June 8, 2001

The Catholic News & Herald 1

June 8, 2001

June 8, 2001 Volume 10 t Number 36

Inside Catholics and Lutherans celebrate covenant anniversary

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

“The church needs disciples on fire with love for Jesus Christ.”

— Bishop William G. Curlin to the ordination class of 2001

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Exchange program bridges cultures in student body

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Local News Boone parishioner honored with Mother Teresa Memorial Award

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“Families First” forum hosted in Hayesville

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Photo by Joann S. Keane

Photo by Jimmy Rostar

Photo by Jimmy Rostar

Photo by Joann S. Keane

Every Week Entertainment ...Pages 14-15

Editorials & Columns ...Pages 16-17

Front-page art: Four men were ordained into the holy order of priesthood June 2. Bishop William G. Curlin ordained Rev. Messrs.

Robert Ferris, Duc Duong, Tien Duong and Kurt Fohn during the liturgy, where the bishop urged the newly ordained to be men of faith, service and the sacraments. See story and photo essay, pages 9-11.

2 The Catholic News & Herald bishop’s spirituality, role as teacher VATICAN CITY (CNS) — A document intended to focus discussion at this fall’s Synod of Bishops emphasizes the spirituality of individual bishops and their primary roles as teachers and unifiers. The document, known as an “instrumentum laboris,” also identifies a host of practical issues that might receive treatment, ranging from re-integrating retired bishops into dioceses to declaring church law above civil legislation in priestly misconduct cases. The working document is based on responses to an 86-page outline and series of questions sent to bishops’ conferences around the world in June 1998. The 124-page text of the working document was released at the Vatican June 1.

Border deaths prompt bishop’s call for change in U.S. policies WASHINGTON (CNS) — As the bodies of 12 of the 14 Mexicans who died in the Arizona desert a week earlier were returned to their home state, the chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Migration reiterated a call to change U.S. border policies May 30. “Our elected officials must steer away from a one-dimensional approach toward our borders and examine all aspects of national immigration policy,” said Bishop Nicholas A. DiMarzio of Camden, N.J., who heads the committee. In a statement released by the National Conference of Catholic Bishops in Washington, Bishop DiMarzio said that examination should include the legal immigration system, laws addressing asylum and due process protection, and the current treatment of undocumented immigrants who enter the United States.

Genetic transfer for fertility raises questions WASHINGTON (CNS) — A Jesuit genetics expert said a new assisted human reproduction technique involving genetic transfer poses some ethical issues in itself.

But more significantly, he said, the use of the procedure highlights major questions about the reproductive technology industry. “There is probably a broad agreement — certainly among medical ethicists — that the reproductive technology industry is one of the least regulated, and probably most in need of regulation, within the whole

CNS photo by Michael Markwick, British Columbia Catholic

Children carry Youth Day service cross Children from the Archdiocese of Vancouver carry the Youth Day Cross with help from Corpus Christi College students in Vancouver. The cross is making its way across Canada for World Youth Day in Toronto in 2002 Canonization cause opened for ‘rosary priest’ Father Peyton FALL RIVER, Mass. (CNS) — The Vatican Congregation for Sainthood Causes has formally opened the cause for the possible canonization of the late Holy Cross Father Patrick Peyton, the world famous “rosary priest” and pioneer radio and TV producer. Bishop Sean P. O’Malley of Fall River, who made the announcement June 1, sought the formal approval of the Vatican congregation because Father Peyton is buried in Easton, which is within the Diocese of Fall River. Calling the Vatican approval “wonderful news,” Bishop O’Malley said that as a priest for 51 years, Father Peyton “encouraged millions of families around the world to pray daily, especially the rosary, to strengthen families and to achieve world peace. He knew that with prayer all things became possible.”

Synod document stresses

Episcopal June 8, 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 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.

June 8, 2001

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Bishop William G. Curlin will take part in the following events: June 12 — 7 p.m. Confirmation St. Joseph, Asheboro June 16 — 11 a.m.

Sisters of Mercy Jubilee Celebration St. Gabriel, Charlotte June 17 — 10:30 a.m. Confirmation St. John Lee Korean, Charlotte 3 p.m.

Feast of Corpus Christi Celebration Maryfield Nursing Home, High Point June 18 — 7 p.m.

Addressing clergy of Archdiocese of Newark for Vocations Day Newark, New Jersey June 22 — 5 p.m.

St. John the Baptist Mass for Knights and Dames of Malta St. Peter, Charlotte June 23 — 10 a.m. Ordination St. Gabriel, Charlotte

health care arena,” said Jesuit Father Kevin T. FitzGerald, a specialist in genetics and bioethics. The priest, an assistant professor of medicine at Loyola University Medical Center in Chicago, was interviewed by telephone following recent reports about a new fertility technique at the St. Barnabas Institute for Reproductive Medicine and Science in Livingston, N.J., that produces babies who bear genes from three people — a mother, a father and a cytoplasmic donor.

U.S. ecumenical service marks Armenian Church’s 17th centenary WASHINGTON (CNS) — U.S. church leaders joined Catholicos Karekin II of Etchmiadzin, Armenia, head of the Armenian Apostolic Church, in an ecumenical prayer service May 30 celebrating 1,700 years since all Armenia became Christian.

Two Catholic cardinals and the Rev. Robert W. Edgar, general secretary of the National

Diocesan

Council of Churches, flanked the catholicos as he presided over the two-hour evening service at the Catholic Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington. In his address Catholicos Karekin thanked God for the restoration of Armenian independence and religious freedom after 70 years of communism, “in the face of the evil and apostasy forced upon us” by Soviet religious persecution.

Vatican says pope to visit Armenia, Kazakstan in September VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope John Paul II will travel to Armenia and Kazakstan in September, his first trip to either Asian country, the Vatican said. The pope also plans to visit Bulgaria in the spring of 2002, a year in which he already has scheduled a visit to Toronto for World Youth Day festivities, Joaquin Navarro-Valls, Vatican spokesman, said May 31. The visit to Armenia has been long-expected and will feature the pope’s presence at events marking the 1,700th anniversary of Christianity in the country. Kazakstan, a former Soviet republic that extends from the Caspian Sea to western China, established diplomatic ties with the Vatican in 1992. The pope is expected to spend about two days in both countries.

Irish bishop calls for referendum on permanent abortion ban DUBLIN, Ireland (CNS) — The Irish people deserve a referendum that would guarantee the absolute right to life of the unborn child, said an Irish bishop. In a pastoral letter released May 27, Bishop Thomas A. Finnegan of Killala said the Irish Constitution did not provide a permanent ban on abortion, and that, in some cases, the right to abort a child could be upheld. He referred to a 1983 amendment to the Irish Constitution that promises to “defend and vindicate” the right to life “as far as practicable.” But, the bishop said, the protection against abortion is rendered moot in certain circumstances due to two earlier court rulings that involved minors.

tion, sponsored by Catholic Social Services Elder Ministry, at St. Elizabeth Church, 259 Pilgrims Way, from 10 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Mass will be celebrated at 12:15 p.m., and lunch will be served.

Scholarships are available for those in need. For further information about mail-in registration to Sandra Breakfield, 1123 South Church St., Charlotte, N.C., 28203; or for other details, call Meg Smith at (828) 438-0774.

24 HENDERSONVILLE — The St. Francis of the Hills Fraternity of the Secular Franciscan Order will meet today from 3-5 p.m. at Immaculate Conception Church, 208 7th Ave. West, in the office wing. Visitors and inquirers are welcome, so for more information, call Pat Cowan at (828) 884-4246.

Lending Library, 474 Haywood Rd., are as follows: Tuesdays from 1-3 p.m., Thursdays from 4-6 p.m. and Fridays from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Nazareth House is a family ministry dedicated to promoting the blessings of Christian marriage, chastity, natural family planning and post-abortion healing. For further details, call Nina D’Arcy at (828) 299-7618 or e-mail ninadarcy@juno.com.

ROCK HILL, S.C. — The Oratory Religion Camp will hold two separate one-week sessions at Camp York in Kings Mountain State Park during the weeks of July 8-14 and July 15-21. Boys and girls under 12, entering grades 2-6 in Sept., can apply for consideration. Those 16 and older wishing to volunteer as counselors can write for a staff application. Application deadline is June 11. For further information and application, write to: Oratorian Father William F. Pentis, camp coordinator; the Oratory Religion Camp, P.O. Box 11586, Rock Hill, S.C., 29731-1586; or call (803) 327-2097.

Ongoing ASHEVILLE — The June hours for the Nazareth House Family Ministry and

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

plan -

June 8, 2001

about eight acres over an easement the park service secured in 1984. The friars, who received $116,500 for the original easement, will be paid $25,680 for giving up any right to develop the added acreage.

German Protestants stir debate with invitation to ‘communion’ COLOGNE, Germany (CNS) — Protestants in Germany stirred controversy over the nature of Communion when they invited Catholics to a nontraditional eucharistic service. Organizers of a liturgy during the June 13-17 Protestant Church Assembly, or Kirchentag, in Frankfurt, will offer fruit, cheese, bread and grape juice in what is being described as a “celebratory communion with the character of a satisfying meal.” The service will be held in Lutheran parishes throughout the city at the half-way point of the assembly. A guide for local organizers suggests Lutherans join with neighboring non-Lutheran parishes to prepare the service. Bishop Franz Kamphaus of Limburg, a strong supporter of ecumenical initiatives whose diocese includes Frankfurt, rejected the invitation, saying that Catholics from his diocese who participate can expect disciplinary action.

Bishops plan to explain Christ’s real presence in Eucharist WASHINGTON (CNS) — The U.S. bishops plan to vote this June on a statement explaining church teachings on the real presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. Besides addressing the core teaching, the statement touches on topics such as eucharistic devotion, receiving Communion under both kinds and what happens when someone without faith or in a state of sin receives the Eucharist. The bishops are to discuss and vote on the proposed 19-page statement, written in question-answer format, during their June 14-16 national meeting in Atlanta. A number of bishops signed a request to develop such a statement in November 1999.

ing Waters, Reflection Center, 103 Living Waters Lane, will be sponsoring a retreat entitled “Augustine and Our Faith Journey” beginning today through June 22. The retreat, which applies to the thought of St. Augustine to contemporary struggles and issues including memory, teaching and work, will be facilitated by Dr. Joseph T. Kelley, vice-president for Mission Effectiveness and director of the Center for Augustinian Study. For more information, call the center at (828) 926-3833.

20 CHARLOTTE — The 50+ Club of St. John Neumann Church, 8451 Idlewild Rd., will be having a meeting this morning instead of the regularly scheduled date of June 13 at 11 a.m. for the installation of officers and a catered 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.

21 BOONE — Father John Putnam will be presenting a Day of Reflec-

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CNS photo from Reuters

Kenyan children scavange for food Children fight over a garbage bin to look for food in the streets of Nairobi, Kenya, May 30. A recession in Kenya has sent thousands of citizens into the streets as beggars.

Immigrants’ deaths shocking but predictable, bishops say PHOENIX (CNS) — The death of 14 illegal immigrants in the Arizona desert “is both shocking and, tragically, predictable,” the three Catholic bishops who serve Arizona said in a joint statement. “Migrants from Mexico and Central America have been dying in our deserts for years, dying despite the efforts of church and human rights groups to assist immigrants at risk,” said the May 25 statement signed by Bishops Manuel D. Moreno of Tucson, Thomas J. O’Brien of Phoenix and Donald E. Pelotte of Gallup, N.M. The Gallup Diocese includes Apache and Navajo counties and parts of the Navajo and Hopi reservations

in Coconino County, all in Arizona.

Ending hunger is ‘obligation of all,’ says Vatican official VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Ahead of a world leaders’ summit on eradicating hunger, a Vatican official called on governments and international organizations to respect the “fundamental obligation of all to guarantee, concretely, food security for all.” Archbishop Agostino Marchetto, the Vatican’s permanent observer to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, said poor follow-through from a similar meeting in 1996 was “profoundly disappointing” and without justification. The diplomat made his remarks

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

12 CHARLOTTE — There will be an Alzheimer’s Information Session held at Sardis Presbyterian Church, 6100 Sardis Rd., tonight from 7-8:30 p.m. Suzanne Bach, director of Shining Stars Adult Day Respite, will speak about support groups and memory loss, and other speakers include Dr. Stephen Powell, Carol Douglas and Rev. Jane Foley from the host church.

Various topics include how to care for and support the person with Alzheimer’s and how the caretaker must

care for him or herself. For details, call Suzanne Bach at (704) 376-4135.

14 CHARLOTTE — Churches in the Charlotte area are hosting ultreyas followed by a school of leaders on the 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, 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 and no school of leaders. For more information, call Dan Hines at (704) 544-6665 or Aliceann Coon at (704) 540-8696.

14 HIGH POINT — Beginning at 7 p.m. tonight and continuing June 15 and 16, in preparation for the Feast of Corpus Christi, a triduum of Masses including blessing of the sick, benediction and a reception will be celebrated

by Father Tony Larry of St. Paul the Apostle Church in Greensboro at Maryfield Nursing Home, 1315

at the opening session of a May 28June 1 meeting in Rome of the Committee on World Food Security, which was planning a November gathering called “World Food Summit — Five Years Later.”

Pope sends two Vatican diplomats to Jerusalem to encourage peace VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope John Paul II sent two Vatican diplomats to Jerusalem to encourage Israeli and Palestinian leaders to call a cease-fire and return to negotiations, the Vatican said. According to a May 30 statement, the envoys will deliver a personal letter from the pope to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. The two envoys, who left Rome May 30, were Cardinal Pio Laghi, a 79-year-old former Vatican diplomat in Jerusalem, Argentina and the United States, and Msgr. Giovanni d’Aniello, a Vatican expert on Middle East affairs.

Catholic press urged to help form community united in Christ DALLAS (CNS) — Catholic journalists have a duty to change society from a culture of rugged individualism into a community united in Christ, Dallas Coadjutor Bishop Joseph A. Galante said in a May 25 address at the Catholic Press Association’s annual convention. “In doing that, we need to understand more profoundly what baptism does for us,” he told 400 journalists gathered in Dallas for the convention. “Baptism profoundly changes our life. It brings us into relationship with the Trinity and the community,” he said. “Catholic publications reach more people than the priest in the pulpit. Keep in mind your audience and don’t assume they know everything going on. Present the church’s position and in a language that’s understandable and truthful,” he added.

Friars, park service sign agreement on disputed trail land NEW YORK (CNS) — The Franciscan Friars of the Atonement and the National Park Service signed an agreement May 25 ending a dispute over a section of the Appalachian Trail crossing property of the friars, the order announced. Terms of the agreement, which provide a “right of way” easement for 63 out of 400 acres in the order’s property, had been worked out earlier. That represented an increase of Greensboro Rd. On June 17, a Feast of Corpus Christi Mass will be held at 3 p.m., also at Maryfield. For further information, call Theresa Hansen at (336) 273-1507.

17 FOREST CITY — Immaculate Conception Church, 1024 W. Main St., is hosting an American Red Cross-directed blood drive from 10 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Call Claire Feldmeth at (828) 245-6053 for registration and further information.

18 CHARLOTTE — The Ladies Ancient Order of Hibernians Division 1 Mecklenburg County-St. Brigid, an Irish-Catholic social and charitable inter-parish group, will meet tonight at 7:30 p.m. at St. Gabriel Church, 3016 Providence Rd. There will be no meetings in July and August, but the group will begin meeting again in Sept. Anyone interested in their Irish-Catholic roots, call Jeanmarie Schuler at (704) 5540720 for further information.

18 MAGGIE VALLEY — Liv-

4 The Catholic News & Herald

Mercy Sisters honored for years of service to

By ALESHA M. PRICE Staff Writer SALISBURY — Mercy Sister Mary John Madden walked the halls of the school where she once served as principal and marveled at how some things had changed yet had remained the same. The now-retired sister was principal of Sacred Heart School in Salisbury in the 1970s and 1990s and walked into a classroom of first-graders on computers while touring the school, a concept unheard of in the ’70s when she first served as academic leader of the school.

Sister Mary John and other Sisters of Mercy of the Americas Regional Community of North Carolina who have contributed to Catholic education in the Salisbury area were recognized at a ceremony at the school on May 30. Eyes squinting from the sun and smiles in the shade were on the faces of the young and old at the outdoor service of blessing in honor of the Sisters of Mercy at Sacred Heart School.

“The school has become better through renovations, building updates and competent, dedicated teachers,” said Sister Mary John. “Even though we have a shortage of sisters now, we have very dedicated laypeople who have followed in the tradition of the Sisters of Mercy and are trying to keep alive what we stand for and believe in.”

Mercy Sister Rosalind Picot, president of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas Regional Community of North Carolina; Father John Putnam, pastor of Sacred Heart Church; Kathleen Miller, principal of Sacred Heart School; the student body and parents were present to witness the official recognition of years of teaching, administrative work and dedication to the Salisbury school.

“Everyone in this community has a particular gift, and I hope that you will take these gifts — God’s mercy and love — we have brought to you, present in the administration and faculty, with you throughout your lives,” said Sister Rosalind to the student audience, some of whom have not had the opportunity to have a woman religious as a teacher or principal.

A bronze plaque thanking the sisters for their efforts and a permanent record of

June 8, 2001

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presence makes an impression in a Catholic school,” said Miller, principal for four years and a third- and fifth-grade religion teacher.

“Laypeople can still promote the faith to the students, but the sisters made a statement.”

Father Putnam remarked, “We pride ourselves on Sacred Heart School being a place where children can come not only to grow academically, but spiritually. When we look at the spiritual benefits of the school, it is clear the Sisters of Mercy built the foundation on which we are working today. We all desired to come together today and really honor them and show our appreciation for all that they have done, the legacy they have left us that will continue for years to come.”

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

all of the sisters who have been a part of the scholastic family will adorn the main hall as a reminder to all present and future students and faculty of the mark the Sisters of Mercy left on the school.

Rachel and Jim Dunn, along with their sons, Sacred Heart graduates, banded together to make the plaque presentation possible. Rachel Dunn, a first-grade teacher who retired on June 1 of this year after 22 years at Sacred Heart, was the impetus for the plaque presentation and ceremony. She said that she did not want to leave the school without there being tangible and visible evidence of the sisters at the school.

“I wanted some kind of permanent remembrance because they won’t be back, but their presence and influence will always be in the school. They are in our history, and they have brought their love and dedication. We always looked up to them, and they always had our complete respect,” said Mrs. Dunn.

Eighty-seven sisters were honored for 87 years of service to a school in existence since 1882. Even though other needs have drawn the sisters away from the school to other areas of ministry, their legacy is definitely felt.

“When I came here, the school had an excellent reputation all founded by the Sisters of Mercy. I miss not having the sisters here because to have that religious

Photo by Alesha M. Price

Rising second-grader Michael Mazer is surrounded by his godmothers, from left to right, Mercy Sisters Josephine Maria Thomas, Mary John Madden and Mary Robert Williams. All of the sisters were honored at a May 30 plaque presentation and blessing ceremony at Sacred Heart School in Salisbury.

Sisters Josephine Maria and Mary John, former teacher and principal of the school, now work with pastoral ministry at Queen of the Apostles Church in Belmont, and Sister Mary Robert, a former teacher, is currently the pastoral associate at Sacred Heart Church in Salisbury.

New directory shows most U.S. Catholic numbers risingB JERRY FILTEAU y

Catholic News Service WASHINGTON (CNS) — There are now nearly 63.7 million U.S. Catholics, according to the 2001 Official Catholic Directory.

The directory reported that as 2001 began there were fewer priests, nuns and brothers than a year earlier, but more baptisms, confirmations and first Communions — and, for the first time since 1990, more marriages.

The 2,400-page book, widely known in church circles as the “Kenedy directory” after its publisher’s imprint, reports information received from all U.S. dioceses at the beginning of the year.

In 2001 it reported 63,683,030 Catholics in the United States and its possessions, up almost 1.3 million from last year’s total.

It reported that there are 30,655 diocesan priests, down 285 from last year, and 15,386 priests in religious orders, a drop of 79. The total number of priests, diocesan and religious, is 7,000 fewer than 10 years ago.

The number of permanent deacons rose from 12,862 to 13,348.

The number of religious brothers dropped from 5,736 to 5,565. The number of sisters went from 81,161 to 79,462.

There are 19,544 parishes, 83 fewer than last year, but there are 3,075 missions, up 110 from last year.

Diocesan and religious seminaries reported 4,917 students at the start of the year, up 392 from the year before.

The country’s 235 Catholic colleges and universities enrolled a record 705,059 students, almost 4,000 more than the previous year and 55,000 more than a decade ago.

The Official Catholic Directory gives full name, address and phone listings of all Catholic dioceses, parishes, schools, hospitals, religious orders and other church institutions and agencies in the United States and its territories, along with alphabetical indexes of all priests and bishops.

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Covenant recommitted during

By Joann S. Keane Editor GREENSBORO — Ten years ago, three bishops representing Catholics and Lutherans in North Carolina signed a covenant of cooperation on Pentecost Sunday. It was validated at First Lutheran Church in Greensboro, May 19, 1991.

This Pentecost Sunday, three bishops representing Catholics and Lutherans in North Carolina - Bishop of the Diocese of Charlotte William G. Curlin, Bishop of the Diocese of Raleigh F. Joseph Gossman and Bishop Leonard Bolick of the North Carolina Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church - gathered at St. Pius X Catholic Church to commemorate and rededicate the pledge set in motion a decade ago.

Bishop Gossman was among the original signatories of the covenant.

The others were Archbishop John Donoghue, now of Atlanta, who was then bishop of Charlotte, and Bishop Michael C. D. McDaniel, who later retired as head of the Lutheran synod.

“Today we renew a covenant promising to be God’s faithful people,” said Rev. Thomas Ridenhour, dean of the Lutheran Theological Southern Seminar in Columbia, S.C. “It is a holy thing that we do here today.”

“Anniversaries can be dangerous celebrations,” said Rev. Ridenhour, homilist for the recommitment celebration. “We have a tendency to reflect on the past ... we tend to walk into the future backwards.” Anniversary celebrations by God’s people, he said, should thank God for grace and life in the past, while seeing the past as being left behind and focusing on new beginnings and the future that lies ahead.

Pentecost is a moment of new life, he said. “It is a moving forward in a new dimension,” said Rev. Ridenhour. Pentecost was the unquestionable time to renew the spirit of a document signed in faith a decade ago. And this celebration, like life anew, was rekindled in the very spirit of its inception.

That ecumenical spirit was punctuated as Rev. Ridenhour noted that June 2 was the birthday of Pope John XXIII. “I surmise

that the event we are celebrating would not have occurred without John XXIII and his following Vatican council ... in terms of the Spirit leading the church towards more openness and more reflection.”

While noting that Roman Catholics and Lutherans cannot yet join together in the Eucharist, Rev. Ridenhour said there are ways the two are already one. He said, “We must be engaged together in ministry for those who have no voice.”

Bishop Curlin said such cooperation for those who suffer was evident in the concentration camps of Europe during World War II. He said those who were held as prisoners were not identified by denomination, just by the fact they were Christians.

He said they did not wear the Jewish Star, but rather a gold cross.

He retold the story of an old German priest who had suffered in prison and how the man recounted the love that the ministers shared despite the suffering. Bishop Curlin said that the same love must be found and shared every day, or no covenant will succeed.

“If we look at one another with the eyes of God’s love ...we recognize Christ in one another,” said Bishop Curlin. “Once you have that vision, there are no walls ... nothing is impossible to achieve once we see with the eyes of love.”

“We’re here to celebrate relationships,” said Bishop Bolick, “relationships we feel through God’s Spirit and relationships that we feel toward each other. It clearly is an opportunity for us to say that we believe that Christ is the Son of God and that we walk together with Christians across the land.”

The covenant signed in 1991 laid out 16 objectives to link Lutherans and Catholics together in dialogue, cooperative ecumenical efforts and ministries.

Attesting to one of the successful tenents of the covenant, Peter Shaw, a high school student and member of St. Pius X parish described how a collaborative Catholic - Lutheran youth initiative set a successful Lenten program into motion. Participating in a joint Catholic-Lutheran retreat, Shaw found both faith groups “united by the same eternal Father.”

Equally, teenager Eric Wallace from Christ Lutheran in Winston-Salem discovered “more similarities than differences,” as he too worked on the Lenten project. “Through the years, we have spoken with many different voices, but we’ve spoken the same basic message,” said Wallace.

“It’s our challenge to use this covenant as a foundation to unite and do God’s work to the best of our ability,” said Wallace. “Two millenniums ago,

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there was one man with one body; Jesus Christ, who was crucified for the faith of mankind. Today, it is our challenge to find ways to be one body in Christ, not just through a covenant of words but with a commitment of our hearts.”

Contact Editor Joann Keane by calling (704) 370-3336 or e-mail jskeane@ charlottediocese.org Matt Doyle, assistant editor of the NC Catholic, contributed to this story.

Photo by Joann S. Keane

Bishops celebrate following the re-signing of the Catholic-Lutheran Covenant. From left, Bishop F. Joseph Gossman, Diocese of Raleigh, Bishop Leonard Bolick of the North Carolina Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, and Bishop William G. Curlin, Diocese of Charlotte.

6 The Catholic News & Herald Tough-guy roles belie family-man character of Hollywood heavy HOLLYWOOD (CNS) — Actor Robert Davi has been typecast as the heavy in Hollywood for the last 20 years, but in reality he’s really a loving family man attempting to reconnect with his Catholic roots. He has appeared in such blockbuster films as “The Goonies,” “Die Hard,” and “License to Kill,” and recently capped a successful fouryear run on the NBC series “Profiler.” Davi discussed his career and his Catholic roots, which stretch back to Long Island, N.Y., where he attended SS. Cyril and Methodius Parish in Deer Park. He gave an interview after he taped an appearance for a Catholicfunded show called “Personally Speaking.”

Indianapolis man volunteers at shelter that helped him as teen INDIANAPOLIS (CNS) — The first time Gabe Soukup walked through the doors of Holy Family Shelter, he was an 11-year-old homeless kid looking for a place to stay. The next time he walked through the shelter’s doors he was a college graduate returning to volunteer. “No one wants to revisit their hard times. But they played a part in helping me. They reminded me there were good people,” Soukup told The Criterion, newspaper of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis. Soukup was recognized recently for his volunteer work at the shelter during a fund-raiser for Catholic Social Services, which sponsors the shelter and is a member agency of the archdiocesan Catholic Charities.

USCC official calls visa extension called too restrictive WASHINGTON (CNS) — A limited extension of a visa program passed by the House May 21 is too restrictive and flirts with religious discrimination, according to the U.S. Catholic Conference director of migration policy. Kevin Appleby, of the bishops’ Migration and Refugee Services, said the four-month extension of the visa provision known as Section 245(i) is too short. “Especially when you consider the INS (Immigration and Naturalization Service) takes four months to get a regulation out,” he said. If approved by the Senate, the extension would allow some illegal immigrants four extra months to begin the paperwork necessary to seek legal permanent residency without first having to return to their home countries.

Some cardinals say church needs more flexible

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People in the

CNS photo from Reuters

Pope blesses casket of John XXIII Pope John Paul II blesses the glass casket containing the body of Pope John XXIII in St. Peter’s Square June 3. The casket later was moved to its new permanent resting place at the altar of St. Jerome on the main level of St. Peter’s Basilica. forum for debate VATICAN CITY (CNS) — As more than 150 cardinals met at the Vatican to brainstorm over pastoral challenges, several participants suggested that the church needs a more flexible — perhaps annual — forum to grapple with such problems in the future. In particular, some cardinals wanted changes in the Synod of Bishops to make it a more responsive and effective instrument of cooperation among the pope, the Vatican and local churches. Cardinal Francis E. George of Chicago said he thought the church could use a synod that is more “supple” and less tied to the standard format of speech-giving. “The framework (of synods) now is quite conciliar. Therefore, it’s not a forum for give and take, except in the small groups,” Cardinal George said in an interview May 23.

Hospital mergers may face challenges on abortion, speaker warns NEW YORK (CNS) — Catholic hospitals seeking to work out mergers or joint ventures with secular hospitals should be prepared to face strong opposition from Planned Parenthood and related groups, participants in the Catholic Healthcare Administra-

tive Personnel program were told.

Msgr. Alan J. Placa, bishop’s secretary for health affairs in the Diocese of Rockville Centre, said these groups sought to block such arrangements because of Catholic insistence that any programs involving Catholic institutions follow the U.S. bishops’ “Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services.”

Although these directives deal with many issues such as employee relations, the critics focus on three provisions forbidding abortion, sterilization and contraception, and fail to see “the richness of the Catholic tradition,” he said in a talk May 21 in New York.

Papal biographer, noted journalist Tad Szulc dies WASHINGTON (CNS) — Tad Szulc, who wrote a biography of Pope John Paul II in 1995 and last year published a novel called “To Kill the Pope,” died May 21 of cancer at his home in Washington.

He was 74. Szulc worked from 1953 to 1973 for The New York Times, reporting from Latin America, Spain, Portugal, Eastern Europe and Washington.

While at the Times, he wrote the first published accounts of CIA involvement in the Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba in 1961. In addition to his biography of the pope, Szulc also wrote biographies of Cuban leader Fidel Castro, composer Frederic Chopin, and Watergate spy E. Howard Hunt. He also wrote 14 books on current affairs and history, and an earlier novel, “Diplomatic Immunity.”

New priest passes away after ordination HARRISBURG, Pa. - Father Robert Burns Jr., a newly ordained priest of the Diocese of Harrisburg, Pa., died within hours of his ordination. Father Burns was ordained on June 2 and passed away in his sleep that evening. He was born in 1944 in Philadelphia. He received a Purple Heart during his service in the Vietnam War. Father Burns received a master’s degree in divinity from St. Vincent’s Seminary in Latrobe, Pa., last May. The Charlotte Diocesan seminarians who attend St. Vincent’s Seminary expressed their great sorrow at his sudden death. They said that he will always be remembered as “a very kind man with a very giving heart.”

June 8, 2001

From the

The Catholic News & Herald 7

Boone parishioner honored for ‘great one recipient in each North Carolina Catholic diocese, recognizes recipients for service to the church, the community and the family. Parish priests must approve the nominations.

Greene received a plaque in May at St. Elizabeth Church announcing her as this year’s recipient in the Diocese of Charlotte. Additionally, the Knights donated $500 to three charities Greene supports: the Boone Crisis Pregnancy Center, the Hunger Coalition and Habitat for Humanity.

“It was an honor, and I don’t really think I deserved it because I don’t really do that much,” said Greene. “I just do what I do because I enjoy helping people. If someone needs me, I’ll go.

If someone needs something, I’ll get it if I can.”

For Greene, “not really doing that much” has consisted of nearly 40 years taking care of residents in the Boone area. A devoted homemaker, wife and mother of five, Greene found time on weekends and whenever else she could to devote to a bigger family — the entire community.

For 35 years, she was a mainstay

in the local parish’s “rummage room” located in the church basement. There, she and a group of women from the parish operated a warehouse of clothes, household items and other necessities for anyone in need. Distressed at the thought of people going without the basics, Greene and her cohorts made sure people paid for items based only on what they could afford, if at all.

“I even knew a man who would come up to me and say, ‘I don’t have any money, but I do have a jar of molasses,” she recalled with a chuckle. “So he’d give me the jar and I would give him clothes. Another time, he brought me a bag of apples.”

The parish’s rummage room eventually turned into office space, but Greene continues to volunteer for a host of other causes. Stop by St. Elizabeth Church on any given day, and you’ll likely run into Greene, answering phones or putting out new missals, washing windows or coordinating the parish’s Christmas basket project. She has taught in the preschool children’s ministry at the parish as well.

In her letter of nomination, Brown called her fellow parishioner a model of the true spirit of Christianity.

“She is a one-woman ‘evangelization committee,’ while ministering to others; she converts our own parishioners, involving them in living out their baptismal call to discipleship,” she said.

In addition to her work at the parish and for Samaritan’s Purse, Greene also spends a great deal of time visiting local nursing homes and working for Meals on Wheels.

That kind of dedication is at the heart of the Mother Teresa Memorial Award, said John Harrison, chairman of the award program and former N.C. Knights of Columbus state deputy, in a statement announcing the recipient.

“When Mother Teresa passed away in 1997, we lost a great woman — a saint,” he said. “Mother Teresa provided the ultimate example of our calling to serve the needs of others and to give glory to God.” For Angie Greene, that service is simply an important part of what she calls a good life.

“I just enjoy helping people, I

Courtesy photo

Angie Greene is congratulated by Father John Schneider, her pastor, and Knights of Columbus State Deputy Bob Singer at St. Elizabeth Church.

By JIMMY ROSTAR Associate Editor BOONE — Angie Greene had to rest a spell earlier this week. A tireless volunteer and generous caregiver, she had pushed herself a bit too much the day before.

So how did this parishioner of St. Elizabeth Church in Boone spend her “day off ”? She wrapped boxes of gifts for needy children helped by Samaritan’s Purse, one of the many charitable causes to which she is so dedicated.

Impressed by her zeal to do all things with great love, the North Carolina Knights of Columbus honored Greene with the third annual Mother Teresa Memorial Award.

Greene, a Boone resident and a parishioner of St. Elizabeth Church since 1961, is a native of Bermuda. She settled with her family into a region where poverty was commonplace — as was the struggle to survive. In doing so, she and her ministry of serving those in need became staples in the Boone area.

“Jesus said, ‘Become like little children, for theirs is the Kingdom of God.’ Angie models this kind of child-like faith,” said Carol Brown, the parish’s director of faith formation, who nominated Greene for the award.

“She prays and she trusts. The Lord takes care of her; she takes care of the rest of us.”

The Mother Teresa Memorial Award was established in 1998 by the N.C. Knights of Columbus. Sister Nirmala Joshi, Mother Teresa’s successor as superior general of the Missionaries of Charity, approved the establishment of the award.

The award, given annually to

8 The Catholic News & Herald

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Western Region CSS serves with compassion worked evenings and weekends. The phone rang constantly for weeks.

“When the printer broke, and the parking lot was filled by eight in the morning, Jerry was undaunted. He told me he wouldn’t stop until everyone was helped.”

“Our diocese has the fastest growing rate of Hispanics in the country,” said Tudela. “In big cities like Los Angeles, people don’t pay attention to the Latino people. There’s lots of discrimination in other places, but here they can find work. I want to help as many people as I can in the Hispanic community.”

A bigger office, additional bilingual staff and more satellite offices are part of Tudela’s vision. Currently, all services are provided in Asheville with limited programs in Hendersonville and Morganton. “The needs out there are tremendous,” he said.

In addition to the hard-working staff, the community has answered the call for more volunteers. Lola Frybarjer, a former chef and volunteer at CSS, initiated and designed the benefit tea. Bobbie Tinsley received the prestigious Spirit Award this year for her dependability and dedication to Catholic Social Services.

Elizabeth Tudela, age 12, follows her father’s lead in answering the office phone. Her goal is to be a pediatrician. Students from UNC-Asheville who are bilingual helped process immigration applications.

“We’ve been blessed with an outpouring from the community,” said Sister Marie.

But the wish list goes on. The Orphanage Aid Fund needs money for food, clothing and medicine. In the Family Assistance Fund, all donations assist families with their expenses in the adoption process. A Vietnamese baby found a new home in March, thanks to Elizabeth Turbee, CSS executive director and the driving force behind opening doors to Vietnam, the

By WENDY E. MURRAY Correspondent ASHEVILLE — The famed scientist Albert Schweitzer said, “The purpose of human life is to serve and show compassion and the will to help others.”

Catholic Social Services of the Diocese of Charlotte is living and working by that famous quote.

In Asheville, even an attack of anklebiting fleas couldn’t stop tireless staff members of the Western Region CSS office from doing their job. “I couldn’t get them to go home,” said Trinitarian Sister Marie Frechette, director of the Western Region office, of the staff. “They wouldn’t stop working. I had to push them out the door.”

Just days after the flea problem, even the threat of thunderstorms couldn’t dampen their spirit to serve at the office’s first Afternoon Tea Party. In an attempt to raise additional funding for CSS programs, a festive spread of raspberry tea, cucumber sandwiches and lemon petit fours greeted guests as they waited their turn to be served tea by Sister Marie and staff. It turned out to be a spring fling in the merry month of May, complete with silver tea sets, flowery bonnets and lunch on the veranda.

“It’s one thing to provide services, and it’s another to have a heart,” said Sister Marie. “What we do in the name of Jesus, we do in the name of all the people who help in our diocese.”

In the early months of 2001, Catholic Social Services was stampeded with requests from undocumented Latino clients, eager to file paperwork, enabling them to apply for immigration papers. When President Clinton signed an immigration extension before leaving office, it provided a window of time to the Latino population.

Jerry Tudela, supervisor of the CSS Immigration and Case Management Programs, worked tirelessly, according to Sister Marie. “Jerry will help anyone until it’s taken care of,” she said. Seeing 200 people a day, Jerry

June 8, 2001

CCHS student honored for public service project CHARLOTTE — A Charlotte Catholic School rising junior was honored for her part in “The Common Good: Exploring the Role of Public Service in America,” a public-service education initiative, sponsored by Time Warner Cable and C-SPAN. Laura Steele is one of 14 students chosen from across the nation who will receive an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington D.C., this summer for a weeklong study visit conducted by the Close Up Foundation, the nation’s largest nonprofit, nonpartisan civic education organization. In addition to a “behind-the-scenes” day at C-SPAN,

participants will join in daily education seminars, Capitol Hill visits, sightseeing, a night at the theater and excursions to area historic sights.

On May 31, Steele and her social studies teacher, Tony DiDonato, were presented with a TV and VCR for the school and $500 in videos from the CSPAN archives. Steele also received a certificate of recognition. Don Jensen, general manager and vice-president of Time Warner Cable, presented the gifts. Steele and fellow participants explored the role of public service in the United States and considered questions such as “What draws people to public service?” and “How can a

Photo by Alesha M. Price

Pictured from left to right are Tony DiDonato, CCHS social studies teacher; Laura Steele, the award recipient; her parents Lauren and Fran Steele, and Augustinian Father James Cassidy, CCHS principal. Steele won a trip to Washington, D.C. for her participation in a national essay contest sponsored

by Time Warner Cable and C-SPAN.

June 8, 2001

Ordination

The Catholic News & Herald 9

Newly ordained priests urged to be men of faith, reconciliation,

By JIMMY ROSTAR Associate Editor CHARLOTTE — On the weekend observing the celebration of Pentecost, Bishop William G. Curlin ordained four men to serve as priests of the Diocese of Charlotte. His instruction to them: Be men of faith, service and the sacraments.

The two-and-a-half-hour ordination liturgy at St. Gabriel Church June 2 brought a community of faith together, crossing cultural and geographical backgrounds to welcome Rev. Messrs. Duc Duong, Tien Duong, Robert Ferris and Kurt Fohn as the diocese’s four newest priests.

In his homily, Bishop Curlin spoke of the divine calling each of the men answered while discerning his vocation.

“You’ve been inspired by wonderful priests, like our brothers here and in other parts of the world,” the bishop said. “You’ve been inspired by your parents, loved ones and friends. But God chose you — you did not choose him — and in the wonderful generosity of your hearts you said, ‘I come. I am willing to follow you.’”

That discernment was influenced ultimately by a profound sense of faith, while life experiences also helped determine the men’s paths to priestly service. While those experiences are as unique as the men and women who serve the church in ministry, all share in the common calling to serve, the bishop said.

To the brothers Duong, natives of Vietnam who came to the United States in search of freedom and hope, the bishop spoke of the faith-filled strength gained in enduring strife.

“My dear brothers, I know the story of how you had to flee your beloved native land, how you risked your life,” he said. “Your lives’ struggles and sacrifices are wonderful treasures you will bring to your priestly ministry.”

Rev. Messrs. Ferris and Fohn add to the diversity of the ordination class of 2001 as well. Both are widowers with children and grandchildren. Rev. Mr. Fohn is a native of Germany and has served as a permanent deacon in the Catholic Church since 1989.

Bishop Curlin noted that the two each “had the beautiful gift of a holy marriage” and now embark on another divine vocation.

“You have raised such wonderful children and are blessed with their love,” the bishop told them. And while they had to endure the painful loss of their wives, the bishop added, “I’m sure they’re watching you, are blessing you and are rejoicing that our God has called you to this vocation of priesthood.”

Concelebrating the Mass with Bishop Curlin were Abbot Placid Solari of Belmont Abbey; Father Mauri-

cio West, vicar general and chancellor of the Diocese of Charlotte; Father John Allen, the diocese’s assistant director of vocations; and a host of diocesan, religious and visiting priests.

The liturgy reflected the multiculturalism and diversity of this year’s ordination class: Scripture was read in English and Vietnamese. Children and grandchildren sat behind two of the candidates. A congregation of various ethnicities applauded and prayed.

Assisting in the liturgy were three men whose own paths to the priesthood are nearly completed. Rev. Messrs. Christopher Roux, Johnathan Hanic and Larry LoMonaco were ordained to the transitional diaconate earlier this year. With God’s providence, they will be among the next group of seminarians in the United States to join the holy order of priesthood.

Seminarians of the diocese also served at the Mass.

Among the congregation were members of the Knights of Columbus, the Order of Malta and the Order of the Holy Sepulcher — fraternal and chivalric organizations well known for acts of charity and faith — who joined in the procession.

Special guests also included the Friends of Seminarians, a group financially supportive of vocations in the diocese.

For Bishop Curlin, who has ordained nearly two-dozen men during his tenure as bishop of the Charlotte Diocese since 1994, the ordination liturgy was an opportunity to reflect on how to succeed in this sacred ministry.

“Each man must bring his heart to the priesthood,” said the bishop. It is that spirit, the bishop said, which reflects Christ’s healing power in the sacrament of penance, which reflects Christ’s voice in the preaching of the Gospels, which reflects Christ’s unconditional love in service to the poor and the brokenhearted.

In daily prayer, recommitment and celebration of the Eucharist, priests find the strength they need to be the presence of Christ in a world filled with poverty, violence and lack of respect for life, the bishop said. The calling priests answer is a sacred and serious one, he added.

“My brothers, I ask you to be saints,” Bishop Curlin said. “I am not (ordaining) you just because we need priests. Yes, we are blessed that you will be priests in our parishes, and I rejoice in your coming. But the church doesn’t need bodies in the priesthood.

The church needs disciples on fire with love for Jesus Christ.”

Photo by Joann S. Keane

During the Litany of the Saints, the bishop, concelebrating priests and the entire congregation join in prayer for the church, the world, one another and the candidates for ordination. The candidates prostrate themselves before the altar in an expression of their unworthiness and dependence on God. The Litany of the Saints is an ancient prayer of the church, calling on the prayers of saints throughout the church’s history.

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

1 0 The Catholic News & Herald

Ordination

June 8, 2001

Photo by Joann S. Keane

During the ordination liturgy, each newly ordained priest is vested with the stole and chasuble, vestments of their priestly office. The vesting, pictured above, takes place following the laying on of hands and the prayer of consecration, the points at which the men are actually ordained.

Pictured below, Father Kurt Fohn blesses family members following the ordination Mass. Fathers Fohn and Ferris are widowers with children and grandchildren. A host of family members were seated directly behind the candidates to witness their loved ones ordained into the holy order of priesthood.

Seminarians in formation for the priesthood in the Diocese of Charlotte, pictured below right, assisted at the liturgy ordination at St. Gabriel Church.

Pictured above is the ordination class of 2001 for the Diocese of Charlotte. From le Duc Duong, Bishop William G. Curlin, Father Kurt Fohn and Father Robert Ferris.

Photo by Joann S. Keane

Photo by Joann S. Keane

June 8, 2001

Ordination

The Catholic News & Herald 11

Photo by Jimmy Rostar

Diversity was evident in all aspects of the ordination liturgy. Three of the four newly ordained were born outside the United States. Father Kurt Fohn is a native of Germany, and Fathers Duc and Tien Duong are from Vietnam.

The liturgy included music and Scripture conveyed in Vietnamese.

Pictured below, diocesan, religious and visiting priests lay hands on the heads of the candidates during the most solemn moment of the ordination rite.

During the laying on of hands, each candidate approaches the bishop and kneels before him. The bishop then lays hands, praying for the gift of the Holy Spirit upon the candidate. All priests are then invited to lay hands as well.

At bottom left, Rev. Mr. Larry LoMonaco reads the Gospel during the Mass.

Rev. Mr. LoMonaco is one of three transitional deacons of the Charlotte Diocese who assisted at the Mass.

Photo by Joann S. Keane

eft are Father John Allen, assistant director of vocations, Father Tien Duong, Father .

Photo by Joann S. Keane

Photo by Joann S. Keane

1 2 The Catholic News & Herald

Around the Di-

Bridging culture brings diversity to

By JOANN S. KEANE Editor WINSTON-SALEM — It’s safe to say that global diversity is a way of life on the campus of Bishop McGuinness High School.

With a contingency of foreign exchange students from Japan to Holland, campus life is enhanced on worldwide levels. This year, nine students blended into the BMHS population, and both Triad students and the foreign exchange students were beneficiaries of cultures worlds away from their own.

Anne Katherin Mense, a junior from Germany, discovered faith beyond the school walls. Although Catholic, Anne Katherin found “there are actually teen-agers who like going church.” In Germany, she says, few teen-agers attend Mass. Here she says, “I am involved, I go to the youth group at St. Leo, and it’s always a lot of fun.”

Dominic Bakker, a senior from Amsterdam in the Netherlands, found a second family, relaxed right into an American culture, and made All-Conference as an all-around soccer player on the BHMS team.

Senior Karan Kijwijan found himself half a world away from his Thailand home, yet keeps in daily contact with friends via e-mail. A talented musician with a penchant for guitar, Karan found solace and a familiar comfort in his music.

No Lo Cheng, a junior from Hong Kong, made such an impact upon her new classmates, she was voted prom queen.

BMHS runs its foreign exchange program with quiet efficiency. Behind the scenes, a team of dedicated educators coordinates everything from student placement to enculturation and family placement. “Success at BMHS depends upon a staff and faculty who are patient, loving and open,” says Michael Streich, who teaches History

June 8, 2001

Oratory’s “Horizons” conference ROCK HILL, S.C. — The Horizons of ley, Calif., at Graduate Theological scheduled the Spirit conference at the Oratory in Rock Union and directs her Omega West

and helps coordinate BMHS’s foreign exchange program. “It depends upon a student body willing to reach out, to accept as equal, to include and be interested in that student from another culture.”

“The culture is different,” says No Lo. “I like Americans because they are open-minded and easygoing.” With her host family in Winston-Salem, she encounters wide open spaces. “Here you have your own personal space,” she says. At home in Hong Kong, No Lo lives on the 31st floor of a high rise.

We can teach World History and global culture awareness and it’s easy to tell our students that a major key to world peace, social justice, and equitable prosperity is a greater awareness of foreign cultures, says Streich, “But, to sit next to a young man from inland Thailand or a young lady from Hong Kong, lends a whole new personal perspective.” With all factors in place, Streich finds he can teach World History in a more open, inclusive way.

“These students have surely enriched the life of the school community,” says Principal George Repass. So much so, that when BMHS moves to its new campus in the fall, foreign influence will continue to thrive. “We’re going to establish an international organization as part of our club profile.”

Foreign exchange programs are a part of bridging cultures, opening doors, breaking barriers, says Streich.

“They remind us that God is Father to all people, that He is not the sole exclusive property of Western Christendom.”

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

Photo by Joann S. Keane

From left, Karan Kijwijan, Anne Katherin Mense, Dominic Bakker and No Lo Cheng peruse the Bishop McGuinness High School yearbook.

Dance Company at Old St. Mary’s Cathedral in San Francisco. Her sessions on movement and prayer are called “The Spirit Moves: An Introduction to Dance and Prayer.” Through movement exercises and improvisational studies, participants will explore the richness of Scripture with their whole being, body and soul.

Dr. Wendy Wright will lead evening sessions on the theme “Befriending Each Other in God.” She is a professor of theology at Creighton University and leading teacher and writer in the Salesian tradition of spirituality. “The tradition of the soul-friend, the amnchara, the spiritual companion, is an ancient one in the tradition,” she said of workshop. “The celebration of a new millennium invites us to live into new ways of being with one another.

We will explore this ancient tradition of spiritual friendship anew and how such loving relationships can help us grow in wisdom and a deeper love of God.” For details on registration, room

Hill will take place July 9-13. The conference is offered to anyone who seeks encouragement and enrichment in their prayer and spiritual life. Participants have come from many spiritual traditions and denominations.

The guest faculty for the workshop includes Father Kevin Culligan from the Carmelite Forum, liturgical dancer and teacher Carla DeSola, and Dr. Wendy Wright from Creighton University.

Father Culligan will focus on the journey into transformation in God through faith and love as seen through Carmelite spirituality. He will also address special challenges that contemplatives meet along their journey and issues in spiritual guidance from the participants.

He has blended spirituality, psychology and counseling in his studies and ministries.

He currently lives in Chicago with the Formation Community of the Discalced Carmelite Friars. He entered that community in 1955 and has served as parish priest, campus minister, and in formation and seminary teaching.

He is a founding member of the Institute of Carmelite Studies.

Carla DeSola lives and teaches in Berke-

June 8, 2001

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Asheville Vicariate catechists honored at were treated to a buffet dinner followed by dancing. Dancing instructors from Blue Ridge Ballroom gave some pointers on dancing steps, and then the catechists were free to enjoy themselves for the remainder of the evening.

The event was the first of many

future gatherings to honor the dedication of the area’s volunteer catechists, who give their time and talents to spread the Gospel message to others.

Special to The Catholic News & Herald ARDEN — The Asheville Vicariate Faith Formation Leadership Team hosted a Catechist Recognition Evening on, May 25, held at St. Barnabas Church in Arden. Nearly 100 catechists from the Asheville Vicariate were present.

The evening began with a bilingual Mass concelebrated by Father James Hawker, education vicar for the Diocese of Charlotte; Father Wilbur Thomas, rector of the Ba-

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silica of St. Lawrence in Asheville; and Father Andy Latsko, pastor of St. Margaret Mary Church in Swannanoa.

Father Hawker reminded the catechists that they are a gift to the church. As they heard in the Gospel, the disciples were commissioned to spread the Word to the ends of the earth, and the catechists are instruments that do this.

Father Hawker offered his gratitude and that of all members of the diocese for the sacrifices the catechists and their spouses make for this ministry.

After the Mass, the catechists

Courtesy photo

Asheville Vicariate Leadership Team members Thomas Mahan, Sheryl Peyton and Elizabeth Girton are pictured above. Father James Hawker, the Diocese of Charlotte’s vicar for education, presided at a Mass for catechists during an event sponsored by the Asheville Vicariate Faith Formation Leadership Team.

1 4 The Catholic News & Herald Book Review

Book details spirituality of vocations

Reviewed by Jan Kilby Catholic News Service Do vocational decisions have a spiritual basis? Author Parker J. Palmer says the best ones do and tells why in “Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation.”

This book is a collection of six essays describing Palmer’s journey from career despair to career satisfaction. He hopes his honesty in sharing his story will benefit readers.

Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation, by

Parker J. Palmer. Jossey-Bass, Inc. (San Francisco, 2000). 117 pp., $18.00.

The author is a Madison, Wis.based consultant specializing in individual and organizational renewal and a senior associate with the American Association for Higher Education.

He is also the author of “The Courage to Teach” and six other spiritual books.

The author shares several causes of his early career problems: trying to attain goals to please others, thinking he was unlimited in what he could achieve, and doing work he disliked. Then he discusses what he learned about the spirituality of vocations.

After college, Palmer found he wasn’t suited for seminary study to become a Quaker minister. He then lost an assistantship while studying for his sociology doctorate at Berkeley. Upon completing his degree, he no longer wanted to be a professor.

He became a community organizer and part-time professor in Washington until suffering burnout. After that, he left to work at Pendle Hill, a Quaker

June 8, 2001

Read-

educational community near Philadelphia. There he experienced depression.

Through prayer, reflection, solitude and the support of loved ones, he found the courage to face his fears and find his true calling.

Palmer discovered that a “vocation is not a ‘goal to be achieved’ but ‘a gift to be received.”’ As he says, “Before you tell your life what you intend to do with it, listen for what it intends to do with you.”

He also learned that “God asks us only to honor our created nature, which means our limits as well as our potentials.” He found that his limits were his lack of interest in being a research-oriented professor and an inability to tolerate the political culture of academia. His gifts were his independent spirit and desire for freedom to use his originality and creativity in writing and consulting.

In the fifth essay, Palmer acquaints readers with workplace problems that result from leaders who fear spirituality. These include feeling so insecure about their identity that they deprive others of theirs, viewing the universe as a competitive battleground instead of a community, and needing to overcontrol because of a fear of chaos and a lack of understanding that “chaos is a precondition to creativity.”

In the final essay, he uses the metaphor of seasons to discuss other spiritual lessons.

Those wanting to make better career decisions or to help others with theirs will value “Let Your Life Speak.” The book will educate and inspire readers.

Word to Life

June 10, Feast of the Most Holy Trinity Cycle C Readings: 1) Proverbs 8:22-31 Psalm 8:4-9 2) Romans 5:1-5 3) Gospel: John 16:12-15

By Bozena Cloutier Catholic News Service The invitation was a surprise. My friend Gabriella was hosting a small lunch for a former professor of ours, Father Enrique, and his guest, Father Pablo, who was visiting briefly from Argentina.

It would be a small gathering so that we could relax and talk. I knew the company and conversation would be stimulating and was looking forward to the occasion.

I was not disappointed.

Our conversation was lively from the start, but quieted when we said the blessing, and then it resumed. We thoroughly enjoyed the hospitality, the food and the wine, but it was our conversation, sharing and laughter that nourished us most. Only one among us at the table was American-born, the rest came from different parts of the world.

Because Father Pablo’s English was limited and our backgrounds diverse, our conversation sometimes switched to Spanish or German. We moved from discussing church affairs to theology, from ecumenical relations to personal experiences, from books to movies. Our talk ranged from serious to lighthearted, from painful to funny.

Driving home I was aware how happy I felt and what a wonderful time this had been. Since then I often have recalled

that gathering and realized, without really knowing why, that those were some of the richest hours I had spent in the last few months. The question of why stayed unanswered until I reflected on the Scriptures and the meaning of this weekend’s Feast of the Holy Trinity.

The Trinity cannot be understood.

It baffles us. Scholarly explanations often result in even greater confusion.

What are we to do? The answer, I believe, can perhaps be found in a wonderful phrase I read in another context: The Trinity is not a problem to be solved, but a mystery to be experienced.

At the table in Gabriella’s house all distinctions and barriers fell away. We were not clergy or laity, men or women, teachers or students, not imprisoned by constraints of language or culture.

We were wondrously and mysteriously united by affection, respect and openness.

Our faith teaches that the Trinity is a community of love. Occasionally we experience it in our ordinary lives and relationships, albeit briefly, and those moments glow in our memory and set our hearts aflame.

QUESTIONS: How have you experienced the triune God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit? What experiences of community have deepened your understanding of the Trinity?

Weekly Scripture Readings for the week of June 10-16, 2001 Trinity Sunday, Proverbs 8:22-31, Romans 5:1-5, John 16:12-15; Monday (St. Barnabas), Acts 11:21-26, Matthew 10:7-13; Tuesday, 2 Corinthians 1:1822, Matthew 5:13-16; Wednesday (St. Anthony), 2 Corinthians 3:4-11, Matthew 5:17-19; Thursday, 2 Corinthians 3:15 - 4:1, 3-6, Matthew 5:20-26; Friday, 2 Corinthians 4:7-15, Matthew 5:27-32; Saturday, 2 Corinthians 5:14-21, Matthew 5:33-37 Readings for the week of June 17-23 Corpus Christi, Genesis 14:18-20, 1 Corinthians 11:23-26, Luke 9:11-17; Monday, 2 Corinthians 6:1-10, Matthew 5:38-42; Tuesday (St. Romuald), 2 Corinthians 8:1-9, Matthew 5: 43-48; Wednesday, 2 Corinthians 9:6-11, Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18; Thursday (St. Aloysius Gonzaga), 2 Corinthians 11:1-11, Matthew 6:7-15; Friday (Sacred Heart of Jesus), Ezekiel 34:11-16, Romans 5:5-11, Luke 15:3-7; Saturday (Immaculate Heart of Mary), 2 Corinthians 12:1-10, Luke 2:41-51

June 8, 2001

Movie Capsules

By Catholic News Service NEW YORK (CNS) — Following are recent capsule reviews issued by the U.S. Catholic Conference Office for Film and Broadcasting.

“Our Song” (IFC) Credible coming-of-age film that follows three teen-age girls (Kerry Washington, Anna Simpson and Melissa Martinez) in Brooklyn who watch their friendship change while spending a hot summer practicing with their high school marching band. Beautifully capturing the local color as well as a crucial juncture in female adolescence, director Jim McKay brings out restrained, affecting performances while refusing to sentimentalize the issues. A teen pregnancy, brief drug use, off-screen suicide and intermittent rough language. The U.S. Catholic Conference classification is A-IV — adults, with reservations. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is R — restricted.

“Pearl Harbor” (Touchstone) Hollow drama set against the 1941 Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in which two pilots (Ben Affleck and Josh Hartnett) fall in love with the same woman (Kate Beckinsale). Flashy pyrotechnics are the centerpiece of director Michael Bay’s prolonged action extravaganza whose cardboard characters, corny dialogue and contrived narrative only superficially capture the human tragedy of warfare. An intense, sustained war sequence, an implied sexual encounter, occasional profanity and intermittent crass language. 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.

“A Question of Faith” (First Look) Pointless, fantasy drama set in a California monastery in which the belief traditions of the monks are challenged when one of them experiences a supposed miracle that transforms him into a pregnant woman. With a flat-footed narrative and stereotypical characters, director Tim Disney’s superficial analy-

Entertain-

The Catholic News & Herald 15

sis of a faith crisis is a strained mishmash of monks, motherhood and make-believe miracles. Theme of a virginal birth, brief nudity and some crass words. The U.S. Catholic Conference classification is A-IV — adults, with reservations. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 — parents are strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

“The Road Home” (Sony Classics) A modern-day businessman (Sun Honglei) returns to his remote North China village for his father’s funeral and recalls the heartwarming story of his parents’ courtship. Director Zhang Yimou’s alternately touching and cloying drama juxtaposes brilliant hues representing the freshness of youth and love from the past with black and white for the monochromatic, sorrowful present. Subtitles. Themes of love, marriage and death. The U.S. Catholic Conference classification is A-I — general patronage. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is G — general audiences.

CNS photo

‘Pearl Harbor’ star Cuba Gooding Jr. Actor Cuba Gooding Jr. is pictured in a scene from “Pearl Harbor,” which depicts the Dec. 7, 1941, Japanese attack on the U.S. naval base in Hawaii.

The U.S. Catholic Conference classification is A-III — adults, and the Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 — parents are strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

1 6 The Catholic News & Herald

June 8, 2001

Editorials & Col-

The Pope Speaks

POPE JOHN PAUL II

Morning prayer protection against often hostile Bworld, says pope John Norton y

Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Morning prayer gives believers “an interior charge” that enables them to face an often-hostile world, Pope John Paul II said.

Despite the dangers and disappointments that each day brings, those who faithfully turn to God experience a “wave of serenity and joy” knowing that he is at their side, the pope said May 30 at his weekly general audience in St. Peter’s Square.

“God is always ready to help us avoid the pitfalls of life,” he said.

The pope, at times looking fatigued and speaking in a slurred voice, skipped several sections of his prepared text, the latest in a series of talks about the Psalms used in the Liturgy of the Hours.

He said Psalm 5 was the morning prayer of a believer who felt “tension and anxiety” looking ahead to the day’s encounters with enemies and evildoers.

“A certainty emerges before the nightmares of a tiring and possibly dangerous day. The Lord is a coherent God, rigorous in the face of injustice, alien from every compromise with evil,” the pope said.

With this trust in God, the believer does not feel alone or abandoned even when surrounded by injustice and “the tangle of daily events,” he said.

God takes those who trust in him “by the hand” and “makes straight the way” before them, “as the psalmist says with a simple but suggestive image,” the pope said.

The text used in the Christian liturgy omits the Hebrew psalmist’s petition that God “punish” those who do wrong, he noted. This conforms the prayer to the distinctly Christian revelation of merciful love, “which offers even the evildoer the possibility of conversion,” he said.

Pope says church challenged, but knows God is at its side VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope John Paul II

said the church was facing “enormous challenges” at the dawn of the new millennium but could joyfully trust that God would remain at its side. At a May 24 Ascension Thursday Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica formally closing an extraordinary consistory, the pope thanked more than 150 cardinals for their “precious contributions” during the four-day meeting. “From them I intend to draw opportune (and) effective indications” as to how the church can best carry out its mission amid today’s challenges, he said.

How Teen Drinking Parties Get Started Last week a police officer told me about finding a brand new Mustang convertible one Saturday night while on patrol. Leaving the road at 60 miles an hour, it rolled over three times before stopping in a ditch. Both occupants were dead.

Some teens in another car pulled over. They recognized the car, having seen it drive away from a party minutes earlier. They gave the officer the address.

A few minutes later he knocked on the door. Dozens of teens filled the suburban house, and most were drinking.

The officer located the host, a young man of 20. Did he know anything about a Mustang convertible that drove away half an hour ago?

It was the host’s younger brother in the car, and the convertible was his 18th birthday gift. “Officer,” the host asked, “is he all right?”

This seasoned officer was himself near tears as he spoke of telling the young host that his brother was dead.

That scene is repeated far too many times. The massive teen-age drinking party has become an almost routine social event.

How can 60 or 100 teens gather in somebody’s nice home and drink themselves into such danger? Where are their parents?

Usually the parents are out of town. These disasters often begin with the following conversation.

“Jake, your dad has a conference this weekend at a resort by the lake, and since you’re getting older now we’re wondering if you think you’d be OK if we left you alone a couple of nights.”

The whole house to himself? Of course he’ll be OK! His parents recite the rules. Nobody comes, and of course, absolutely no parties.

Jake agrees, but plans change.

Massive drinking parties get launched in two ways.

Probably the most common is semiaccidental. Jake tells two friends his parents are out of town and invites them over.

“We’ll watch a couple of movies and maybe drink a few coolers.”

By the end of fifth period, everybody in school knows

The Bottom Line Antoinette Bosco CNS Columnist

mured. Then she spoke of the open hostility white people were facing with the newly gained independence of African governments, admitting these were troubled times for American missionaries. Even teen-agers taunted her, yelling “Don’t come back” as she left to come to America.

I wrote about her, and we got a good response, with goods and money. But as she planned to leave, the news about chaos in Africa had gotten worse. I asked her to please not go. But nothing could keep her from her children there. “I don’t know the ending — but what we do is a beginning,” she said.

Her words were strangely reminiscent of those spoken by John F. Kennedy: “Our work will not be finished in the first 100 days. Nor will it be finished in the first 1,000 days nor even in our lifetime on this planet — but let us begin.”

Seventeen months later, because she was “the American nun,” Sister Antoinette was singled out by the Congo rebels — becoming the victim of multiple rapes and brutal beatings before her lifeless body was then thrown into the river.

I cried then, and did again now, remembering this incredible woman whose apostolate was stopped short by murder after a service of 1,000 days.

Coming of Age Christopher Carstens CNS Columnist about the party. A hundred kids show up, some with cases of beer. Once they arrive, Jake doesn’t know how to make them go away.

The other type is a planned party. Jake calls a buddy who is old enough to buy beer. Then Jake prints up a flyer on his computer, “Party at Jake’s house, $5.” He passes 100 copies around school.

Saturday afternoon his buddy purchases five kegs of beer. That night each kid pays $5, the price for all the beer they can drink till the kegs run dry. Usually it’s enough for many of the kids to get dangerously smashed — in time to drive home drunk.

If you’re old enough to drive, you’re perfectly capable of finding these parties. If you’re of a mind, you can lie to your parents and convince them that you’re going to a friend’s place to study.

Teens, alcohol and cars are a deadly combination. Driving drunk will kill more teen-agers this year than cancer, AIDS, drug overdoses and suicide combined.

If you find yourself at a party where teens are drinking, don’t kid yourself that you can stay there, not drink and have a good time. It’s almost impossible.

If you show up at the party and kids are drinking — whether there are adults in the building or not — it’s time to leave.

No party on earth is worth ending up dead in a ditch.

Get out and go someplace else. Quite literally, your life depends on it.

Remembering a Martyred Friend The box was marked “Writing History,” long lost in the corner of my attic. It triggered a memory of years past when I had packed away copies of Catholic magazines that had carried my articles in the decades of the ’50s and the ’60s.

I opened the box and began an excursion back in time, opening magazines, some with names no longer familiar: The Lamp; Sacred Heart Messenger, Information, The Apostle, Sign and many more. Reading some of the articles, one stood out. I wrote it for the June 1965 issue of The Apostle, a magazine published then by the Mariannhill Missionaries.

The article was about a nun who had become my friend. She was Sister Mary Antoinette, a Daughter of Wisdom, who had been a teacher at Our Lady of Wisdom Academy in Ozone Park, N.Y., much loved by her students.

When I met her in July 1963, she had been teaching for three years at the Isangi Mission in the African Congo, 120 miles from Stanleyville. I was someone who shared her name, Antoinette, a mother of seven and at that time a writer for The Long Island Catholic, the publication of the Diocese of Rockville Center, N.Y. It was a former student of hers who had put me in touch with Sister Mary Antoinette, precisely because we had the same name. She told me about the terrible conditions her beloved nun and the 800 children in the mission were facing in Africa. Sister had come back to try to raise supplies and some money for their financially destitute mission. Could I write a story, bringing some attention to this need?

I made an appointment to meet Sister Antoinette.

She told of the conditions of women trying to provide for their children in mud huts, with no water and no sanitation. “The slums in New York would be a sign of wealth to these women,” she told me.

Nearly 200 of their students were orphans, living in a building with no electricity, no running water and little food. One nun ran the hospital, with no doctor available and terrible conditions.

“In one month she delivered 80 babies,” she mur-

June 8, 2001

Editorials & Col-

Light One Candle Msgr. Jim Lisante Guest Columnist

surgery and fancy clothing can’t improve on the essential beauty of our souls. In her quest for more and more financial success, Lola discovered another truth: all the money you make in no way guarantees happiness or peace. After a while, it’s just money for money’s sake.

And the blessings that came from her MS? Lola says she came to recognize that we are meant to be dependent on God, our Creator. In our human arrogance, we often presume to act as if we invented or created ourselves. Illness, she says, reminds us that we come from God and return to God. He is our starting point and our final destination. And illness can also make us more prayerful, compassionate, sensitive and more aware of our real purpose in our human journey. That purpose, Lola suggests, is to give and give and then give again. It is, simply put, to make the world a better place because we lived here.

Interviewing Lola Falana is jarring. You expect a dazzling stage beauty, but you find beauty of another kind: a very attractive woman whose allure is not superficial.

Rather, you are drawn to her generous heart, her peaceful smile, her ease of manner and her courageous convictions about our reliance on the wonder of God’s goodness. Some might look at her and say she’s given it all up. I’d say Lola’s finally found it all.

I realize this is difficult. We tend to feel that, when our children act against what we thought we had taught them and wanted to teach them, we did something wrong somewhere. That’s not true.

Parents (and for that matter anyone who has responsibility for others) should find consolation in knowing that nothing done out of love for another is ever lost. From our human experience of life, even more from the example of Christ before us, we trust in the transforming power of love.

Just as with your daughter, the effects of our devoted efforts may not always appear in the way or at the time we would wish. They are there, nevertheless, and will show themselves in times and places we never expect and perhaps never will know about.

Sociologists and psychiatrists agree that children possess an uncanny instinct for absorbing and retaining the values they perceive in their parents. Again, however, these effects may not reveal themselves in manners that will lessen the disappointment and sense of failure on the part of parents.

In other words, when our work of parenting and nurturing does not produce the visible results we would wish, by no means does it follow that this work was a failure.

We need not, and should not, feel responsible for providing solutions for everything, even for our families. We continue to put our best efforts into God’s hands, relax, and allow his grace and love to go to work in the people we care for.

A free brochure answering questions Catholics ask about the sacrament of penance is available by sending a stamped, self-addressed envelope to Father John Dietzen, Box 325, Peoria, IL 6l651.

Questions for this column may be sent to Father Dietzen at the same address, or e-mail jjdietzen@aol.com.

What Lola Wants Interviewing Lola Falana was not the experience I expected. This woman, after all, enjoyed the nickname “First Lady of Las Vegas” because she was a performer par excellence. As a co-star to Sammy Davis, Jr. on Broadway, a guest star on TV shows ranging from “Hullabaloo” to “Mad About You” and a regular on Ben Vereen’s series, this was a woman who had it all. Blessed with stunning looks, a great ability to dance and sing and a winning personality, the standout actress had created in me a very specific set of expectations.

None matched the woman I recently met through a different kind of television experience.

It seems that through all those years, Lola Falana knew something was missing. She defined herself as “an empty person with a strong sense that this is not what it’s all about.” So she did what we’re all supposed to do when we feel lost: she prayed — prayed that God would show her a new direction, a path that might lead to wholeness and personal peace because all the money and fame weren’t doing the job.

God responded, she says, in a curious and wonderful way. She came down with multiple sclerosis. And more strangely, perhaps, she ended up thanking God for this gift.

Because for this “can do” person, MS changed everything.

It freed her from the constraints of long-term contracts and obligations. It took her from the stage and left her with time for prayer, reflection and a search for meaning. Now, Lola feels she’s found it.

The woman who once reveled in sequins and jewelry now looks very different. Her only jewelry now is a plain cross worn around her neck as a simple reminder of the faith which anchors her. Financially, things have also changed.

Lola Falana once commanded up to $90,000 a week as an entertainer.

Now, she draws no salary. Instead, she spends her days on the road, visiting churches throughout the country as a lay evangelist. She tells people her story of conversion, of finding the true meaning in life. And what is that truth? In our interview, Lola Falana shared some of the insights she’s discovered over the past few years.

Lola admitted that she now sees the harm in senseless vanity and the zillions of dollars we spent to make something more of ourselves than we’re meant to. God made us beautiful, she says, as we are. All the jewelry, makeup, plastic

Question Corner

Father John Dietzen CNS Columnist

Parents’ Best Efforts Are Not Lost Q. One of our daughters married a non-Catholic.

They attended all the marriage-preparation programs, but after a child was born her husband decided he would not be baptized Catholic nor would he be raised Catholic. He wants the child raised in a church of neither faith.

Our daughter has never told us what she wants, but we feel they are not in full agreement. They now attend another church.

We want to keep peace in the family, but we cannot accept their plan. What can or should we do? (Iowa) A. No matter how much you feel you “cannot accept their plan,” I’m not at all sure there is anything at all you can do beyond prayer and committing yourselves to long-term prayer, loving presence and good example.

We tend always to feel, especially as parents or priests, that there should be something we can do to fix any problem and make everything well. We need to admit, rather, that there comes a point when children become responsible for their own lives.

There’s a time at which parents, after having done their reasonable best for their sons and daughters, allow the responsibility to shift to their children’s shoulders.

You don’t need to agree with all their decisions, but a great load is lifted once we accept the fact that they are now adult persons in their own right, able and willing to be accountable for their decisions.

The Catholic News & Herald 17

Economy of Faith Father John S. Rausch Guest Columnist Landmines Cost an Arm and a Leg To clear a minefield the size of two football fields in Maputo, Mozambique, will take 59 weeks of work, the use of trained mine-sniffing dogs and $28,251. Along the border between Mozambique and Zimbabwe, 1 million acres of arable land seeded with mines remain uncultivated because of the threat to farmers.

The United Nations estimates that between 60 and 70 million mines lie buried in the fields and jungles of more than 70 countries. Each year over 26,000 civilians, including 8,000 to 10,000 children, are killed or maimed.

In Croatia and Bosnia alone the U.N. projects that 1,000 workers would need over 30 years to discover the 6 million mines scattered there.

Warring factions seldom clean up after themselves.

A landmine, armed for $3 to $30, may cost between $300 and $1,000 to defuse. Frequently a farmer’s hoe detonates one, or a child’s curiosity explores an unfamiliar lethal toy.

Landmines represent an indiscriminate weapon that fails to distinguish between the footstep of a soldier and that of a child. Mines recognize no cease-fire. Long after the fighting has ended, they continue to kill and maim.

The Mine Ban Treaty concluded in Ottawa in 1997 banned the use, production, stockpiling and transfer of anti-personnel landmines, and took effect on March 1, 1999. Curiously, besides the outcry from human rights groups and the general public, military authorities began recognizing the deaths and injuries caused by landmines to soldiers — and more often than not, to soldiers of the country using the mines. Fully one-third of U.S. casualties in the Vietnam and Persian Gulf wars came from both enemy and U.S. landmines.

Still, the U.S. did not join the 139 countries that signed the Mine Ban Treaty. It and Turkey remain the only two of NATO’s 19 partners that have not banned anti-personnel mines. The U.S. is one of only 16 landmine-producing countries in the world and possesses the third largest stockpile with over 12 million mines.

The moral questions surrounding landmines span from the indiscriminate killing of non-combatants to the responsibility for the lingering effects that mines pose.

Once a country is mined, local medical facilities and clinics become overloaded with victims, trade and commerce decrease because of uncertain roads, and the electoral process sputters from diminished campaigning and fearful voters staying home. In addition, when agriculture suffers, food shortages appear. Mines create a negative impact on the economic and social development of the neediest people of the world — the rural poor in developing countries.

A strong moral responsibility to help clear these lethal weapons rests with the parties that fought the wars and the countries that produced and sold the landmines.

The United Nations Association of the USA in partnership with the United Nations, the Better World Fund and the U.S. Department of State has initiated a program called “Adopt-A-Minefield” (www.landmine.org) Individuals and organizations can contribute funds to “clear a path to a safer world” like the two football-field area in Mozambique. Yet, the enormous challenge of clearing landmines begs the greater resources of countries and corporations responsible for the problem.

With the stroke of a pen the U.S. could join the family of nations denouncing the inhumanity of landmines.

With a greater financial commitment to clearing mines it could prepare the ground for social and economic development and sow seeds for peace.

1 8 The Catholic News & Herald

June 8, 2001

In the

Calcutta archbishop confident pope months and even years.

Under the procedural rules, he said, the Vatican would appoint an official to guide the process after the arrival of all the paperwork, which in Mother Teresa’s case is thought to run at least 40 volumes. That official would oversee the drafting of a summary, though still hundreds of pages, which would be submitted to the examination of a panel of theologians.

The theologians normally are given two months to read through the document and express an opinion.

If positive, the material would be presented to the bishop and cardinal members of the congregation for study, and if approved, to the pope.

Evidence of miracles would also have to be examined separately by a panel of doctors and scientists, he said.

Pope John Paul has already shown himself willing to bend the rules in Mother Teresa’s case. In 1999, less than two years after her death, he waived a five-year waiting period before the opening of sainthood causes.

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By John Norton Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Archbishop Henry D’Souza of Calcutta, India, said he was confident Pope John Paul II would beatify Mother Teresa soon, possibly by the end of the year.

The Calcutta Archdiocese planned to formally close the cause’s initial information-gathering stage Aug. 15, when the process will move to the Vatican’s Congregation for Sainthood Causes, he told Fides, the Vatican’s missionary news service.

“I hope the congregation will find everything in order. Who knows, the beatification may even take place before the end of the year. I would not be surprised. It all depends on the work schedule of the congregation and the Holy Father’s decision,” he said.

In addition to transcripts of hundreds of interviews with people who knew Mother Teresa, as well as a “massive” amount of documentation relating to her life, he said the archdiocesan commission would be submitting case files for “a number of miracles” attributed to Mother Teresa’s intercession since her death in 1997.

“I cannot say much more. The case of a woman in Raiganj (India)

12 catechetical and youth program with emphasis on high school youth. Applicant must be practicing Catholic and have certificate in Religious Education or Youth Ministry with at least one year experience.

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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.

Secretary: The Catholic News & Herald has an opening for a full-time [9-5, Monday through Friday, 35 hours/week] secretary. Candidate will be computer literate with PC experience in a Windows environment using Microsoft Office products. Seeking self-starter with good organizational skills. Good benefits package that includes health care insurance,

cured of cancer is one of the miracles presented,” Archbishop D’Souza told Fides.

In Rome, a sainthood official familiar with Mother Teresa’s cause said it would be virtually impossible for her to be beatified within the year unless the pope waived some procedural requirements.

Jesuit Father Peter Gumpel, who served as a consultant to the archdiocesan commission, said the Vatican’s examination and approval of beatification causes normally lasted many

Photo by Joann S. Keane

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904-441-5834.

June 8, 2001

Around the Di-

Office of Economic Opportunity co-sponsors “Families First”

By JOANITA M. NELLENBACH Correspondent HAYESVILLE — Once upon a time, if you worked hard, you could support your family and lead a reasonably comfortable life. For at least one-third of all North Carolina families, that fairy-tale life doesn’t exist any more. They do not earn enough to make ends meet, no matter how hard they work.

Cherokee and Clay County churches are getting together to help those who need help to survive. And they’re going to do it with community action, not money.

About 25 representatives from churches and various community organizations met June 2 at the Hinton Rural Life Center to learn about Far-West Families First. The Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO) in Murphy coordinated the day’s program. OEO is an office of Catholic Social Services of the Diocese of Charlotte.

Churches represented at the forum were Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd, First United Methodist Church of Murphy, Hayesville First Methodist Church, Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church, Murphy Church of Christ, St. Joseph Catholic Church, and St. William Catholic Church.

The Far-West Families First program is funded by Catholic Social Services of the Diocese of Charlotte and the Duke Endowment.

They heard presentations from such organizations as JUBILEE, an independent statewide organization under the auspices of the North Carolina Council of Churches; the Department of Social Services of Cherokee and Clay counties; and Faith Link, an Interfaith Assistance Ministry program in Henderson County.

The facts presented give one pause. In 1999 in Cherokee and Clay counties, a family of one parent with an infant and preschooler needed $26,508 (the North Carolina Living Income Standard) annually to be selfsufficient, yet the income (known as the poverty level) for such a family in these counties was $13,880, about half

of what the family needed to survive.

According to 2001 federal poverty guidelines, the annual income for a family of three is $14,630, still not enough to survive.

Just one statistic gives an indication of why this is so: “It costs more for parents to send a child to day care than to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill: child care, $4,416 per year; UNC-CH, $2,314 per year” [Sorien K. Schmidt and Dan Gerlach, “Working Hard is Not Enough,” North Carolina Justice and Community Development Center and NC Equity, January 2001].

Yes, some jobs are available, as people will tell you when they mention that the newspapers are full of classified ads. If people wanted to work, they say, they could get jobs. Yet, often the income from these jobs is insufficient to allow a family to make ends meet.

According to Schmidt and Gerlach, “Low-wage work is becoming a larger part of the work available in North Carolina. Of the 20 occupations projected to have the most job openings: — Nine have entry-level wages of less than $6.15 an hour and average wages of less than $8.25 an hour.

— Fifteen of the 20 have entrylevel wages of less than $8.25 an hour.

— Three of the five with entrylevel wages over $8.25 an hour require a postsecondary education degree.”

And these, say Schmidt and Gerlach, are the incomes for one- and two-parent families: “They are not teenagers or older adults earning extra money. These are persons in their prime earning years.”

Even when people get training, they may not be any better off than before they had the schooling. For instance, a person trained as a certified nursing assistant can find work, but shifts are often at night or on weekends when childcare is not available, and many employers “do not work around your lifestyle,” said Cathy Mills of Faith Link.

Far-West Families First, an OEO initiative, is out to help. It’s a way for

congregations to help Work First families (families on welfare receiving cash assistance) move to employment, maintain a job, and increase family stability.

Cathy Mills is the Faith Link coordinator in Henderson County. She is paid by Work First and is assigned to the Interfaith Assistance Ministry, a private, nonprofit organization. She described her own experience. When she and her husband split up, she availed herself of the JOBS program, which offered her the opportunity to complete her education. With JOBS, she said, “You were allowed to pursue your education. I was in an abusive relationship, with two children, and I knew that [JOBS] was there for me as an escape hatch.”

She started at Blue Ridge Community College, then transferred to UNC-Asheville to get her sociology degree. But halfway through her education, the Welfare Reform Act went into effect. JOBS was out, and Work First was in. But Mills was determined to finish her schooling in spite of this setback.

“Nobody was going to tell me I couldn’t get my education,” she said, “but it was so hard to work part time, and go to school full time, and take care of my children.”

Mills was on welfare during her four years in school. “A mother can provide hope for her children only if she has it for herself.

What saved me was a connection with a church family — my future husband’s family,” she said, adding that while financial assistance from service agencies helps, “You need that emotional support. That’s what church families can do.”

That’s the idea of Faith Link — groups from churches helping those who need help

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to help themselves.

“The real job,” said Eben Franz of Faith Link, “is to help them find ways to solve their own problems. The key word is partnering with these families rather than teaching.”

The community forum attendees then heard how Faith Link works in Henderson County. Several churches, including Immaculate Conception, participate in the program. A team forms at a church to help one or more families.

“We help with everything they need, including transportation and childcare,” Franz said. “This is a team that works with families to meet their needs. One person cannot do everything.”

DSS refers the families, who may or may not be on Work First; helping does not include giving money. Rather, it provides services like one-on-one mentoring; tutoring of adults and children; help with unusual or unmet needs such as paper products, diapers, or transportation; and supplemental childcare.

Involvement of each team member could be no more than 20 hours per year.

All of the team members must feel comfortable working with a particular family.

“You cannot work with these people without realizing that some things just don’t make sense,” Mills said; for instance, the idea that people are expected to work instead of being on welfare but are not provided the means to get the long-term training that may be necessary before they can earn an adequate living.

The next steps, after the June 2 community forum, said Barbara Zelter Earls of JUBILEE, is to form a steering committee and to hire a faith coordinator. Normally the coordinator works with just one county.

The Cherokee/Clay initiative is unique in that the faith coordinator will work with both counties. The funding will need to be worked out, but the Departments of Social Services in the two counties are interested in participating depending on their budgets, and the Glenmary Home Missioners plans to provide at least one-third of the money.

A general orientation for “Building Toward Families First” is planned for September. Hopes are to eventually expand the program to Swain and Graham counties.

Courtesy photo

Bishop Emeritus celebrates ordination anniversary Bishop Michael J. Begley, bishop emeritus of the Diocese of Charlotte, celebrated his 67th anniversary of priestly ordination at Maryfield Nursing Home in High Point May 26. A native of Massachusetts, Bishop Begley has served as a priest in North Carolina since May 1934. He was chosen to lead the newly created Diocese of Charlotte in 1972, and he served as bishop until 1984. Bishop Begley celebrated his 92nd birthday March 12 at Maryfield, where he has resided since 1997. He is pictured here with Father Joseph Kelleher.

2 0 The Catholic News & Herald

Living the

Deacon triumphs over personal as a family. “We were the largest family

By ALESHA M. PRICE in our parish, and I felt at times that we Staff Writer were the center of attention. We were GREENSBORO — All he wanted often late to church because we all had was some tomatoes. A usually simple to get ready in the morning, and my request from a child to his parents at father would always march us to the dinnertime was made difficult because front of the church.” of a severe speech impediment. Rev. Mr. Catholicism offered a sense of Phil Killian had lived his young life in refuge and serenity for Rev. Mr. Pennsylvania without words. His older Killian, who threw himself into his sister served as his only interpreter religion. He would take his Catholic and key to communication. and non-Catholic friends to vacaTheir father, worn down by a tion Bible school and served as an long day’s work and the strains of altar boy at early Mass. Thoughts of World War II, responded negatively, becoming a priest also persisted in his as his sister spoke in his defense. That spirit for most of his young life. “My was the turning point in young Phil religion was the most important thing Killian’s life. in my life up until my mid-20’s; it alAfter realizing that night at dinways gave me support.” ner that Rev. Mr. He improved Killian could achis speech tually be underthrough the stood, his parents, help of a dediwho had been c at e d t e a c h e r told that their son originally from would never be Great Britain. “I able to speak corlearned to speak rectly, argued to by looking in a have him enrolled mirror, and some in speech therapy people can detect classes at the loa slight Irish accal public school. cent when I talk.”

“There was no After graduprogram in the ation, he entered Catholic school, the Army, and an but parochial Army chaplain school students helped him to enweren’t allowed ter seminary. He to attend pubfound that the l i c school for difficulties he Rev. Mr. Phil Killian prog r ams,” he had experirecalled. “They enced in school threatened the from his speech defect had folschool system with a lawsuit, and they lowed him. He could not mainchanged the law.” tain his grades, and frustrated and Every Friday, Rev. Mr. Killian disappointed, he had to leave semiwalked to the public school to attend nary and return to the Army. It the classes and braved the insults and was a tumultuous time for him. jeers about his speech from students Disillusioned with life events and at both schools. In order to cope with the drastic Vatican II changes takthe feelings of being ignored in class ing place in the Church, Rev. Mr. and teased, he began to retreat into his Killian, who had been so staunchly own world. dedicated to his faith, began an unof“I had few friends because kids ficial, personal boycott of Mass. made fun of me. It was quite an experi“My whole world went topsyence and was very frustrating for me. turvy. It seemed that the faith I had Because I couldn’t be understood, I loved all my life and was so important didn’t want to be visible. I was embarbecame a stranger to me. I made a conrassed about the way I spoke.” scious effort to stop going to church Two things saved him from perand knew I was missing something, manently disappearing into the backbut through anger, I didn’t know what ground — family and religion. Born it was.” into a family of seven, he received supDetermined to move on in his port from his brothers and sisters and academic life, he began attending night his parents, and they attended church

classes at St. Joseph University and found that he performed well in his accounting classes and received an accounting degree. “I began to understand that I had a place in the world and began to discover myself. I had professors who recognized my potential, and I gained self-confidence.”

He began working as an accounting clerk for a small carpet company in Valley Forge, Pa., later purchased

by Burlington Industries. He broke the age-old rule to never mix business with pleasure and began dating a woman who also worked at the company. By their second date, the woman informed her future husband that she would not continue to date him unless he began attending church again.

Rev. Mr. Killian began attending the Methodist Church with Sandy and realized that it was not the place for him. However, he credits the devout Methodist with leading him back to Catholicism. After marriage in 1970, four years later, they baptized their daughter Catholic, and he asked the priest if he could offer a hand at church when needed. The priest called him two hours later, which began a ministerial working relationship with the Church that has lasted for more than 25 years.

When the Valley Forge, Pa., com-

June 8, 2001

pany closed its doors in 1990, Rev. Mr. Killian had the option to transfer to Greensboro. They did not realize what a difficulty it would be for them. “We moved from a large city with many things to do to a quiet, rural area,” said Rev. Mr. Killian. “We had a rough time adjusting to the environmental and cultural differences. I had a bad case of culture shock, and my faith is the one thing that kept me going.”

He became involved with Cursillo, and the director at the time had mentioned the permanent diaconate to Rev. Mr. Killian. Moved and intrigued by the prospect of ordained ministry at this point in his life, he entered the lay ministry program, a diocesan diaconate requirement. “The more I got involved with lay ministry, the more God moved me toward the perm a n e n t d i a c o n at e, a n d S a n dy supported me the entire time.”

However, there was a slight glitch.

His parish, Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in High Point, already had two deacons, but St. Benedict Church in Greensboro did not. He registered at St. Benedict, and Rev. Mr. Killian was ordained in 1995. He is the parish director of faith formation and still works at Burlington Industries as an inventory cost manager.

“I guess God wanted me to talk