Hall, applauded the 81-year-old pontiff, who was to preside over the three days of talks and celebrate a final Mass. It was the sixth time the pope has convened the cardinals for such a meeting and the first time since 1994.

All 183 cardinals were invited, but not all could make it; 155 were in attendance at the first session. The consistory was held behind closed doors, but without the extreme secrecy of a conclave.

Vatican spokesman Joaquin NavarroValls gave briefings on the content of the cardinals’ discussions, and the Vatican released texts of some of the main talks.

At the opening session, the cardinals heard two reports on the jubilee year, which provided an orientation for the discussions to follow.

French Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, who presided over jubilee planning, said the major ceremonies of the Holy Year were part of the jubilee’s “massive success” and had brought a needed spotlight to the liturgical life of the church.

He also underlined the social aspect of the jubilee, saying the biblically rooted call to charity and poverty must permeate the entire church.

“Here, perhaps, we touch the most provocative question, and the most urgent question for evangelization in the new millennium. Only a church that is poor can become a missionary church, and only a missionary church can demand a church that is poor,” he said.

Italian Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe, another architect of jubilee events, said the jubilee experience of prayer, penitence and pilgrimage had left the church revitalized.

Now it is important not to lose the spiritual momentum, he said.

“All the strong and intense stimuli of the jubilee need to be further examined, deepened and above all put into practice by a pastoral plan,” he said.

Then began the three days of open discussions. Fifteen cardinals spoke for six to nine minutes each in the opening session.

From the

The Catholic News & Herald 7

Pope, cardinals identify pastoral challenges,

CNS photo from Reuters

Pope John Paul II opens the consistory in Synod Hall at the Vatican May 21. More than 150 of the world’s 183 cardinals were meeting for three days of closed-door sessions.

Cardinal William H. Keeler of Baltimore, one of the first speakers, addressed the need for the church to take advantage of mass media, especially the Internet, which he said offers a direct channel of evangelization. He cited the pope’s observation that the church should participate in the culture of the media, not just try to use it.

Cardinal Eugenio de Araujo Sales of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, speaking on the sensitive topic of papal ministry, said that fidelity to and unity with the pope was an “integral part” of the Christian faith.

According to sources, another cardinal said new structures were needed to promote more unity between local bishops and the pope. An annual Synod of Bishops that would meet at the Vatican with an open agenda might be such a tool, he said.

Several speakers talked about the need to renew the spiritual life of individual Christians. Portuguese Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins, who heads the Vatican’s sainthood congregation, proposed what he called the “globalization of holiness” for the whole church.

Havana Cardinal Jaime Ortega Alamino also called for a bold, new pastoral plan of holiness for all Catholics.

Cardinal Francisco Alvarez Martinez of Toledo, Spain, said the problems of the family were the great challenge to the church’s social teaching of today.

Cardinal Jozef Tomko, recently retired head of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, proposed a missionary mobilization of the church at every level. He said the church should not aim at “maintenance” but at mission.

Cardinal Roger M. Mahony of Los An-

geles suggested preparation of a “Directory on the New Evangelization,” saying the term “new evangelization” has been muchused and now needs to be better defined and applied in local churches.

Cardinal Bernardin Gantin, dean of the College of Cardinals, moderated the first session. Other moderators scheduled May 21-22 were Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and Cardinal Angelo Sodano, Vatican secretary of state.

The schedule also called for smallgroup discussions the morning of May 23.

Reports from each language group were to be read that evening to the full assembly, along with a final report written by Mexican Cardinal Juan Sandoval Iniguez of Guadalajara.

In April, the cardinals received a letter from the Vatican Secretariat of State outlining possible themes for their discussion.

They included evangelization and dialogue, personal holiness, religious sects, the relationship between Vatican offices and local churches, the role of the bishop, globalization and economic injustice, the response of the faithful to church teachings on sexuality and other moral issues, the church’s use of mass media, ecology and New Age movements.

As several cardinals acknowledged before the meeting, the thematic agenda was wide and the time for discussion limited — about 15-20 hours during the meeting.

In addition to the official themes, the cardinals also were expected to spend much time getting to know each other. For more than half the cardinals, it was the first time they had met in such an assembly. The

group included more than 40 new cardinals named by the pope in February.

The day before the consistory began, the pope asked for prayers by all Catholics for the meeting and said it would examine the life of the church and its mission at a crucial time in history.

“In every moment, but especially in decisive ones, the church listens to the Spirit.

It was so at the Cenacle in Jerusalem, at the first ‘council’ that opened the doors to the pagans, and it will be so in this consistory, too,” he said.

8 The Catholic News & Herald

Handbook, from page 1

and updating resources for those involved in catechesis in this diocese. An 11-month process involved the gathering of diocesan, national and international guidelines and resources on religious education.

“This handbook is a landmark in terms of how serious we are about the Gospel in our task of being igniters of the faith,” said Dr. Cris Villapando, diocesan director of faith formation programs, who oversaw the compilation of the handbook. “We are serious about the Gospel. This is our first and foremost calling.”

“At the same time, we realize that we function in the real world,” he said, “and in the real world, we need practical tools. For the parish catechetical leader, this handbook is that tool.”

Working with Villapando and Father Hawker on the project were Marylin Kravatz, Southern Regional faith formation coordinator; Peg Ruble, Central Regional faith formation coordinator; and Franciscan Sister Bernadette Svatos, Northern Regional faith formation coordinator. A host of parish and diocesan personnel also contributed.

Villapando said the handbook is significant in its presentation of information. “First, this is a handbook of a prescriptive nature,” he said. “For example, it covers the required qualifications one needs to be a director of faith formation. To be a catechist, one must undergo phases of formation, and this handbook explains those phases.

“But there is a kind, gentle and supportive nature to it as well. There is a resourcing nature to it. This is a library of resources, practical in nature and a very concrete instrument.

We were able to combine a prescriptive document that is always supportive of the ministry.”

Issued as a response to requests from religious educators across the diocese, the handbook is the first revised resource made available to catechists in this diocese in at least five years.

For Sheryl Peyton of St. Barnabas Church in Arden, who has served in catechesis in this diocese since the mid-’80s, the handbook is a welcome resource.

“It’s really good to have a bench-

May 25, 2001

Around the Dimark that says as of May 2001, this is where we are as a diocese, this is the training that we have, and so on,” said Peyton, a member of the Asheville Vicariate Leadership Team for catechists in western North Carolina.

“Over time, things have morphed and things have changed,” she added.

“This is a great handbook because the diocese has come out and said these are the resources, the forms and the help you need today.”

Villapando said the handbook is a “living document,” adaptable to change in future needs and times of the church in terms of religious education.

“We are constantly receiving documents both from Rome and the United States Catholic bishops, and we need to incorporate those insights from the official teaching authority of the church,” he said. “As policies are updated, it is important that this handbook was created as a living document.”

Tracy Welliver of St. Pius X Church in Greensboro said the handbook brings a new uniformity to the resources available to catechetical leaders in the diocese.

“It’s great to have this handbook because this is the first time that all of the different guidelines and information that we need to function efficiently as parish catechetical leaders are in one place,” he said. “Much of the information we had was in desperate need of updating, so it’s really great to have that updated material.”

As a regional coordinator, Sister Bernadette said the handbook would be a “tremendous help” to all who are involved in catechetical ministry.

“So often I’ll get calls or e-mails with questions regarding confirmation, or what records need to be kept, or how to go about making a budget, or how to have faith formation for parents whose son or daughter is autistic,” said Sister Bernadette. “There are wonderful explanations and practical points in this handbook regarding those and so many other concerns.”

Bishop William G. Curlin, the chief catechist in the Diocese of Charlotte, agreed with Father Hawker that the ministry of the religious educator

Correction Last week, the wrong photograph accompanied the obituary for Father Edmund Kirsch. This is the correct picture of the late Father Kirsch. We apologize to the family of Father Kirsch, and also to the priest whose photo inadvertently appeared.

May 25, 2001

Around the Di-

The Catholic News & Herald 9

Charlotteans say thanks to priests through

By JIMMY ROSTAR Associate Editor CHARLOTTE — Along all the steps of his faith journey, Dick Cox of Charlotte has been accompanied by priests. They have baptized and confirmed his children, they celebrate the Masses he attends daily, they consecrate the Eucharist to which he is so devoted, and they gave last rites to his wife, Loraine.

In their lives together, the Coxes long appreciated the life commitment priests and men studying to be priests offer those whom they serve. Though they agreed that ministry is a gift that cannot be repaid, in the summer of 1998, the Coxes established two endowment funds through the Diocese of Charlotte’s Foundation — one for seminarian education and one for priests’ retirement needs.

Both endowments will also be beneficiaries of the Coxes’ estate.

“In both endowments, we decided that we wanted to do something for the priests,” said Mr. Cox, whose wife passed away in 1999. “Somewhere, every day, there is a priest praying for you. Our best friends have been priests over the years. We wanted to express our love and our thanksgiving to all the priests for what they have done for our family and for people in the diocese.”

The endowments are permanent gifts to the Foundation. The principal generates income each year for seminarian education and priests’ retirement, while the principal itself is never touched. The endowments will generate much more income over time than a one-time cash gift.

In addition, people can contribute to the A. Loraine Cox and C. Richard Cox Seminarian Education Endowment Fund and Priest Retirement Endowment Fund at any time, thus furthering the gifts into perpetuity.

“We wanted something that would go on and on,” said Mr. Cox. “With endowments, you’re building up something that will yield income every year; it’s a lasting thing.”

Stewardship of time, talent and treasure has always been important to Cox, who grew up on a Depressionera farm with his parents and sister in Wichita, Kan., served in the military as a fighter pilot, and later made a living as an accountant and CPA. He shared more than 50 years of marriage with Loraine. Together, they raised nine children.

Cox continues to spend his time in prayer, attending Mass and eucharistic adoration daily at his home parish, St. Gabriel Church in Charlotte. He is an instrumental guitarist, playing a couple of hours every day — “I play songs from the ’20s

and ’30s,” he said with smile — and shares his talent at birthday parties in his parish ministry center and at a Catholic assisted - living home. And carrying on the financial plans he and his wife set up years ago, he shares his treasure, too.

“Mr. Cox is leaving a legacy to his values,” said Jim Kelley, executive director of the Foundation and the Diocese of Charlotte’s director of development. “He values the priesthood in his life, and he values priests, who made significant imprints on his Catholic faith. These endowments will make a difference in priests’ lives forever.”

“More and more people across the diocese are remembering the church in their wills and estate plans as a way of continuing their stewardship even after their death,” Kelley said.

Because the Diocese of Charlotte pays for the education of its seminarians and offers financial resources to retired priests who have served here, the endowments set up permanent assets to assist the diocese in meeting those needs, Kelley said.

With gifts like these endowments, men studying for the priesthood know that educational expenses will not hinder their calling to serve, while retired priests who have served this diocese can have more comfortable retirements.

And while financial concerns are indeed important, Cox said, “the most important thing we can do for our priests is pray for them.”

At the end of the fiscal year 1999-2000, the Diocese of Charlotte managed 67 endowments with assets totaling $7.1 million.

A variety of planned giving options are available to parishioners in the Diocese of Charlotte, including bequests in wills, charitable remainder trusts, charitable gift annuities, life estate agreements, life insurance gifts, charitable lead trusts, real estate gifts, and gifts from retirement plans.

Cox said he and wife were impressed with the manner in which the diocese manages its finances and spends its resources.

“It’s very important for people to understand that they can have complete confidence that what they give and what they do is private,” Cox added. “If Loraine and I didn’t feel comfortable with the administration of the financial affairs of the diocese, we wouldn’t have established these endowments.”

For information on planned giving, endowments or the Foundation, call Jim Kelley at (704) 3703301 or Gina Rhodes, diocesan director of planned giving, at (704)

1 0 The Catholic News & Herald Book Review

New book chronicles affection for pope

Reviewed by Father John T. Myler Catholic News Service “John Paul II: A Personal Portrait of the Pope and the Man,” by Ray Flynn, is just that — personal and manly.

Flynn was ambassador to the Vatican from 1993 to 1997 and mayor of Boston from 1984 to 1993. But his book, written with Robin Moore and Jim Vrabel, recalls only a bit of the diplomatic protocol of his job. Rather, it is a chronicle of a deepening, ever affectionate admiration for the pope JOHN PAUL II: A PERSONAL PORTRAIT OF THE POPE AND THE MAN, by Ray Flynn. St. Martin’s Press (New York, 2001). 204 pp., $22.95. that grows through personal encounters at grand events like World Youth Day in Denver and intimate moments like those between the pope and the ambassador at the 1994 “Shoah” concert.

For example, Flynn describes speaking with Pope John Paul II at the St. Louis airport in January 1999.

In the receiving line, President Clinton said to the pope, “You remember Ambassador Flynn, Your Holiness.” And the pope replied, “The ambassador is our very good friend and always will be.”

They chatted and then, Flynn writes, “I knew that I didn’t have much time, but there was something that I especially wanted the pope to hear. Lowering my voice a little, I said, ‘I have heard you might preach against capital punishment, Holy Father. Someone must do it, and as usual it is you. I just want you to know it is a message we need to hear in this country.”’

“Thank you, Ambassador,” Flynn says the pope replied. “America is beautiful. She must always choose life instead of death.”

Flynn adds, “As I stepped away, I noticed U.S. Reps. Dick Gephardt and Patrick Kennedy in front of me in line. They had been talking with Mrs. Clinton, but had turned to eavesdrop on my conversation

May 25, 2001

Read-

with the pope. Both of them had stunned looks on their faces, as if they didn’t know that you could talk to — and with — a pope like that.”

Flynn talked to and with Pope John Paul like that many times. The incidents are recounted in compelling vignettes, presented chronologically starting with Flynn’s first meeting with Cardinal Karol Wojtyla of Krakow during a 1969 reception for the Polish cardinal in a church hall in Boston.

“Little did I know back then what a special priest he was, and what a special pope and special friend he would become.”

Flynn had met the pope several times before a March 1993 phone call from Clinton asked Flynn to serve as U.S. ambassador to the Vatican.

Flynn accepted, and he, his wife, Kathy, and most of their family lived in Rome for over four years.

Among the 30 chapters — each actually only five or six pages long — most moving are the recollections of Pope John Paul’s personal interest in Flynn’s family and friends — answering a dying boy’s prayers, easing a mother’s pain, reaching out to the Flynn family during a time of personal crisis.

One lengthy treatment is given to the pope’s insistence on promoting the culture of life during the infamous Cairo conference of the mid-1990s. Flynn ended up meeting with Clinton face to face in the Oval Office, insisting that the president telephone the pope to hear firsthand the church’s opposition to several U.S. proposals.

The great camaraderie between Flynn and Pope John Paul gives a personal glimpse of the pope not found in larger, more scholarly biographies. This “personal portrait” is warm-hearted, insightful and truly unique.

Word to Life May 27, Ascension of the Lord Cycle C Readings: 1) Acts 1:1-11 Psalm 47:2-3, 6-9 2) Ephesians 1:17-23 3) Gospel: Luke 24:46-53

By Dan Luby Catholic News Service The image transfixed me, 8 years old, sitting on the floor in the den after supper on a summer night.

For a timeless moment the rest of the world disappeared as I gazed intently at a tiny hole in the sock on my left foot. Seconds before, there had been a loud and wholly unexpected machine-gun sound. Wham! Wham!

Wham! Now — time stopped — I watched that tiny hole in my sock, where a disconnected sort of pain was beginning.

All around me, my siblings gazed in shared puzzlement at a halo of dark red blooming around the hole in the sock. I had let my toe wander too close to a little floor fan next to the television. My siblings and I were frozen by the shock and confusion of all that bright red blood coming from my toe.

We might all be there still had not my father shouted for them to stand back. He scooped me into

his arms and, while my mother staunched the bleeding, drove me to the emergency room. A few stitches later I was back watching television, this time on the couch, reveling in the attention my injury had drawn.

The last scene in the story of Jesus’ ascension reminded me of that long-ago summer night. The disciples — frightened, awed, shocked — stood staring at the spot where the Lord had disappeared. Two strangers shook them from their paralysis: “Why are you standing there, looking at the sky?”

Discipleship is a call to action.

Day by day we encounter wounds needing bandages, sorrow needing comfort, despair needing hope, injustice needing confrontation. The power of Easter is not only to demonstrate Christ’s glory but to move us to imitation of him as well, to the daily task of proclaiming, in word and deed, God’s love for all.

QUESTIONS: What is one action to which you feel Easter calling you? Where in your corner of the world do you need to be busy about the work of healing?

Weekly Scripture Readings for the week of May 27 - June 2, 2001 Seventh Sunday of Easter, Acts 7:55-60, Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20, John 17:20-26; Monday, Acts 19:1-8, John 16:29-33; Tuesday, Acts 20:1727, John 17:1-11; Wednesday, Acts 20:28-38, John 17:11-19; Thursday (The Visitation of Mary), Romans 12:9-16, Luke 1:39-54; Friday (St. Justin), Acts 25:13-21, John 21:15-19; Saturday (Sts. Marcellinus and Peter, Martyrs), Acts 28:16-20, 30-31, John 21:20-25 Readings for the week of June 3 - 9, 2001 Pentecost Sunday, Acts 2:1-11, 1 Corinthians 12:3-7,12-13, John 20:19-23; Monday, Tobit 1:1-2; 2:1-9, Mark 12:1-12; Tuesday (St. Boniface), Tobit 2:914, Mark 12:13-17; Wednesday (St. Norbert), Tobit 3:1-11,16, Mark 12:18-27; Thursday, Tobit 6:11; 7:1,9-14; 8:4-7, Mark 12:28-34; Friday, Tobit 11:5-15, Mark 12:35-37; Saturday (St. Ephrem), Tobit 12:1,5-15,20, Mark 12:38-44

May 25, 2001

NBC to air “Pearl Harbor:

By ANNE NAVARRO Catholic News Service NEW YORK (CNS) — An absorbing National Geographic special presentation takes another look at the infamous events of Dec. 7, 1941, in “Pearl Harbor: Legacy of Attack,” which airs on Sunday, May 27, 9-11 p.m. EDT on NBC. The two-hour special has been seemingly timed to piggyback on the interest stirred by the big-budget summer movie “Pearl Harbor.” But while the movie blends fact with fiction and romance, the National Geographic special is all the more affecting for its stark presentation of the facts and for its interviews with Pearl Harbor veterans.

The program rightfully concludes that there is nothing romantic about the loss of 2,400 American lives.

Hosted and narrated by Tom Brokaw, the program also features National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence Robert Ballard leading an expedition to find a missing Japanese midget submarine used in the attack and gives viewers a first-ever look inside the sunken battleship the USS Arizona, over which the Pearl Harbor

EntertainMemorial was constructed. And historian Stephen Ambrose brings historical perspective to the retelling of the Sunday morning surprise attack.

As veterans share their painful and poignant stories, the viewer can’t help but be moved. Photographs of them in uniform, looking so young and sprightly, are heartbreaking, especially considering that in the span of two hours these teen-agers (as most of them were) would see their shipmates perish and feel the ravages of war firsthand.

This special emphasizes that though it was a complete victory for Japan militarily, the Japanese miscalculated what it would do to the spirits of those in the armed forces.

Instead of demoralizing the soldiers, it emboldened them. The attack on Pearl Harbor was not only a turning point in the war, but a turning point in American history.

It brought Americans together, redefined America’s role in the world and set it on a course that would make the country a superpower.

The superbly written and assembled program makes clear the significance of the event and the destruction it caused.

Movie Capsules NEW YORK (CNS) — Following are recent capsule reviews issued by the U.S. Catholic Conference Office for Film and Broadcasting: “Angel Eyes” (Warner Bros.)

Tiresome drama in which a tough Chicago cop (Jennifer Lopez) dealing with an abusive childhood and a mysterious stranger (Jim Caviezel) recovering from a traumatic event fall in love, but must reconcile with their respective pasts to make things work.

Director Luis Mandoki unsuccessfully blends thriller and romance genres, as perfunctory performances, artificial sentiments and a mechanical script culminate in a forced ending. A sexual encounter, sporadic sexual references, brief violence and intermittent rough language with fleeting profanity. The U.S. Catholic Conference classification is A-III — adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is R — restricted.

“Fast Food Fast Women” (Lot 47) Pointless romantic comedy set in New York City which parallels the love stories of a single waitress (Anna Thomson) who falls for a novelist/ taxi driver (Jamie Harris), and that of an aging, sexually insecure widower (Robert Modica) who begins to date again. As directed by Amos Kollek, the monotonous film is a compilation of contrived scenes that lurch between awkward and painfully predictable. A few sexual encounters, some nudity and intermittent rough language. The U.S. Catholic Conference classification is A-III — adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is R — restricted.

The Catholic News & Herald 11

“Moulin Rouge” (20th Century Fox) Frenetic musical romance set in circa 1900 Paris about a penniless poet (Ewan McGregor) in love with an enchanting courtesan (Nicole Kidman) who is pressured to accommodate a rich duke (Richard Roxburgh) capable of making her a star. Director Baz Luhrmann’s wildly creative blend of diverse music and visual styles is a madly paced triumph of artifice over substance in its gushy valentine to romantic love. An implied affair with some sexual innuendo. The U.S. Catholic Conference classification is A-III — adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG13 — parents are strongly cautioned.

Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

“Shrek” (DreamWorks) Captivating animated film in which a cynical ogre (voiced by Mike Myers) and his smart-alecky donkey (voiced

by Eddie Murphy) agree to save the princess bride (voiced by Cameron Diaz) of a nasty lord (voiced by John Lithgow) in exchange for the return of the ogre’s swamp home. As directed

by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson, the sweet but conventional story of self-acceptance reaches new levels of excellence in its animation, and a fine cast of voices further bolsters the film’s appeal. Mild crass language and some crude humor. The U.S. Catholic Conference classification is A-II — adults and adolescents. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG — parental guidance suggested.

CNS photo from DreamWorks Pictures

Scene from animated film ‘Shrek’ Princess Fiona is surprised to see where Shrek has been injured in the computer-animated comedy ``Shrek.’’ The U.S. Catholic Conference classification is A-II — adults and adolescents. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG — parental guidance suggested.

1 2 The Catholic News & Herald

May 25, 2001

Editorials & Col-

The Pope Speaks

POPE JOHN PAUL II

Welcome from Orthodox, Muslim leaders was encouraging, says pope

By John Norton Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope John Paul II said he was encouraged and moved by the warm welcome of Orthodox and Muslim leaders and youths during his early May pilgrimage to Greece, Syria and Malta.

Speaking May 16 at his weekly general audience in St. Peter’s Square, he said reconciliation with Orthodox Christians and dialogue with Muslims were among Catholic Church priorities for the new millennium.

During his May 4-9 visit to the three countries, the pope traced the footsteps of St. Paul, completing a cycle of long-desired biblical pilgrimages to mark the new millennium of Christianity.

In predominantly Orthodox Greece and in Syria, where the Orthodox form a significant part of the Christian minority, “I wanted to show the Orthodox churches the Catholic Church’s affection and esteem, with the desire that the memory of past wrongs against communion would be fully purified and would open space for reconciliation and fraternity,” he said.

During a May 4 meeting in Athens with Greek Orthodox leaders, the pope issued a dramatic apology for past treatment of the Orthodox and said it was time to “heal the wounds” that have divided Eastern and Western churches for nearly 1,000 years.

Several days later in Syria, the pope and local Orthodox patriarchs prayed together in a Greek Orthodox cathedral.

“Deeply moved, I saw in this the fulfillment of one of the principal aims of the jubilee pilgrimage, that of gathering together in places of our common origin to witness Christ, our unity,” he told the audience.

In addition, the pope said the warm welcome from Syria’s majority Muslims was “truly encouraging.”

During the visit, he became the first pontiff in history to enter a mosque.

“Interreligious dialogue with Islam is becoming increasingly important and necessary at the beginning of the third millennium,” the pope said.

In Syria, at a contested border with Israel, the pope prayed for an end to bloodshed and violence in the Middle East. He told the May 16 audience that “in a certain sense, my spirit remains there.”

“My prayer continues and will not cease until revenge gives way to reconciliation and the recognition of reciprocal rights,” he said.

“I pray to the God of peace that young Christians, Muslims and Jews can grow up together as children of the same God,” he said.

The pope’s last stop on the pilgrimage was Malta, a heavily Catholic island, where he beatified two men and a woman.

“Once again, I wanted to indicate the path of holiness as the principal path for believers in the third millennium,” he said.

Dragging Unwilling Teens to Mass One recent Sunday morning we watched a little family drama one pew in front of us. This wordless battle of wills probably is played out in almost every parish, almost every Sunday.

They were a father and his teen-age daughter — I took her for about 14. From the moment we sat down behind them, everything about her said “I’m here against my will, and I resent it.”

She didn’t look at him even once. She read the bulletin and flipped through a little book she found near her seat. She stared out the open door. She braided and unbraided some pieces of string in her purse. She wasn’t rude, and she didn’t disturb anybody except perhaps her father.

He remained calm and did exactly what he had come to do. He knelt and prayed, and she gazed off into space.

When he stood to sing, she stood, shifting from foot to foot in sullen silence.

While he received Communion, she sat in the pew, pushing her cuticles back with a pencil eraser.

As the final words of the Mass were spoken, she heaved a sigh of relief and headed quickly for the door, her father calmly following behind.

One might reasonably ask, “Shouldn’t he just leave her at home? If teens want to sleep in on Sunday or hang out at home, does it make any sense for their parents to drag them into Mass?” Absolutely.

It is a Christian parent’s responsibility to make sure that their kids participate in the church’s life.

Does a parent have the right to make a teen-ager go to church? Absolutely. In fact, it’s an obligation.

At baptism, parents make a solemn promise to raise their children in the faith. The baptismal service calls parents the first and best of teachers. You can’t teach kids about the faith by leaving them at home on Sunday.

People fear that dragging unwilling teens to Mass will turn them against religion, causing them to stop going as soon as they can. Their argument supposes that somehow, if you let kids drop out when they’re 13, some magical force will draw them back when they’re 25.

Teens who drop out early mostly don’t come back.

Coming of Age Amy Welborn CNS Columnist

this culture of ours, in which human beings are nothing more than bodies to be exploited and wallets to be emptied, living as if Jesus is Lord.

Now you can see why the apostles were a little hesitant. You might even share that hesitation.

No, you won’t be under the threat of arrest and imprisonment if you accept the good news the apostles preached. But you’ll probably confront your own set of difficulties from your peers and maybe even from your family.

So maybe now you can see the point of those gifts of the Spirit, poured out on the apostles on Pentecost and shared with you at confirmation. If you’re going to embrace Jesus as Lord of your life, you’re going to need wisdom, understanding, counsel and knowledge to help you figure out how to live this way.

You’re going to need fortitude to help you be strong.

You’re going to need piety and fear of the Lord for those quiet times when it all gets to be too much, and you’ll need to be re-fed and nourished for the next step.

So there you go, young apostle of the 21st century.

Jesus is Lord. The Spirit’s in your heart.

Isn’t it time to unlock the door and go outside?

Coming of Age Christopher Carstens CNS Columnist There are three stages in your life as church members.

—In Stage 1, kids go because their parents go. The kids don’t even think about it.

—During their early teens, most pass through Stage 2, a period of questioning during which they challenge their parents’ thinking on all manner of subjects, including religion. An important part of growing up Christian is working through that period of rebellion and then discovering the value of the church in a brand new way.

—The third stage comes when the maturing young person finds that matters of faith and a spiritual life really are important. It emerges through a realization that some of the mind’s questions must have religious answers, and some of the heart’s empty places can only be filled through a relationship with God. However, you can’t get to the third stage if you drop out in the middle of Stage 2. If you haven’t stayed around long enough to get a sense of what adult life in the church may be about, you can’t possibly know what you’re leaving if you decide to bail.

That’s why it’s the parent’s responsibility to keep you going until you’re ready to tackle the really big issues on you own.

Your comments are welcome. Please address: Dr. Christopher Carstens, c/o Catholic News Service, 3211 Fourth St. N.E., Washington, D.C. 20017.

Talking With Teens About Pentecost Do you ever wonder if there’s more to this Christianity business than you’re led to believe?

The way people talk about it — even religion teachers sometimes — you’d think that being Christian is about nothing more than being kind to other people.

But that surely can’t be all there is to it, you suspect.

Jesus surely couldn’t have been executed just for preaching kindness.

Now it’s Pentecost, and that story gives you even more to think about. The apostles are gathered in a locked room, and they’re terrified. That’s why the door is locked, of course.

Why are they so scared? If Christianity were just about kindness, surely the apostles could get out there on the streets of Jerusalem and tell people about that without fearing for their lives, right?

But there they are, praying and waiting. They’ve been told by Jesus to go out and spread the good news, and baptize all nations, but they just can’t seem to get around to it. They’re almost paralyzed there in that room.

For fear of telling people to be nice? I don’t think so.

You know the rest of the story, of course. The apostles’ fear ends when, in a rush of wind and tongues of flame, the Holy Spirit comes in their midst, setting them on fire and giving them the courage to get out of that room and proclaim the good news. As Peter said that day, “God has made him both Lord and Messiah, this Jesus whom you crucified.”

That’s the heart of it. That’s the core of Christianity — not just simple humanitarianism, but living rooted in the conviction that Jesus is Lord.

So what? What difference does that make?

A big difference.

If Jesus is Lord, that means that everything he said is true. Everything he said about material things being totally unimportant. Every word he said about living by the spirit of the law, not just the letter. Every hint he dropped about sacrifice.

And, very important, everything Jesus said about God’s passionate love for you is absolutely true.

Imagine living that way. Imagine walking around in

May 25, 2001

Editorials & Col-

Light One Candle Msgr. Jim Lisante Guest Columnist

His sacrifice made all the difference to one young life - and perhaps many more. Today, Robert Bradford, a successful film producer, is an avid supporter of children’s charities, including the Police Athletic League. It seems he learned early, and from a memorable teacher, the responsibility an adult has to a youngster in need of a friend.

Much is written about all the people in World War II who could have done more, or should have done more, to save human life. But some folks did care. Some folks did get involved. Some folks took the enormous risk. And some died in the trying.

Barbara Taylor Bradford is a great writer and a wonderful person to interview. Unpretentious and joyful, she lights up a room. You sense, as she talks, that the pilot light behind this positive and talented person is her beloved husband. Neither Barbara nor Robert is Catholic. But that doesn’t matter. Caring and loving, getting involved and taking a stand are part of the universal call to holiness.

I’m glad Barbara Taylor met and fell in love with Robert Bradford. And I’m delighted that an unknown priest made a decision to make a difference for the good.

Msgr. Jim Lisante is the director of the Christophers

of the cremated remains at funeral liturgies in the United States. The Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments granted this request the following year.

Since then, new readings and adaptations of the rites have been prepared and approved for liturgies with the cremated remains of the body present in church.

A number of bishops and archbishops have delegated their parish priests to make the pastoral decision for a funeral to be celebrated in the presence of the ashes.

Thus, while the Catholic Church continues its preference for traditional entombment, it recognizes that a variety of circumstances — geographic, economic, family considerations and so on — can make cremation an understandable choice.

It still urges, however, that even when cremation will follow, having the body of the deceased present for the funeral Mass better expresses our belief in the dignity and sacredness of the human body, as it is honored in the funeral liturgy.

Nevertheless, cremation beforehand, with the ashes in church for the funeral Mass, is still possible.

Q. A recent movie dealing with exorcisms and devil worship spoke, as I understood it, of “diabolical obsession.” Is that the same as possession? (Oklahoma) A. No. Very briefly, possession usually refers to control, or near control, of a person’s body, as it were, from the inside, by an evil spirit.

Obsession is the term used for an experience of many people through the centuries in which an individual is molested physically in circumstances that seem to point to an evil spirit as the cause.

It is, therefore, more of an external than internal influence, but is more than a “temptation” in the ordinary sense of that word.

A free brochure outlining basic Catholic prayers, beliefs and moral precepts, is available by sending a stamped self-addressed envelope to Father John Dietzen, Box 325, Peoria, IL 61651.

The Unknown Priest Hosting a weekly television program gives you the opportunity to meet some fascinating people. Sometimes, based on biographical research, you get high expectations.

You come to believe that a guest will be something amazing. Too often, you find their pre-publicity doesn’t match the reality. In the case of one recent guest, just the opposite happened. My expectations were far exceeded by the person before me.

Her name is Barbara Taylor Bradford and she’s a monumentally successful author. With seventeen novels in print, she has sold more than sixty-two million books.

They’re printed in thirty-nine languages in eighty-nine countries. Her first novel was called A Woman of Substance.

Published in 1979, it remained on The New York Times bestseller lists for over fifteen months. Her latest, The Triumph of Katie Byrne, will no doubt continue this winning streak. The London Daily Mail indicates that for three years running, the author ranked in first place on the list of highest-earning British women.

Barbara writes with a unique and insightful style, celebrating the growth and evolution of women faced with seemingly overwhelming odds. Her heroines grow before our eyes, becoming persons of impressive conviction and substance. Personally, the author lives a life filled with some glamour, but with far more stability and normalcy than you’d imagine. Great popular and financial success has not turned her head or led her down foolish paths. This woman knows who she is and what truly matters. So love, fidelity and common sense are her true touchstones. On a blind date in 1961, she met Robert Bradford. She claims it was love at first sight and they married in 1963. The writer and her producer husband seem genuinely to have found a constant in this chaotic world. And it almost didn’t happen at all.

Robert Bradford lived as a child in Nazi-occupied territory. His life was at risk. That is, until a Catholic priest helped Robert cross into a safe neighboring country. At the border, now securely on the other side, young Robert turned to wave goodbye to his companion. His eyes beheld a horrible sight. The Gestapo had been trailing this refugee band and arrived too late to stop Robert, but just in time to apprehend and shoot the Catholic priest.

Question Corner FATHER JOHN DIETZEN CNS Columnist

May Cremated Remains Be Present During a Funeral?

Q. My retired husband and I have talked with our parish priest about funeral arrangements, including cremation. We realize cremation is permitted by the church now, but what happens at the funeral Mass? Is the urn with the ashes allowed in the church? We seem to be getting mixed answers, even from priests. (Florida) A. Answers to your question have developed very slowly over the past 20 years or so, as cremation has become more common in the United States. One estimate is that more than 20 percent of funerals in our country now involve cremation.

In some states the figure is much higher. Percentages for Catholics appear to be not much different.

As I have explained several times in this column, cremation formerly was forbidden by the Catholic Church (and some other Christian denominations) because anti-Christian groups, especially in Europe, promoted it as a symbolic rejection of Christian belief in the immortality of the soul and the resurrection.

That argument is no longer raised seriously. For decades now, the church has no longer prohibited the practice, provided it is not chosen in disrespect for Christian faith or beliefs.

Because of the large volume of inquiries they were receiving, in 1996 the American bishops requested Vatican permission for the bishop of a diocese to allow the presence

The Catholic News & Herald 13

Guest Column

By Andrew & Terri Lyke

Typically, we endure the mad rush at an area restaurant on Mothers Day. This past Mothers Day was very different. Andrew’s siblings, their spouses, children and grandchildren forewent the usual and gathered with Mom at the 8:30 Mass at St. Sabina’s and spent the rest of the day at Mom’s. There was nothing very unusual about the day, from outward appearances. However, something very rich was evident in our gathering that day.

It was our first visit to St. Sabina’s, where we were members for many years, since we joined our current parish in 1988. It was like coming home. Being there with so many family members to honor Mom seemed so appropriate and a perfect way to begin what would be a magical day.

Gathering at Mom’s after mass began in a typical fashion. Some hung-out in the kitchen, while others watched the NBA playoffs on TV. With children running underfoot, a few of us even took quick naps.

In the late-afternoon we gathered around the TV to watch old family videos. However, before the tape began Andrew’s nephew Craig made the announcement that he was entering the police academy after much discernment. He asked for the family’s support; we lifted him in prayer.

The first video was from Christmastime 1991-a time of innocence before the deaths of brother Aaron, uncle Jimmie and Dad. In mid-May, there we were singing Christmas carols along with the video. The older children were embarrassed by their childhood naiveté, while the younger kids marveled at the youthfulness of the “old folks.”

The second video was of sister Lila’s 40th birthday party in July of the same year. In typical fashion there was dancing, “doowop” singing and plenty of embarrassing moments to laugh at. Evident in both videos was our love for and pride in one another, and the magic we bring to our family gatherings.

Looking around the crowded livingroom and reflecting on so much that has transpired since the time of the videos, we appreciated the love and pride that is still strong, perhaps stronger, yet seasoned by time, tragedy and tears.

The next day Mom called to say how it was a very special Mothers Day for her. It was so for us all. The magic is still there.

Sometimes when we gather as a family, the pain of losing family members is most pronounced. We can actually feel their absence. Despite all that, gathering as family is like going to the well and sipping the waters of life. John 4:14 says, “Those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.”

It is in such gatherings that we discover who we really are. Within the family gathered the waters of life gush up and overflow in abundance. It is there we gather the people, prepare the food, give thanks to God, break the bread, tell the stories of our life and faith, and dance in the radiant, magical light of God’s love.

Questions for Reflections: • When have you felt the absence of a deceased loved-one most?

• How have family gatherings revealed God’s love for you?

• When was the last time you gathered with your family and watched videos or perused the family photo album?

• How has time, tragedy and tears seasoned the love in your family?

1 4 The Catholic News & Herald

Youth explore definitions of

not lost on anyone. As Erin said, “We couldn’t judge people right away and say, ‘You’re a green, you’re a loser,’ because we might be green.”

J.R. was the loner, the only person with a dot of a different color. Erin said she felt guilty for leaving him out of her group. J.R. made the point that “sometimes we leave people out, not because of skin color, but if they’re different” in some other way.

Others also knew about exclusion.

Lia said that at her school, if a student talked to someone who wasn’t accepted, no one would accept the student who initiated the conversation. She added that “people are scared of what they don’t understand,” and said that she and a girl who attends a Lutheran church became friends after they discussed what each believes and finding how similar many of their beliefs were.

Aubrey said she had attended a service with a friend from another denomination and the pastor and others were surprised that a Catholic would attend their church.

“In finding similarities,” Kotlowski said, “we’ll be building the kingdom. Jesus came that we would be one, but we’ve really messed that up over the years. Build the kingdom by concentrating on the similarities rather than the differences.

We want to find something similar and concentrate on that rather than on the differences.”

“We need to recognize that God is the author of diversity and differences,” he added. “Just look at the awesome diversity in creation. Ultimately, diversity is of God; therefore, it should be something celebrated, not feared.”

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May 25, 2001

Around the Di-

By JOANITA M. NELLENBACH Correspondent BRYSON CITY — The setting was peaceful, but the subject was violence — and how to deal with it. Youth from four parishes in the Smoky Mountain and Asheville vicariates learned how to deal with violence and prevent potential violence. During a middle school retreat held May 12 at Camp Living Waters, they learned that they have a part in making a new and better world.

Paul Kotlowski, diocesan director of the Office of Youth Ministry, who led the retreat, took his theme, “I Make All Things New,” from Revelation 21:5, found in that weekend’s readings for the fifth Sunday of Easter. The retreat concluded with some of the families joining the group for Mass celebrated by Father Ray Williams, pastor of St. Joseph Church in Bryson City.

Those participating in the retreat were: from St. Joseph, Chris Norcross, Tiffany Carlson, Stephen Sauer, Brittney Helton, and Mary Herr, regional faith formation consultant for the Smoky Mountain Vicariate; from St. William, Murphy, Stephanie Martin; from St. Mary, Sylva, Erin Hayes, J.R. Collins, and Kyle McCay; and from St. Barnabas, Arden, Aubrey Foss, Jennifer Foss (Aubrey’s mother), Lia Beard, and Benjamin Torres.

Kotlowski began the retreat with an exercise designed to show how easy it is to exclude people. He then went among the group, placing a colored dot on each one’s forehead. When they opened their eyes, they had to form groups of people with the same colored dots — without talking. The point of the exercise was

practicing Catholic and have certificate in Religious Education or Youth Ministry with at least one year experience. Salary and benefits commensurate with experience. Contact Rev. William Kelley, SJ., St. Therese Catholic Church, 217 Brawley School Rd., Mooresville, NC 28117; (704) 664-3992: or email: w-kelley@msn.com High School Youth Minister: Vibrant 4,500-family suburban Atlanta parish. Sunday evening mass and program (currently LifeTeen); also teen OCIA, retreats, adult leader formation, confirmation preparation, and cooperation with colleagues to oversee entire parish catechetical effort. Healthy Vatican II spirituality, collaborative skills, a must; degree in religious education or related field or comparable experience required; Spanish-language facility a plus.

Full-time position available immediately. Salary commensurate with qualifications. Send resume and references to Business Manager, St. Thomas Aquinas Church, 535 Rucker Road, Alpharetta, GA 30004.

Fax 770-772-0355.

Parish Catechetical Leader: St. Joseph Parish, Kannapolis. Seeking a dedicated and spiritual leader for our faith education program. Must be certified catechist. Completion of Lay Ministry courses helpful but not necessary. Candidates shall have experience working with children, strong organizational skills, and leadership. Bilingual skills (Spanish) preferred but not necessary. Part-time (20-30 hours per week) with competitive salary. Send resume and salary requirements to: St. Joseph Catholic Church, Attn: PCL Position, PO Box 220, Kannapolis, NC 28082. Call (704)932-4607 for information or fax: (704)932-0566.

Principal: Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic School seeks a principal beginning the 2001-2001 academic year. The school is a well-established parochial school with 61 years of operation. Applicants must be practicing Catholic, hold a teacher certification and a principal’s license (or in progress). Applicants must have administrative experience and be willing to relocate to the Rocky Mount area. Please send your resume, references and salary history to: Our Lady of Perpetual Help, 328 Hammond St., Rocky Mount, NC 27804 or fax your resume to 252-972-4780.

Stewardship & Development Officer: Newman Catholic Student Center at Duke University. New

Then it was time to focus on violence and the escalators that cause violence, what often happens when people emphasize differences at school and elsewhere.

What is violence? The retreatants broke into groups to come up with a definition.

When the group discussions ended, Kotlowski wrote on a flip chart as the participants called out parts of the definition. Violence, they said, is sin, physical or emotional abuse, emotional stress, people bringing guns to school, displaying anger or hatred toward others resulting in emotional or physical harm, people being mean because of different opinions, hatred stored up inside a person and released as rage, expressions of misunderstanding between two or more people and resulting in harm, someone needing to get the upper hand, sadness, jealousy, regret, anxiety, hurting another person emotionally or physically because you don’t understand them or they are different, anger taken out in a brutal way.

And there was also violence to the environment as seen in littering, polluting, improper disposal of chemicals, use of pesticides, erosion, sport hunting, and overdevelopment of land.

“Do I want to be a life-giver with constructive attitudes or someone who’s negative?” Kotlowski asked. “God made us to love and to be loved and to belong.

When we’re loved, we’re given attention; we need to belong. If I don’t get attention in positive ways, I’m going to demand attention in negative ways.”

J.R. said that even though we’re the “image of God, we do violence to ourselves with drugs, alcohol, and sex.”

“Every human being is sacred and precious and a miracle, and J.R. brings up

an excellent point that we do violence to ourselves because we don’t believe that,” Kotlowski said.

The next step was to decide what was the opposite of violence. As Erin scribed on the flip chart, parts of the definition came in. Nonviolence, the group members said, is respecting self and others, love, being nice to everybody, honoring people’s differences and solving differences by compromise, caring for the earth, mediation, respecting others’ religions, peace, freedom from stress or having nonnegative stress, doing unto others, not judging others, courtesy, Jesus and what he taught, caring for others, sharing, sacrifice, openness, helpfulness, listening, understanding, healing, trusting, leadership, patience, God, fairness, equality, justice, repentance.

In a discussion of conflict resolution, Paul pointed out that “every warning sign is an opportunity to back out or to introduce peace.”

“So what does all this have to do with God making all things new?” he asked.

“If you ask God for forgiveness, he’ll absolve you and make you new,” Aubrey said.

“As builders of the kingdom, we need to recognize the steps leading to violence,” Paul said. “Hopefully, because of our commitment to God and his values, we build the mechanisms in ourselves that will get us off the escalator, will get our friends off the escalator.”

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Payment: Ads may be pre-paid or billed. For information, call (704) 370-3332. position responsible for all aspects of the planning, implementation and management of an effective stewardship and development program to support Catholic Campus Ministry financially. Minimum requirements: Bachelor’s Degree; five years successful experience in higher education or non-profit development; excellent organizational, planning and communication skills. Must be practicing Catholic.

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May 25, 2001

2000

The Catholic News & Herald 15

CHARLOTTE CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL AND BISHOP McGUINNESS MEMORIAL HIGH SCHOOL proudly present their graduating seniors and intended colleges

— Congratulations — Lindsley , Joseph Nagel, Phillip Pennsylvania St. U. Poletti, Matthew Pennsylvania, U. of Soer, Ryan Princeton University Glass, Gregory Saint Mary’s College-IN Carey, Emily Sweeney, Erin Samford University Phillips, Matthew South Carolina, U. of LaPorta, Nicholas Maloomian, Brian Maner, Christopher Radd, George Sullivan, Daniel Watson, Evan Southern U. and A&M Col. Fonseca, Mario Tennessee, Knoxville, U. of Keuten, Robert Scobey, Martin U. S. Air Force Academy Bertmaring, Tyson U. S. Military Academy Soer, Kimberly Thomas, John Villanova University Bruce, Patrick Wa1sh, Megan Virginia Poly. Institute and State University Froedge, Suzanne Hanauer, Randall Wake Forest U. Thompson, KaitIin Warren Wilson Col. Johnson, Molly Western Carolina U. Reed, Collin Wingate University Rief, Patricia Wofford College Priester, John Undecided Fowler, Elizabeth Hogan, Michael Lukoskie, Candace Pruett, John Untz, Karl

CCHS American University Garris, Kimberly Appalachian State U. Cole, Erin Deschenes, Christopher Dunn, Jonathan Finn, Ryan Kolodziej, James Neal, Joanne Peattie, John Pichette, Emily Piennan, Joe Schlesinger, Stephan Wetmore, Betsy Whalen, Patrick Woods, David Wyniemko, Monica Auburn University Stout, Robert Belmont Abbey College Anello, Denise Armstrong, Jessica Chernitsky , Mary Kubovcik, Brian Picinich, Megan Thompson, Jeffrey Walker, Gregory Welsch, Andrew Yockey, Jill Boston College Gill, Caitlin Harding, Emily Stocker, Thomas Brevard College Decot, April Friedrich, Alexander Miller, Lindsey Rothe, Abigail CaldwelI Communitv College & Tech. Inst.

Pruitt, Bradley Camden Countv College O’Neill, Charles Campbell University Ahearn, Nicholas Duffy , Gerard McGrath, Megan Nuebel, Ryan Catawba College Kramer, Tiffany Catholic U. of America Nelis, Caitlen Central Piedmont CC Ferrell, Mary Fordham, Rory Rains, Joseph Sztyber, Sebastian Charleston Southern U. Crumpton, Thomas Charleston, College of Barbarino, Jennifer Friedrich, William Mascavage, Lauren Mason, Laura Oliver, Elizabeth

Charlotte Catholic Bishop McGuinness

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1 6 The Catholic News & Herald

Living the

Obstacles strengthen deacon’s faith, provide spiritual

He had first-hand experience with

By Alesha M. Price Catholicism through his wife, a devout, Staff Writer cradle Catholic. Because of his hectic MORGANTON — Rev. Mr. Jim work schedule, he began attending the Johnson held his breath as the water Mass and became acquainted with a rushed all round him, enclosing him on religion with which he had little expoall sides. The members turned out for sure in his predominantly Protestant his baptism into the Methodist faith hometown. and gathered around the pond used “I had thought the for church baptisms. It only people who were was at that time that Catholic were Hispanteen-aged Johnson first ic. I didn’t understand thought that someone a word of the Mass had something in store because it was all in for him.

Latin at that time, but “All community the mystery of church baptisms took place in made me feel as if it that pond, and at that touched my soul. Even time, I felt that God today, so much of it is had something special still a mystery to me, for me to do,” said but back then, I felt as Rev. Mr. Johnson, who if I had really been to taught Bible study and church after attending a worked with the small Catholic Mass.” youth group.

The couple moved That ‘something to Houston, and he had special’ came later as just begun working at he was ordained to the a meat-packing plant permanent diaconate Rev. Mr. Jim Johnson when the Army called of the Catholic Church him to duty in 1960 beand began his ministry. cause of the Berlin CriHis faith journey took sis. His wife went with him to Tenneshim from the flatlands of Texas to the see, where she found a teaching job in a mountains of Tennessee and Western nearby Catholic school, and they lived North Carolina. in a housing community with other Rev. Mr. Johnson’s grew up in a drafted soldiers and their families. small farming community in Nacog“I had the best job — a battalion doches, Texas, and remembers a time mail clerk,” he said. “Everyone liked filled with food and discussions that rethe mail clerk. I took special care of volved around the important presence the cooks, and they would take care of immediate and extended family and of me. When we had extra food, I was faith. A desire to discover more about able to feed everyone in the trailer park himself and the world outside of his where we lived. (It was an example of) childhood home sent him to Stephen God’s love shining forth because we F. Austin Teacher’s College to become shared what we had with others.” an agriculture teacher; however, a In 1961, Rev. Mr. Johnson beneed for money and a job carried him gan studying his wife’s religion, and to Beaumont, where his uncle owned a through her support and guidance, hamburger stand. he converted. “I felt it was a blessing It could be the smell of the burgin my life, and it was something I had ers or the sight of Rev. Mr. Johnson wanted to do. My wife never pressured cooking them that drew Judith, his me at all and would take time to answer future wife, to the establishment. In all my questions. She was and still is any case, it was love at first sight for my rock.” the both of them, and they were married.

After a little over two years of duty, the Johnsons returned to Texas, but after the plant closed down, they needed to figure out what was next. A close friend of his from Tennessee told him that the state was booming, so he went to scout around for himself. After obtaining a job at a research plant, he called his wife to tell her to sell their house and their dog and join him in Elizabethton, Tenn., where he later finished his college degree in science.

“It was quite a culture shock. It was very country and clannish, whereas outsiders and Catholics weren’t thought of very kindly.”

Their less than friendly reception caused them to embrace their faith even more and to become very active in the local church in prayer groups and faith formation. They were also a part of the first RCIA team in Eastern Tennessee. “It was so great to see that, and I learned so much more about the Catholic Church by helping to prepare other people. During the Easter vigil, I could feel the spirit alive in the church.”

When his parish priest asked him to consider the permanent diaconate, he protested saying that he was a convert, was not financially stable and did not have adequate transportation to the classes in Nashville. But, Rev. Mr. Johnson said that God had other plans.

“Every time I made an excuse, God would take it away. Out of the blue, I got a raise, and I got a great deal on a car. You can’t argue with God and win.

I started with the classes and enjoyed them.”

Everything was on track until life threw Rev. Mr. Johnson a curve ball. He had his choice of being transferred to Texas, his home, Indonesia or Morganton, N.C. The Appalachian Mountains called the family to Morganton where they settled. He continued attending classes in Nashville while advancing in his job and began to explore the Diocese of Charlotte and his new parish home, St. Charles Borromeo. However, he received some devastating news.

“I had finished the three years of class but couldn’t be ordained in Tennessee. It was very hurtful, but I figured that God would not have taken us this far and that he had a plan.”

He received word from the Diocese of Charlotte that he had permission to be ordained in 1987. Since that day when the deacons from his class in Tennessee traveled to see him ordained, he has become involved with prison ministry, marriage encounter and has been the Boy and Girl Scouts’ diocesan chaplain since 1985, also serving as Assistant Scout Master and Scout Master and Cub Master.

“Scouting has helped me do a lot of good for boys from broken homes, those with problems, and God has been able to use me as a minister to these young men,” said Rev. Mr. Johnson, father of four. “I encourage them to earn religious awards in their various faiths and to share their faiths with each other. You can go down the list of Scouting laws, and it applies to all of us. I try to get them to take an active role in their spiritual lives and with prayer, and Scouting helps with that.”

Rev. Mr. Johnson cites his wife and

May 25, 2001

Diocese to welcome four at

By Alesha M. Price Staff Writer CHARLOTTE — Spring and early summer are times of milestones and beginnings for the diocese — graduations, confirmations, first Communions and ordinations. Four men will be taking their final steps toward a lifelong dedication and commitment to God through ordained ministry and will begin their lives anew. This year’s class of candidates includes two brothers from Vietnam and two widowers with families.

Bishop William G. Curlin will ordain Rev. Messrs. Kurt Fohn, Duc Duong, Tien Duong and Robert Ferris to the holy priesthood at a Mass held at St. Gabriel Church on June 2.

“This year’s class has a rich diversity in the gifts these good men bring to priestly ministry. Two are widowers who applied for the seminary upon the deaths of their wives, and both men are fathers of children, some of whom now have children of their own,” said Bishop Curlin. “Two are also brothers who escaped Vietnam in order to find freedom in the United States.”

According to May statistics from a survey conducted by the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Vocations, of the nearly 400 men being ordained this year, 13 percent are Hispanic, 7 percent are of Asian descent and 1 percent are African-American. The percentage of those born in countries other than the United States was also higher —from 24 to 28 percent. This is reflected in the class of 2001of the Diocese of Charlotte with Rev. Messrs. Tien and Duc Duong from Vietnam and Rev. Mr. Fohn, who was born and raised in Germany.

Rev. Mr. Fohn and Rev. Mr. Ferris both attended Pope John XXIII National Seminary in Western Massachusetts. Rev. Mr. Fohn was ordained to the permanent diaconate in 1989 prior to entering the seminary. Rev. Mr. Duc Dong attended the Theological College of the Catholic University of America in Washington D.C. while his brother Rev. Mr. Tien Duong completed his studies at St. Vincent Seminary in Latrobe, Pa. Though educated at different seminaries in the country, all four men will contribute their experiences and knowledge as priests of the Diocese of Charlotte.

“Each of the men who are being ordained had followed a wonderful journey to the priesthood. Each one of them is uniquely gifted for work that will be entrusted to them as priests.

All of them in their own way have borne extraordinary witness to their faith in their individual lives,” said Father John Allen, assistant director of vocations for the diocese.

The bishop said that daily prayer is a key element in maintaining their ministry as priests.

“As bishop of the Diocese of Charlotte, I thank the good Lord for sending us these fine men who devote their lives to help build up the Body of Christ in Western North Carolina.