Aug. 3, 2011

The Catholic News & Herald 1

August 3, 2001

August 3, 2001 Volume 10 t Number 41

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

Inside Pope asks Bush to reject stem-cell funding … Page 7

Maryfield announces $50 million expansion … Page 11

Local News Enthronement equals evangelization for Sacred Heart devotee

… Page 18

Deacon fulfills lifelong call to serve

… Page 20

Every Week Entertainment ... Pages 10-11

Editorials & Columns ... Pages 12-13 Clockwise from left, Jacquiline Johnson from St. Edward Church in Baltimore, Md., sheds tears.

Daughters of the Heart of Mary Sister Anita Baird, one of the plenary speakers, told the crowd that prayer is the most powerful we a p o n a ga i n s t p ro bl e m s.

Ella Pitre from Seattle, Wash., prays intently.

Photos by Alesha M. Price

Women of color, women of faith

By ALESHA M. PRICE Staff Writer CHARLOTTE — For Franciscan Sister of Mary Antona Ebo, it has been a long time coming but well-worth the wait. The “double-digit” sister, as she calls herself, has been a woman religious for 55 of her 77 years and is a founding member of the 33-year-old National Black Sisters’ Conference (NBSC), based in Washington D.C. She has lived through racism from all sides including professing vows segregated from the sisters in her community and being denied entry in her hometown hospital to study to become a nurse.

So, to be a witness to over 800 AfricanAmerican women, laity and religious, from all walks of life and from over 85 dioceses, who gathered in Charlotte for the first-ever National Gathering of Black Catholic Women, was a dream come true for her and countless others who traveled from all areas of the country and beyond.

This gathering, held the weekend of July 27, was the culmination of 10

years of planning, praying and perseverance on the part of the NBSC to bring African-American women together in the spirit of sisterhood and solidarity to meet each other, discuss the major issues that concern the community and church, and bond as a people united in their Catholicism to enact change.

“I wanted to attend because I needed to see other black Catholic women that are like me, and I’ve never seen this many black Catholic women before in my life. This is something that I can tell my child about,” said Stephanie Fisher from St. Paul Church in New Bern, N.C. “A lot of young adults my age are leaving the church, and I think we need to address that in the coming years.”

It was a fusion of the old and the new, laity and religious, the past and the present. Women religious, some donned in their habits, seemed to float through the gathering rooms, while women wearing African-inspired

garb and headdresses in remembrance of Africa, the Caribbean and other countries of origin reconnected with old friends and met new ones during the weekend. Spirituals and songs of praise, both spontaneous and planned, fell from the lips of women in celebration of the event. Through their interpretations of gospel and Christian songs, liturgical dancers, the Nia Dance Troupe from the Diocese of Owensboro, Ky., wrested shouts of joy and caused participants’ outstretched hands to wave.

“How can I not be excited about this, when black women, black women of faith, get together, we almost intuitively know one another’s stories.

My story is like someone else’s story,” said Sister of the Blessed Sacrament Mary Roland Lagarde from Chicago, one of the most vocal women at the event and a founding member of the NBSC. “This reminds me so much of

See Women, page 8

2 The Catholic News & Herald “What’s important is that the Vatican ruling is focused on Catholic practice, and it is not a judgment about LDS people,” he said.

Helping poor countries worthy goal of globalization, says Vatican VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Social justice, solidarity and working for the common good are the basic values of Catholic social teaching and should be the values underlying decisions made by the world’s richest nations, Vatican officials said. In interviews prior to the July 20-22 Group of Eight summit in northern Italy, the Vatican secretary of state and the president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace spoke about Catholic efforts to influence globalization.

Cardinal Angelo Sodano, secretary of state, said the Vatican’s hopes for the G-8 summit “are very concrete: that there will be new initiatives on behalf of the poorest countries,” especially in the areas of poverty, health and the environment. Cardinal Francois Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan, president of the justice and peace council, said that, in discussions about globalization, efforts must be made to listen to the poor, become aware of their situation and take action to bring them into the global marketplace.

Vatican ratifies U.N. treaty banning nuclear testing UNITED NATIONS (CNS) — The Vatican ratified the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty July 18. Archbishop Renato R. Martino, Vatican nuncio to the United Nations, presented a ratifying document signed by Pope John Paul II to Palitha T.B. Kohona, chief of the treaty section at the U.N. Secretariat in New York. Governments ratifying the treaty pledge that they will “refrain from causing, encouraging or in any way participating in the carrying out of any nuclear weapon test explosions or any other nuclear explosion.” Acknowledging the Vatican role as a moral example in such actions, Kohona said he hoped its decision would encourage more governments to ratify the treaty.

Virginia parish plans lawsuit over Beltway bridge construction ARLINGTON, Va. (CNS) — A years-long construction project to replace a Potomac River bridge that is a key thoroughfare in the Washington metro area promises to be quite disruptive to a Catholic

CNS photo from Reuters

Young victims of coffee industry slowdown await food Denis Diaz, left, waits for food July 23 in Matagalpa, Nicaragua, one of an estimated 12,000 homeless people seeking aid from the World Food Program. Drought and economic debt have crippled the coffee industry and left more than 7,000 coffee workers jobless.

Vatican ruling on Mormon baptism clarifies Catholic practice WASHINGTON (CNS) — Two U.S. church officials said the Vatican ruling on the invalidity of baptism in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is intended to clarify Catholic practice, not make a judgment on Latter-day Saints, more widely known as Mormons. A canon law expert called the ruling a significant one for church courts dealing with marriage cases. Msgr.

J. Terrence Fitzgerald, vicar general of the Salt Lake City Diocese, said in a telephone interview that, before the ruling, priests in Utah had been giving conditional baptism to Latter-day Saints who become Catholic.

Episcopal August 3, 2001 Volume 10 • Number 41

Publisher: Most Reverend William G. Curlin Editor: Joann S. Keane Interim 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.

August 3, 2001

The World in

c a l e n-

Bishop William G. Curlin will take part in the following events: August 5-9 International Knights of Columbus Convention Toronto, Canada August 12 — 4 p.m.

Celebrant and homilist at charismatic Mass St. Patrick, Charlotte

August 15 — 7:30 p.m.

Feast of the Assumption Mass with Transitional Diaconate Ordination and Conferral of Candidacy for diocesan seminarians St. Patrick, Charlotte August 18 — 11 a.m.

Groundbreaking for St. Francis Springs Prayer Center Stoneville/Wentworth border, N.C. August 25 — 4:30 p.m.

Principal celebrant and homilist 10th anniversary Mass for Redemptorist Priests Redemptorist Retreat House Long Branch, N.J.

parish school and cemetery adjacent to it.

So, the Arlington Diocese and the affected parish, St. Mary in Alexandria, are planning to file suit against the Virginia Department of Transportation and the City of Alexandria to recover $10 million in funds to compensate for the project’s deleterious effects. Construction began this summer on a new 12-lane bridge to replace the current six-lane Woodrow Wilson Bridge, which takes I-95 traffic and the Capital Beltway over the river and abuts historic St. Mary Cemetery, founded in the late 1700s. The cemetery is the only buffer between the interstate and St. Mary’s elementary and junior high school buildings.

Faith-based bill passes House;

Diocesan

plan -

ASHEVILLE — The Aug. and Sept. hours for the Nazareth House Family Ministry and 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 (828) 250-9690 or e-mail nazarethhouse@juno.com.

Upcoming FORT MILL, S.C. — Power Rally 2001, presented by Good News Ministries in cooperation with the Dioceses of Charlotte, Raleigh, Charleston and Savannah and the Archdiocese of Atlanta, will take place Sept. 8 from 12:30-8:30 p.m. in the Charlotte Hornets Training Center. The event, targeted for high school students and young adults in their 20s and 30s, will feature Bishop William G. Curlin and Fa-

Senate action soon unlikely WASHINGTON (CNS) — The House passed the first piece of President Bush’s faith-based initiative July 19 after a contentious debate about whether the bill should exempt church charities from local civil rights laws. Both supporters and opponents of the bill peppered their remarks on the House floor with glowing tributes to faith-based community services in their hometowns. They credited Catholic Charities agencies, Lutheran social services, synagogue-based soup kitchens and their teachers in Catholic grade school with shaping their opinions about whether the disputed exemption is necessary or not. The House vote of 233-198 moved the Community Solutions Act of 2001 on to the Senate, where its future is more cloudy. In a statement from London, Bush said the House action was “an important step toward building stronger and more caring communities.”

Immigrant advocates hopeful about amnesty, other proposals WASHINGTON (CNS) — Catholic and other immigrant advocates are sounding downright optimistic about the chances for new laws and regulations that they hope will make immigration more legal, orderly and safe, including amnesty for some people in the United States illegally. Mexican President Vicente Fox has made it clear that he would like the U.S. border with his country to become more open.

President Bush seems to be supporting some of Fox’s proposals, and immigrant advocates in church and private organizations are cheering the efforts on. At a July 18 press conference at the Capitol, a handful of senators and a spokesman for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops voiced their support for a legalization program. “We are heartened by reports that the administration is considering legalization,” said Kevin Appleby, director of migration and refugee policy for the bishops’ Migration and Refugee Services. He urged that a general legalization be a component of any U.S.-Mexico agreement.

thers Matt Leonard and Matt Kauth from St. Gabriel and St. Matthew Churches.

Joining the bishop are Steve Angrisano, Christian contemporary singer; Jeff Cavins, EWTN show host; Catherine Rumore, author; Franciscan Father Paul Williams and Matt Pinto. Praise and worship music will be provided by Charlotte’s own Kathy and David with Redeemed. For further details and to register by the Aug. 25 deadline, call (704) 521-9949 or visit www.ntrnet. net/~goodnews.

RALEIGH — Father Thomas Keating, one of the proponents of centering prayer and contemplative outreach, will be speaking at St. Francis of Assisi Church, 11401 Leesville Rd., on Sept. 8. from 9:30 a.m.-3 p.m. with 8:30 a.m. registration.

Sponsored by Triangle Contemplative Outreach, Father Keating will give two presentations before and after lunch. For those interested in more information about the seminar, Aug. 8 registration or other questions about centering prayer, call Flo Hartye at (919) 876-8935, Jim Biggins at (919) 969-9604 or e-mail Jkelsey@bellsouth.net.

August 3, 2001

Opponents, supporters air views on Mexico City policy WASHINGTON (CNS) — Opponents of an administration policy forbidding U.S. funding of organizations that promote abortions overseas call the policy an abuse of free speech, but supporters say it is the “most significant policy initiative on abortion” in the area of foreign aid in 20 years.

Both sides aired their views on the so-called Mexico City policy at a July 19 hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, chaired by Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif.

Boxer is sponsoring a bill to overturn the policy, which she says, among other things, causes more illegal, unsafe abortions because it discourages some organizations from offering family planning services. But supporters of the policy say it would be a conflict of interest for the United States to fund international family planning programs in the interest of reducing abortion rates but also permit U.S. funding to go to organizations that lobby on behalf of legal abortion.

Nuns return land to South Africans removed during apartheid CAPE TOWN, South Africa (CNS) — Families removed from land belonging to the Oakford Dominicans under apartheid laws in the 1960s will be making their homes there again. Helped by the Church Land Program, which has the backing of the southern African bishops’ conference, the nuns are donating part of their land to 304 families, who will get about five acres each. “I grew up listening to my father and his mother constantly discussing their hope of returning to Oakford,” said Jabulani Gumede, 39, who will move to the land in Verulam, in the Durban Archdiocese, with his wife and four children. Among those returning to the land are families of people who work for the Dominicans, people who currently live on the land and some of those who were removed under the apartheid Groups Areas Act, which separated residential areas according to race.

G-8 summit’s outcome on debt ‘disappointing,’ says aid official MANCHESTER, England (CNS) — The outcome of the G-8 summit in Genoa, Italy, was disappointing on the issue of Third World debt, said a British Catholic aid official who attended Aliceann Coon at (704) 540-8696 or Dan Hines at (704) 544-6665.

19 CHARLOTTE — The men’s Cursillo closing will take place at 4:45 p.m. this afternoon at St. Matthew Church, 8015 Ballantyne Pkwy. The women’s Cursillo closing will take place Sept.

23 at 4:30 p.m., also at St. Matthew.

For more information, call Aliceann Coon at (704) 540-8696 or Dan Hines at (704) 544-6665.

22 CHARLOTTE — Just 1 Call is a service for people in Mecklenburg County which helps in finding medical and related services in Charlotte and surrounding areas. Two sessions will be held for all senior adults, adults with disabilities and caregivers at St. Matthew Church, 8015 Ballantyne Pkwy., this morning from 10-11 a.m. and at St. Gabriel Church, 3016 Providence Rd., Aug. 23, from 10-11 a.m.

For reservations and other information, call Sandra Breakfield, CSS Elder Ministry, at (704) 370-3220.

Ongoing

The Catholic News & Herald 3

The World in

CNS photo from Reuters

G-8 protesters launch gas bombs in Genoa Anti-globalization protesters throw gas bombs at police as widespread fighting erupted throughout Genoa, Italy, July 20. Some 150,000 protesters took to the streets of Genoa during the G-8 summit there.

the July 20-22 summit. The criticism came from Julian Filochowski, director of CAFOD, the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development, official aid and development agency of the Catholic bishops of England and Wales. Filochowski, who accompanied Bishop Patrick O’Donoghue of Lancaster, England, to Genoa, said in a telephone interview, “It was disappointing that the summit did not go beyond previous promises and offer new hope of robust, sustainable debt cancellation.” He said summit leaders offered superficial statements on debt cancellation, health care, AIDS and education.

Refugee policy has wrong priority, cardinal says WASHINGTON (CNS) — The United States needs to move away from refugee policy that considers humanitarian principles to be secondary to strategic interests, said Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick in a Washington Post

op-ed column. Cardinal McCarrick, archbishop of Washington, said in a July 22 column that there was little to celebrate when the world marked the 50th anniversary of the U.N. treaty on refugee protection earlier in the month.

The number of refugees worldwide has increased by 6 million in the past 20 years, to a total of more than 14 million, he said. “Most languish in tented camps around the globe, with little hope for return to their homes and no prospect for a new future in another country,” he wrote. “Approximately 80 percent are women and children.”

Hungarian church increases outreach to country’s drug addicts WARSAW, Poland (CNS) — The church in Hungary is stepping up its pastoral work among drug addicts in an effort to curb spiraling narcotics abuse in the post-communist country, said a spokesman for the Hungarian bishops’ conference. A

August 8 CHARLOTTE — The 50+ Club of St. John Neumann Church, 8451 Idlewild Rd., will be conducting a meeting and having an indoor picnic this morning at 11 a.m. with a program and lunch in the parish center.

Donations are being accepted during the meeting. For more information, call Louise Brewer at (704) 366-9592 or Gloria Silipigni at (704) 821-1343.

9 CHARLOTTE — Churches in the Charlotte area will be hosting ultreyas and schools 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 1:152 p.m. on Aug. 26 and St. Matthew Church, 8015 Ballantyne Pkwy., from 1:30-3:00 p.m. on Aug. 26 with childcare and a family potluck. For more information, call Dan Hines at (704) 544-6665 or Aliceann Coon at (704) 540-8696.

11 HIGH POINT — Christ the King Church, 1505 E. Kivett Dr., will be celebrating a Mass in the Syro-Malabar Rite in Malayalam at 6:30 p.m. tonight.

For details, call the church office at (336) 884-0244 or (336) 884-5858.

12 CHARLOTTE — Bishop Willian G. Curlin will be the celebrant and homilist at the charismatic Mass being held at St. Patrick Cathedral, 1621 Dilworth Rd. East, this afternoon at 4 p.m. with prayer teams at 3 p.m. and a potluck dinner at 5 p.m. in the school cafeteria. For further information, contact Josie Backus at (704) 527-4676.

13 MAGGIE VALLEY — Freeman Owie, a member of the Eastern Band Cherokee Nation, and Charity Sister Fran Grady, an artist and spiritual director, will present “The Wisdom of the Holy Spirit and the Great Spirit” during a retreat being held at Living Waters Catholic Reflection Center, 103 Living Waters Lane, beginning today through Aug. 17. Participants will be able to explore the connection

number of Hungarian parishes already operate shelters for recovering addicts, said Father Tamas Szabo, secretary-general of Hungarian bishops’ conference. “We now need to work on a wider front,” he added.

Father Szabo said earlier reports of drug abuse among the clergy were unfounded.

Survey shows strong Latino abortion opposition, voucher support WASHINGTON (CNS) — Latinos overwhelmingly favor the pro-life position on abortion and tax-funded educational vouchers for low-income children, according to a national survey. The survey also reported that three-fourths of the respondents think the aim of bilingual education should be to teach their children English. When asked what is the most important issue facing Latinos, discrimination received the most votes with the quality of education coming in second. Almost 72 percent of the respondents identified themselves as Catholic and 18 percent said they were Protestant. The survey was sponsored by the Latino Coalition, a Washington-based nonpartisan and nonprofit organization studying Hispanic policy issues. It was released July 24 at a Washington news conference.

House committee passes ban on human cloning in 18-11 vote WASHINGTON (CNS) — The House Judiciary Committee voted along party lines July 24 to approve a bill that would ban the creation of human embryos by cloning. The vote on H.R. 2505, sponsored by Reps. Dave Weldon, D-Fla., and Bart Stupak, D-Mich., was 18-11. The full House was expected to take up the bill by the beginning of August. “The Democrats on the Judiciary Committee voted to allow human embryo farms in the United States, but many of their Democratic colleagues will not follow them over that cliff,” said Douglas Johnson, legislative director for the National Right to Life Committee. He pointed to a June 2001 poll by International Communications Research in which 86 percent of adult Americans said scientists should not be allowed “to create a supply of human embryos to be destroyed in medical research.”

between various faith traditions and spirituality among people of all races and nationalities. For further details, call the center at (828) 926-3833 or e-mail lwcrc@main.nc.us.

15 NATIONWIDE — Retreat opportunities are available with the Benedictines of Belmont Abbey in Belmont, N.C., the Trappists of the Gethsemani Trappist Abbey in Trappist, Ky., and at the Holy Spirit Monastery in Conyers, Ga. These vocational awareness retreats include work, prayer and conferences with the monks. The next retreats will be taking place Aug. 15-19 and Oct 1721. Early registration is a must, and some restrictions may apply. Call toll free 1 (866)-548-3463 for more dates and further information.

16 CHARLOTTE — The next men’s Cursillo weekend will begin today through Aug. 19 at St. Matthew Church, 8015 Ballantyne Pkwy.

The women’s Cursillo weekend will take place Sept. 20-23, also at St. Matthew. For more information, call

4 The Catholic News & Herald

Around the Di-

Bishop Curlin installs new Knights

By REV. MR. GERALD POTKAY Correspondent GREENSBORO — Amid all the pomp and circumstance they could muster, members of the Knights of Columbus gathered for Mass at St. Paul the Apostle Church in Greensboro July 21 for the installation of state and district officers for North Carolina.

Bishop Curlin installed the state officers for one-year terms. The evening started out with Bishop Curlin processing to the altar to the music of the Knights Choral, through various colored plumes and swords drawn and raised in salute to honor the bishop as a prince of the church of Jesus Christ.

He was accompanied by concelebrants Father Anthony J. Marcaccio, new state chaplain, and Oblates of St. Francis de Sales Fathers James W. O’Neill and Anthony Gilborges, who serve at St. Paul the Apostle Church.

During the homily at Mass, Bishop Curlin explained how each of these candidates for his respective office should avoid being too busy for a simple prayer life.

All the wonderful things the individual Knights do lose importance if they are done for the wrong reasons, especially if those reasons be pride, power or personal gain, he said. In whatever they do, said Bishop Curlin, “Try to connect yourselves to the Risen Lord ... through a deep-seated love for the Eucharist.”

Bishop Curlin explained that no matter what these Knights do, be it supplying food for the poor, giving comfort to the sick or offering any of the many gifts they provide, that it cannot be done as “just cold, harsh duty. Everything must be done from the heart” and all for the greater honor and glory of God and living totally for Jesus Christ himself.

The Knights — and all people — need a spiritual life to survive in the harsh realities of the world, he said. In his conclusion, he challenged the candidates: “If you do not see Jesus in others, then this is just another job.

But when you see Jesus, what a wonderful life you will have,” he said.

The Knights of Columbus is an international fraternal service organization founded by Father Michael J. McGivney in 1882 in New Haven, Conn. Its main goal then, as it is today, is the support and welfare of strong marriages and families.

To this end, the Knights of Columbus organization is extensively involved in the pro-life movement. It also supplies relatively inexpensive life insurance benefits to its members. Membership itself is open to all males 18 years of age or older who are faithful and practicing Catholics.

Activities of the Knights of Columbus include, but are not limited to, camps and schools for underprivileged children and aid to the handicapped and orphaned, the sick and disabled. The Knights of Columbus are also well-known for efforts in the arena of evangelization.

On June 7, 1903, the first Knights of Columbus Council, #770, was formed in Charlotte. There were no state officers in existence in North Carolina at this time. A territorial dep-

Pictured first row: Marge Singer, Past State Deputy Charles Singer, Bishop William G. Curlin, State Deputy Anthony M. Petite, Candy Petite, Maryann Grabasky, State Warden Robert J. Grabasky. Second row: State Treasurer Philip Lamendola, Lois Lamendola, State Advocate Robert J. Taylor, Eileen Taylor, State Secretary David L. Onofrio, Anne Onofrio, and state chaplain Father Anthony Marcaccio.

State Treasurer Philip Lamendola Jr. was a former district deputy for four years. He has held the state offices of warden and advocate prior to being elected treasurer. Lamendola has also progressed up the ranks in the local Council 8509. He is a fourth-degree Knight and a past Faithful Navigator who lives with his wife, Eileen, in Kernersville.

State Advocate Robert J. Taylor was a district deputy for four years and held the position of new council development chairman on the state level for two years. Taylor was the state warden for the two previous years prior to his election to state advocate. He is a fourth-degree Knight and a past Faithful Navigator who resides with his wife, Eileen, in Hope Mills. Taylor is a member of Council 8857.

State Warden Robert J. Grabasky was formerly a district deputy for four years and state membership director for two years. This is his first position on the state level. Grabasky, who is a fourth-degree Knight and past Faith-

in Greensboro. Father Marcaccio is a fourth-degree Knight and the chaplain of Council 11101.

State Deputy Anthony M. Petite has progressed through the positions of warden, advocate, treasurer and secretary on the state level. Prior to that he was a district deputy for four years. He has also held every position in the local council. Petite is a fourthdegree Knight and a fourth-degree past Faithful Navigator who lives with his wife, Candy, in Jamestown. He is a member of Council 939.

State Secretary David L. Onofrio was a former district deputy for five years and the state youth director for four years. Rising through the ranks of the local council over the years, Onofrio has also held the state offices of warden, advocate and treasurer for periods of two years each. David is a fourth-degree Knight and a past Faithful Navigator who lives with his wife, Anne, in Fuquay-Varina. He is a member of Council 12119.

August 3, 2001

uty was assigned who had authority over both North and South Carolina until 1913. At this juncture in time, there were a grand total of three councils in existence in North Carolina.

In 1913, Warren V. Hall was appointed state deputy. Yet, even with their own state deputy, the Knights’ progress in setting up new councils was very slow. This was due in part because of the lack of Catholic population and the fear of the non-Catholic organizations that the Knights of Columbus would take away from their membership. Yet the organization did grow — slowly at first, but progress picked up rapidly after the Korean War. By the year 2001, North Carolina claimed 101 active councils.

At the completion of his homily July 21, Bishop Curlin installed Father Anthony J. Marcaccio as state chaplain; Anthony M. Petite as state deputy; David L. Onofrio as state secretary; Philip Lamendola Jr. as state treasurer; Robert J. Taylor as state advocate; and Robert J. Grabasky as state warden.

In addition, he installed 26 district deputies: Tony Santino, Pat Wojciechowski, Gene Tortone; David Jelinek, Carl Dappen, Juan Garcia, James Snyder, John Gouldie, Jim Logue, Bill Taylor, Richard Meyer, Tom Fabyjanski, Dave Jones, Ron Dangelo, Dan Lange, Dave Smith, Al Jordan, Greg Kent, Marty Moylan, Fred Myers, John Stefura, Wayne Kleven, Matt Reilly, Dale Rascoe, Jack Pegoni and Bob Winiarski.

Also installed were two regional district deputies, Lee Heavlin and Jack Snyder.

State Chaplain Father Anthony J. Marcaccio, who was ordained to the priesthood in 1991, is the former priest secretary to Bishop Curlin. He is presently the pastor of St. Pius X Church

August 3, 2001

Around the Di-

The Catholic News & Herald 5

DSA 2001: Parishioners answer call of “Whom shall I send?”

Courtesy photo

Faith in action Sixty-five teens and 12 adult leaders from St. Hickory Church in Hickory recently returned from a week of service on a youth mission trip to South Bend, Ind. For the third year, the youth participated in the Catholic Heart Workcamp, a national faith-based service project. The youth joined 350 people from across the country, including a group from St. Gabriel Church in Charlotte.

By JIMMY ROSTAR Associate Editor CHARLOTTE — Taking the 2001 Diocesan Support Appeal to heart, parishioners answered the call “Whom shall I send?” in record-breaking fashion, said the annual appeal’s director.

Barbara Gaddy, associate director of development for the Diocese of Charlotte, announced last week that as of July 26, parishioners had pledged $4,109,445 toward the appeal. The pledges far exceed the appeal’s goal of $3,333,000.

The Diocesan Support Appeal partially or fully funds 35 educational, Catholic social service, vocations and multicultural ministries throughout the 46 counties comprising the Diocese of Charlotte.

Gaddy said the all-time high for pledges is a loving example of the many ways people are sharing their own gifts.

“More and more people are embracing stewardship as a way of life, and the DSA is one way of living out that commitment and expressing gratitude to God,” she said.

“One of the secrets to real happiness comes in giving to others — freely, with no strings attached, without seeking a reward or counting the cost. Some of us are sent by God to use our talents directly in service to others as catechists, counselors, seminarians, deacons, campus ministers or youth ministers. Others may participate in these important ministries of the church through contributions to the Diocesan Support Appeal. Still others may find that the only way they can serve the Body of Christ is through prayer.

“Regardless of our own individual needs, we can all share with other members of our ‘family’ a portion of the time gifted to us, the talent given to us, and the treasure allotted to us.”

Gaddy reported that 65 parishes had exceeded their individual goals for the appeal, and another five parishes were within 10 percent of their goal.

Several parishes in the Boone, Smoky Mountain and Asheville vicariates with traditionally larger summer-season congregations are currently in the midst of their appeal campaign.

The diocese is now halfway into its sixmonth pledgecollection phase of the appeal, and Gaddy expects 95 percent of the pledges will be paid by October.

In addition to DSA contributions, nearly 6,000 prayer intentions were included in parishioners’ pledge card envelopes sent to the diocese. Bishop William G. Curlin remembers those intentions at daily Mass celebrated in the pastoral center’s chapel.

“I depend on the thousands of people in this diocese who have responded to the question, “Whom shall I send?” with an enthusiastic, “Here I am, send me!” Bishop Curlin said.

“When I consider the rapid growth of this diocese and the tremendous task of providing for the increasing needs of the people, I know that I need help. I am ever so grateful for those who are eager to go forth and serve in the name of the Lord.”

6 The Catholic News & Herald Indian priest ends fast; government agrees to fishermen’s rights MUMBAI, India (CNS) — A Catholic priest fasting to push for the rights of fishermen in western India ended his protest July 14 after the federal government agreed to the people’s demands. Redemptorist Father Thomas Xavier Kocherry, who began the hunger strike July 10 at Umergaon coastal town, said he ended it after the government agreed “in writing to implement most of our demands,” reported UCA News, an Asian church news agency based in Thailand.

However, “we need to further pressure” the government, he said. The priest said he fasted to push the federal government to implement a charter of fishermen’s rights to which it had agreed earlier.

Pope to visit genocide site during Armenia trip in September VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope John Paul II will visit a genocide memorial in Armenia and a shrine venerated as the birthplace of Christianity in the country during his September visit to the former Soviet republic, the Vatican said. The pope’s visit on the same trip to the mostly Muslim and Orthodox former Soviet republic of Kazakstan will be limited to the capital, Astana.

The Vatican released a skeletal outline July 24 of the pope’s Sept. 22-27 travel itinerary.

The pope is due to spend three days in Kazakstan before flying Sept. 25 to Armenia.

In both countries, he is expected to meet with political and religious leaders as well as local Catholics.

Bishop Myers appointed to head Archdiocese of Newark, N.J. WASHINGTON (CNS) — Pope John Paul II has named Bishop John J. Myers of Peoria, Ill., as the new archbishop of Newark, N.J. The appointment was announced in Washington July 24 by Archbishop Gabriel Montalvo, apostolic nuncio to the United States. The announcement came two days before the new archbishop’s 60th birthday. Archbishop Myers succeeds Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, who was archbishop of Newark from 1986 until he was named to head the Washington Archdiocese in November 2000. Archbishop Myers, ordained a priest for Peoria in 1966, has headed the Peoria Diocese since Jan. 23, 1990. He has been active in the Canon Law Society of America.

Power of prayer

People in the

CNS photo by Tom Dermody, Catholic Post

Elderly Franciscan begins prison sentence Two fellow Franciscan sisters help 88-year-old Sister Dorothy M. Hennessey (center) toward the federal prison in Pekin, Ill, following a prayer service July 17. The nun, her sibling, Sister Gwen Hennessey, 68, and seven other woman began six-month sentences at the minimumsecurity facility for their part in protests last November at the Army’s School of the Americas at Fort Benning, Ga.

seen in progress of boy attacked by shark PENSACOLA, Fla. (CNS) — It is miraculous how everyone had responded selflessly and worked together so well in the wake of the shark attack on Jessie Arbogast, according to a nun at the Florida Catholic hospital where the 8-year-old continued to recover. Sister Jean Rhoads, a Daughter of Charity and vice president of mission services at Sacred Heart Health System in Pensacola, praised the actions of all involved, from the aunt and uncle who efficiently and quickly administered CPR and tied off Jessie’s wounds, to the medical professionals who treated Jessie. “It is truly

a miracle that he is alive and doing so well,” she said. Jessie was attacked by a 200-pound shark while swimming in shallow water at a state park off Pensacola Beach July 6. His condition has been upgraded from critical to serious, and as of July 24 he remained in a light coma.

Priest’s testimony leads to man’s release after years in jail NEW YORK (CNS) — In a case that raised questions about what constituted a sacramental confession, a man imprisoned for murder 13 years ago was freed July 24 after a priest testified that another man had confessed to the crime years ago. U.S. District Judge Denny Chin released Jose

August 3, 2001

Morales without bail, saying that if Jesuit Father Joseph Towle had testified in a trial, “it is difficult to imagine that any reasonable jury could find Morales guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.” Morales, 31, was found guilty in 1988 of stabbing to death Jose Antonio Rivera in New York the year before. But Father Towle testified before Chin July 16 that Jesus Fornes told him in 1988 that he, not Morales, committed the crime.

Fornes himself was killed in 1997.

Two Sisters of St. Joseph congregations reunited HOLYOKE, Mass. (CNS) — Two congregations of the Sisters of St. Joseph with roots in Flushing, N.Y., celebrated their “reunification” with a special Mass July 1 in Holyoke. The 39-member Sisters of St. Joseph of Rutland, Vt., in the Burlington Diocese, merged with the larger congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Springfield, Mass., bringing total membership to about 400. The merger was official as of April 30. Both congregations trace their foundations to Mother Teresa Mullen, the congregation’s third superior in Flushing who established foundations in Boston, Rutland and Springfield. Sister Jane Morrissey, president of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Springfield, called the reuniting of the two congregations a blessing.

Bush meets briefly with U.S. cardinals, other Catholics ROME (CNS) — During a visit to Rome, U.S. President George W. Bush met briefly with two American cardinals who work at the Vatican and separately with a small group of U.S. Catholics. The July 23 meetings at the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See on Aventine Hill followed Bush’s audience with Pope John Paul II at the pontiff’s summer residence outside Rome. The U.S. leader chatted and posed for photos with Cardinal Edmund C. Szoka, chief administrator of Vatican City; Cardinal J. Francis Stafford, president of the Pontifical Council for the Laity; Msgr. Joseph Marino, a Balkans expert at the Vatican Secretariat of State; and Father Todd J. Lajiness, Cardinal Szoka’s personal secretary. Bush then met with a group of American Catholics who included Carl A. Anderson, head of the Knights of Columbus, and Bishop Thomas V. Daily of Brooklyn, N.Y., the Knights’ chaplain.

August 3, 2001

By John Norton Catholic News Service CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy (CNS) — Pope John Paul II asked President George W. Bush to oppose research on stem cells from embryos, as the U.S. leader deliberated over releasing federal funds for the practice.

Meeting July 23 with Bush for the first time, the pope said the United States had a “special responsibility” to the rest of the world and could point the way to a “truly humane future” by defending human life and dignity through legislation.

Bush, accompanied by his wife, Laura, and 19-year-old daughter Barbara, arrived at the papal summer residence southwest of Rome in a motorcade of black Cadillac limousines flying American flags.

The president met with the pope behind closed doors for 30 minutes. Afterward, joined

by Vatican officials and Bush’s entourage, the leaders exchanged speeches and small gifts.

In his speech, the pope told Bush that political decisions regarding human life “have the gravest consequences for the future of civilization.”

The widespread legalization of abortion has led to “a tragic coarsening of consciences,” opening the way to acceptance of euthanasia, infanticide and “proposals for the creation for research purposes of human embryos, destined to destruction in the process,” the pope said.

“A free and virtuous society, which America aspires to be, must reject practices that devalue and violate human life at any stage from conception until natural death,” he said.

Bush was due to decide whether to allow federal funds for research on stem cells from embryos, which are killed in the process. The Catholic Church supports only harvesting stem cells from other tissues, like livers, placentas and umbilical cords, a process that does not threaten human life.

At a Rome press conference later in the day, Bush said he would take the pope’s “point of view into consideration.”

He said the question was particularly thorny and involved “the need to balance

The Catholic News & Herald 7

From the

Pope asks Bush to reject funding

CNS photo from Vatican

Pope shows president view from Castel Gandolfo Pope John Paul II shows U.S. President George W. Bush the view from the pontiff’s summer residence in Castel Gandolfo, Italy, July 23. In his first meeting with Bush, the pope spoke of the ``special responsibility’’ the United States has to promote freedom and defend human dignity throughout the world. value and respect for life with the promise of science and the hope of saving life.”

Maggi Nadol, Respect Life coordinator for the Diocese of Charlotte, noted the important relationship between morality and science.

“We are fortunate to be living at a time when scientific discoveries, including stem cell research, offer so much promise,” she said. “But while expectations to improve lives are promising, we cannot cross the line and disregard one life in exchange for the hope of a better life for another.”

“Faith and science need not be enemies,” she said, “but we must never reduce faith to a science.”

According to Bush and an informed Vatican source, the pope did not raise the issue of embryonic stem-cell research in the leaders’ private discussion.

The Vatican said the pope and Bush talked about the violence-torn Middle East, religious freedom and assistance to developing countries.

Bush was in Italy for a July 20-22 meeting of the leaders of the world’s most industrialized countries.

The pope told Bush that wealthy nations must ensure that all the world’s inhabitants enjoy the economic benefits of globalization.

He said the church was deeply concerned by the “tragic fault line between those who can benefit from these opportunities and those who seem cut off from them.”

During the ceremony, Bush sat straight in his chair, hands folded in his lap. His wife and daughter wore dark business suits and black lace veils.

Bush, a Methodist, thanked the pope for reminding Americans of their “special calling to promote justice and to defend the weak and suffering of the world.”

“You remind us that wealth must be matched with compassion and moral purpose,” he said.

He gave the pope a two-volume leatherbound anthology of American poetry, a first edition printed in 1849.

The U.S. leader also met for 15 minutes with Cardinal Angelo Sodano, Vatican secretary of state.

A Vatican source said that during his meetings, Bush seemed well prepared on foreign affairs topics and took charge of the discussions. He was accompanied by Condoleezza Rice, his national security adviser.

The source said Cardinal Sodano asked Bush to use U.S. influence to promote closer ties between the Vatican and communist China, where Catholics are forbidden to profess loyalty to the pope. Vatican officials also thanked Bush for American defense of religious freedom around the world.

Bush told reporters he was honored to have met the pope, “an extraordinary man” whose leadership “has not only affected political systems, but affected the hearts and souls of thousands of people around the world.”

Contributing to this story were Nancy Frazier O’Brien and Patricia Zapor in Washington.

8 The Catholic News & Herald

August 3, 2001

Around the Di-

Women, from page 1968 when we (the NBSC) first came together. We have brought in 800 women to join us to get them to tap into their untapped treasures and to continue to magnify the Lord.”

Sponsored by the NBSC, an organization which includes AfricanAmerican women religious and lay male and female associates from across the United States, and supported and hosted by the Diocese of Charlotte, the National Gathering consisted of three days of plenary sessions, workshops, liturgies and social activities which aimed at the heart of many of the common concerns of AfricanAmerican Catholic women. Using the theme “Black Catholic Women...

Untapped Treasures...Magnify the Lord,” the sessions and workshops were geared toward empowering women to recognize their own worth and to use their gifts in uplifting the church through ministry, vocations and growth.

“There are some serious issues that we need to look at, issues that pertain to us as black women, issues that pertain to us with respect to our role as black women in the Catholic Church, and issues that pertain to us in terms of how do we continue to be in solidarity with our people,” said Sister of Notre Dame de Namur Patricia J. Chappell, NBSC president. “We have come together to look at what we need to do as black Catholic women to be heard within a church that we love and within a church we founded.”

The four speakers brought the women on a journey from their past, rooted in slavery and shaped by a religion that AfricanAmericans were oftentimes not allowed to fully practice, to the present, mired with modern problems of drugs and disease and a turning away from tradition and customs, to the future, a fight to save the next generation from the problems of today while training them to remember their pasts and to focus on their own destinies.

Sister Antona, with a twinkle in her eye and a spryness that contradicts her age, inspired the group to “catch on fire for the Lord” and to focus on individuality in order to work for the greater good. “This weekend, 33 years later (after the first NBSC meeting), you are invited to reflect on our responsibility to the rest of our community. This is our church, and Black women, when we speak of the genius and gift of black women, we are talking about focusing on who we are as black women and whose we are, what are our gifts and what gifts has God given you.

We all have to use those gifts ... in the name of Jesus,” said the NBSC secretary and civil rights activist.

Using her own supportive and spiritual relationship with her mother as part of the foundation, Dr. Diana Hayes spoke about the history of African-American Catholic women, which must be remembered and honored, the contributions they have made to society and to the Catholic Church and the rift between many Catholics that can be bridged with communication and a mutual understanding. “...What is not acknowledged is the many numbers of people of African descent and throughout the world who are cradle Catholics with a foundation in the church going back countless generations. We must address this ignorance by addressing our own lack of knowledge of the 2000-plus-year

Photo by Chris Keane

Pictured top, Nessa Baskerviler Johnson of Richmond, Va., sings “Oh, Freedom” during the opening plenary at the National Gathering. Johnson is the author of “Black Catholic History of Richmond.” Below from left to right, Natalie Hinton from St. Benedict the Moor Church in Winston-Salem listens intently to praise music, and Sharla Hill, one of the dancers from the Nia Dance Troupe from the Diocese of Owensboro, Ky., performs for the crowd.

Photos by Alesha M. Price

history of people of African descent in the Roman Catholic Church,” said Dr. Hayes, associate professor of theology at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. and the first African-American woman to receive a doctor of sacred theology degree from the Catholic University in Louvain in Belgium.

“We are simply stating what is fact, that racism, sexism and, to a certain extent, classism, exist in our church, and we have to recognize that they exist because our church is made up of human beings. We are a fallible people. We need to be talking with each other, dialoguing with each other and learning about each other, sharing our stories to make this a better church.”

Dominican Sister Jamie Phelps, Ph.D., addressed various problems that plague African-American women and the community as a whole. Apathy, self-involvement and ignorance of the problems and issues of African-Americans must make room for the implementation of more African-American women in church roles, the recognition of self-worth and the power to change one’s situation.

“What we need is the Spirit; what we need is to emerge, and it takes all of us working collaboratively to accomplish it. We can bring this church alive if we breathe deeply of the Spirit and work in the context of the community and use our gifts according

to the community’s needs. As we begin to think about what it is we need to do as black Catholic women in the church, we need to be looking beyond ourselves to who among us are the black Catholic men and women who will accept the call to leadership,” said Sister Jamie, founding director of the Augustus Tolton Pastoral Ministry Program at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago and a visiting professor of theology at Loyola University in Chicago.

Almost peeking from over the podium, Daughters of the Heart of Mary Sister Anita Baird, the first African-American woman to serve as executive assistant to Cardinal Francis George and founding director of the Archdiocese of Chicago Office for Racial Justice, roused and excited the crowd with her booming voice and soul-stirring words of support, recognition and hope for the future.

She compared the life of Harriet Tubman, called the Moses of her people, to the lives of women today.

“In our African-American Catholic communities around this nation, black women must become the Catholic Harriet Tubmans of our day. We must deliver our people from the bondage of Eurocentric Catholicism and lead them into the freedom of a pragmatic, universal...church. We cannot afford to lose another used-to-be Catholic. We have to go back into our communities and help our brothers and sisters find their way

to redeem their identity as black Catholics, an identity that will not compromise their blackness or their Catholicity.”

Bishop William G. Curlin of the Diocese of Charlotte, Father Mauricio W. West, vicar general and chancellor and Bishop John H. Ricard of the Diocese of PensacolaTallahassee concelebrated the closing liturgy. Father West, homilist, spoke to the group about being soldiers of Christ and arming themselves with the power of God. “(We must) use our strength and influence to clearly name and to boldly challenge injustice wherever we see it, whatever its form.

Walking with Christ means letting the cross be a transfiguring experience in our lives.”

The only African-American woman religious in North Carolina, Mercy Sister Larretta Rivera-Williams, said that she was inspired to go back to her parish to implement some fresh ideas into her predominantly African-American parish in Winston-Salem, St. Benedict the Moor. “It was great to see that Catholicism is alive and well in so many of our black Catholic women. This is the first time in the history of the church that we have gathered women together to listen to our own issues. The church is still seen as a male hierarchal structure, but I think some movements have been made and some continue to materialize in a positive fashion.

“I think coming together in this way in one body gives each individual more support and the knowledge that we are not alone,

August 3, 2001

In the

Holy year facts, figures provided in 1,478-page Vatican yearbook

By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The Vatican, despite budget-tightening measures, used 10 percent more electricity in 2000 than in 1999 — and blamed it on the jubilee.

The Vatican’s 1,478-page yearbook for 2000 is filled with reports on Holy Year celebrations, on the extra work the events required from Vatican employees and on

projects which were postponed so as not to inconvenience pilgrims.

Unfortunately, according to the recently released volume, the pilgrims did not always reciprocate.

The report from the “technical services” office of Vatican City State said Vatican garbage collectors were assisted by “all available personnel,” including gardeners, in cleaning up St. Peter’s Square after Holy Year ceremonies.

They collected more than 7,700 tons of trash.

The yearbook, formally called “L’Attivita della Santa Sede” (“The Activity of the Holy See”), opens with a 719-page, day-by-day summary of Pope John Paul II’s activity.

The papal section is followed by reports of widely varying detail from Vatican congregations, councils, commissions, tribunals and offices.

The book includes big picture items — such as explaining that the task of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is “to promote and safeguard the doctrine of the faith” — as well as minutiae.

The Catholic News & Herald 9

For example, the Vatican telephone system installed 361 new phone lines in 2000, 212 of which were ISDN lines for high-speed computer connections.

The telephone service registered more than 3 million calls within Vatican City, 3.8 million from Vatican City to Rome and almost 1.5 million long-distance calls.

The service sold 192,000 pre-paid Vatican telephone cards, more than one-third of which were sold by mail, probably to collectors.

The massive influx of pilgrims meant a major beefing up of Vatican security, tourist services and first-aid stations.

The Vatican health service said that its staff and volunteer medical personnel, including the Knights of Malta and the Italian military, provided a total of 82,614 hours of service at Holy Year events.

The report said 15,109 pilgrims from 114 nations were treated.

The prefect of the Papal Household, U.S. Bishop James M. Harvey, reported a total of more than 8.5 million people at the pope’s weekly general audiences, special Holy Year audiences, ceremonies and the Sunday recitation of the Angelus.

His report for 1999 counted up just over 1.5 million visitors at papal events.

The Vatican security department’s report detailed more than 200 papal audiences, liturgies, ceremonies and visits at which its agents served during 2000.

Surprisingly, the security office reported finding only 1,157 objects left behind by visitors and said most of them were returned to their owners.

The report mentioned the officers’ work in enforcing Vatican parking and traffic laws, but did not say how many tickets were issued, nor did it mention anyone stopped or turned over to Italian police for more serious infractions.

The Vatican fire department had a good year. No fires were reported.

The firefighters did regular checks and maintenance on Vatican City State’s 1,000 fire extinguishers and twice a day walked a 12-mile circuit of Vatican buildings, offices, churches and chapels.

As of Dec. 31, 2000, the yearbook said, 524 people held Vatican citizenship, including 49 cardinals, 271 members of the Vatican diplomatic corps, 63 other prelates, 88 members of the Swiss Guard and 53 “other lay people.”

The Vatican’s construction office said it, “like all other offices and departments,” dedicated its energy throughout the year to jubilee-related events and services.

Normal construction and restoration work, it said, was greatly reduced, particularly to avoid blocking or tearing up “places where the presence of the faithful, pilgrims and tourists was expected to be consistently high.”

Even work on restoring and reinforcing the ancient walls around the Vatican was interrupted for the year, because the project would have blocked part of the sidewalk between St. Peter’s Square and the entrance to the Vatican Museums — a major tourist thoroughfare.

While the yearbook dedicated hundreds of thousands of words to describing Vatican jubilee-year activities, the Vatican’s photographers used celluloid.

The yearbook said Arturo Mari, the official photographer, and his two assistants snapped 307,000 photographs during the year. More than 5,000 of the pictures were taken by Mari during Pope John Paul’s 7-day trip to the Holy Land.

And the Vatican Television Center got it all on videotape as well, broadcasting more than 1,000 hours of Holy Year events.

1 0 The Catholic News & Herald

August 3, 2001

Around the Di-

Class in session with nighttime

By ALESHA M. PRICE Staff Writer CHARLOTTE — The key to Kathy Cogan’s current professional endeavor can be found in her childhood.

Halloween was a time when she could dress up like a woman religious with her mother’s bathrobe and a towel and an oatmeal canister to hold the towel in place on her head. Dressed in her “habit,” she would walk around her neighborhood as if she were a sister. She was emulating the Sisters of St. Joseph who staffed her school in New Jersey. Now, as one of the stars of “Late Nite Catechism,” a one-act play about the “good old days” of Catholic school, instead of a breakfast cereal box, she wears a habit similar to the ones worn by sisters from her childhood.

“I was so enamored of the nuns, and when I got this role, I was thinking to myself ‘I’ve always wanted to wear one of these,’” said Cogan, who has been playing the role of “Sister” for nearly four years.

Two Catholic women, Maripat Donovan and Vickie Quade, co-wrote the onewoman show, intended to be a celebration of their Catholicism and their experiences with Catholic school. Cogan has traveled across the country sharing Catholicism and scholastic memories through the character of “Sister.”

Cogan, an actress for over 15 years, was discovered while doing her own one-woman show “The Nail Room,” which was based on her experience as a manicurist and her talent as a singer and comedienne. She had worked previously with musicals, the cabaret circuit, radio and other musical and comedic performances. One of the producers of “Late Nite Catechism” saw her show and asked her if she wanted to tour with the play. She could not pass up the opportunity.

The show, which ran in Charlotte at the North Carolina Blumenthal Performing Arts Center from July 9 through July 29, consists of interactive dialogue and a monologue performance from the actress. Latecomers, stragglers, gum-chewers and talkers are the targets of Cogan’s shtick which incorporates comments and responses from the audience. Cogan said that her improvisational and comedic skills have to be sharp in order to keep up with the audience.

“The script is like a skeleton; there’s a story, and anything that happens with the audience is the meat,” said Cogan. “What helps is knowing the script in your sleep and lots of im-

Courtesy photo

Kathy Cogan stars as “Sister” in the one-woman show “Late Night Catechism.”

The show ended a Charlotte run July 29. provisational work and training.”

Because the audience responses to Sister’s questions vary with each performance, the show can be vastly different from night to night. The set includes a blackboard with Catholic keywords written, desk, chair and a podium, resembling the front of a classroom. The audience or “students” are bombarded with questions about Catholic faith including the standard “what is your confirmation name?”

People are called on at random, and some even volunteer to have a dialogue with Sister, which evokes a spur-ofthe-moment and conversational comedic style all its own.

“I watch everything that goes on and keep the house lights up a bit to see the audience. I wait for an opportunity to step off the script, and I am prepared and educated to make the script seamless,” explained Cogan. “If someone says that they didn’t know what was scripted and what wasn’t, then I’ve done my job.”

The play is a combination of discussions, questions, memories of Catholic school and women religious from almost 50 years ago. Cogan spends time researching the Catholic faith in order to speak with knowledge during the play. She says that some of the people she has met — clergy, religious and laity — have supplied her with support, information and prayer.

“It (the show) has actually helped me get more in touch with my faith be-

cause if I didn’t believe in what I was talking about, it would be really hard to sell,” said Cogan. “People in church communities have counseled me, been good friends and have given me great inspiration.”

Cogan says she wants people’s experience to be positive and fulfilling, and she wants the audience to reflect on the warmth of their faith and spirituality.

“My Catholic school experience was beautiful, and my aim is those who had a good Catholic school experience,” said Cogan. “I try to put more emphasis on reminiscing about the good aspects of the church and the culture. I think it’s important for the health of the show for my performance to be truer, more clear and endearing to audiences.”

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

In Brief ...

Sister Florence O’Connor dies at age 92 ST. MARY-OF-THE-WOODS, Ind. — Sister Florence O’Connor, whose many assignments included service in North Carolina, died July 11, 2001, in Karcher Hall of the Sisters of Providence residence in St. Mary-of-the-Woods, Ind. The former Helen Catherine O’Connor was born in New Albany, Ind., on April 22, 1909, to John William O’Connor and Florence Isabel Drury O’Connor.

Sister Florence entered the congregation of the Sisters of Providence on Sept. 24, 1926, professed first vows Feb. 26, 1929, and made final vows Aug. 15, 1934.

In addition to schools staffed by the Sisters of Providence, Indiana, Illinois and California, Sister Florence served at St. Therese School in Wilson, N.C., and at Blessed Sacrament School in Burlington, N.C. Both of those schools are in the Diocese of Raleigh.

The wake was July 17, 2001, in Providence Hall, with the wake service held in the Church of the Immaculate Conception.

The Mass of Christian burial was celebrated July 18 in the Church of the Immaculate Conception with Father Lawrence Richardt presiding.

Burial was in the cemetery of the Sisters of Providence in St. Mary-of-the-Woods.

Sister Florence is survived by two sisters, Lillian O’Connor Kirby of Paris, Ill., and Kathleen O’Connor Stovall of Williamsport, Ind., as well as several nieces and nephews.

Parish youth receive evangelization grant ASHEVILLE — The St. Joan of Arc Church youth ministry recently received a youth evangelization grant from the Foundation of the Diocese of Charlotte for training in the Life Teen program.

Paul Kotlowski, diocesan youth ministry director, and former St. Joan of Arc parishioner and youth catechist Bonnie Skulley presented the grant to Father John Pagel, pastor.

Kotlowski encouraged the parish to continue its support of the youth, and said youth ministry is the responsibility of the entire parish.

August 3, 2001

Around the Di-

Father Canice Connors re-elected minister provincial of friars’ province RENSSELAER, N.Y. — Conventual Franciscan Friar Father Canice Connors, who has served as the minister provincial of Immaculate Conception Province since 1997, has been re-elected to that position by his fellow friars.

Father Connors, who has served in pastoral roles in the Diocese of Charlotte, earned his doctorate in psychology at the University of Pittsburgh. Since then, he has had a distinguished record of administrative service, including as secretary of planning and management for the Archdiocese of Baltimore, executive director of Southdown Treatment Center in Ontario, Canada, and as president and chief executive officer of St. Luke Institute, a treatment center in Silver Spring, Md., for clergy battling substance abuse, as well as psychological and sexual disorders.

He has served on the chair of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops subcommittee on child sexual abuse. In April 1997, he was presented the President’s Award from the National Federation of Priests Councils. The same year, he was elected minister provincial of Immaculate Conception Province.

Father Connors also currently serves as president of the Conference of Major Superiors of Men. Voted to assist Father Connors with province leadership are Father Justin Biase as vicar provincial and Father Denis Hackett as secretary of the province. Together with Father Curt Kreml and Brother Jim Moore, they will serve a four-year term on the provincial definitory, the province’s governing board.

“This administration will continue to strive to follow the specific Franciscan

model of fraternal life and ministry that was taught to us by our brother Francis, despite the ever-present challenges facing our province, order and the church in general,” Father Connors said. “We look to a new vision of service to the people and continue to seek innovative evangelization methods for the century.”

The Immaculate Conception Province was established in 1852 when five friars left Europe under the direction of their father general to minister to immigrants in the United States. Today, the province extends from Canada to North Carolina, with missions in Central America and Brazil.

Following the example of St. Francis of Assisi, the friars strive to spend a proportional time in prayer, fraternity and service to others.

“We look to a new vision of service to the people and continue to seek innovative evangelization methods for the century.”

The Catholic News & Herald 11

Maryfield announces $50 million expansion

By JIMMY ROSTAR Associate Editor HIGH POINT — In the convent where Maryfield began more than 50 years ago, the senior-care facility’s administrator announced plans for a $50 million expansion that will advance the institution’s mission of illustrating God’s love for senior citizens.

Sister Lucy Hennessy, president and administrator of Maryfield, announced the plans July 19. The institution’s board of directors approved the expansion June 22.

The project includes “Pennybyrn at Maryfield,” an independent residential living community of 131 apartments. Additionally, seven residential cottages will be built, along with 48 assisted-living apartments, a 36-room Alzheimer’s community, a wellness center, adult and child daycare centers and expanded dining and community facilities.

Amenities such as a gift shop, hair salon, banking services, library and meditation chapel and garden are in the plans.

The assisted-living community will be built in an Irish-English ambiance to reflect the founding sisters’ heritage. An informal dining area will resemble an Irish pub as well.

The expansion is the latest local project advancing the mission of the Poor Servants of the Mother of God, the congregation of sisters founded in 1869 in London that today serves the poor and the elderly in need throughout the world.

In 1947, a group of the congregation’s sisters came from Europe at the request of Bishop Vincent Waters of Raleigh. They opened a nursing home in a High Point mansion that today serves as the sisters’

convent.

Several expansion projects through the decades led to a bustling continuing-care retirement community with 115 beds, 10 assisted-living homes and 29 residentialliving cottages.

“The mission of Maryfield from the time that the sisters started in 1947 right up to now has been to demonstrate God’s love for seniors,” said Sister Lucy.

Maryfield keeps Gospel values — dignity, compassion, kindness, respect — at the core of its mission, Sister Lucy said.

The facility ensures a home to any elderly person in need, regardless of race, religious belief or economic status. The institution accepts people on Medicare and Medicaid.

“The focus here is on wellness — keeping well, living life to the fullest,” Sister Lucy said.

The expansion is planned for 11 of Maryfield’s 65 acres and will we be set in the plush natural landscape of the area, including some of City Lake’s shoreline.

The project could create 100 new jobs, Sister Lucy said.

The expansion is scheduled to break ground in the fall of 2003, following a marketing stage starting in January 2002. Occupancy is expected by the summer of 2005.

Current Maryfield residents and operations will not be impacted financially by the expansion, said Sister Lucy. Funding for the project will come from tax-exempt bonds, fundraising and monies future residents will pay for new homes.

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

Photo by Jimmy Rostar

Sister Lucy Hennessy unveils Maryfield’s $50 million expansion plans July 19.

1 2 The Catholic News & Herald

Around the

Father Mulholland, ‘Father Justice,’ dies at

By JOHN STRANGE NC Catholic Staff RALEIGH — Father H. Charles Mulholland, a longtime leader for social justice in the Diocese of Raleigh, died Saturday, July 21. He was 80.

“Father Mulholland had a tremendous dedication to the church, and spent his life striving to lead us to live in the fullness of the Gospels,” said Msgr. Gerald L. Lewis, vicar general of the Raleigh Diocese.

Msgr. Lewis said that Father Mulholland was one of the most loved and admired priests in the diocese.

“He was kind, and patient, and understanding, even with those who disagreed with him,” he said. “He never held any kind of rancor, even with his most ardent opposition. He would embrace them with the love of Jesus.”

The editor of the North Carolina Catholic from May 1966 to May 1967, Father Mulholland was perhaps best known for being an activist priest, marching and speaking out for civil rights, Right to Life, peace, and against the death penalty.

Writing in the North Carolina Catholic on Feb. 26, 1967, Father Mulholland praised the protesters of the Vietnam War. “We should be proud of the resiliency and vitality of the American political system that permits public protests against administration policies, even when this involves criticism of its own armies.... Surely all men of Faith can join in the public, dignified witness for the abolition of war.”

And in a call to Catholics to vote, Nov. 6, 1966, Father Mulholland wrote, “The failings of Catholics in what may be the trivial matter of ‘off-year elections’ is an indication of the more profound failure ‘to put on Christ,’ to carry Him to the market place and live Him ‘in season and out of season.’”

Father J. Paul Byron, who was “the closest of friends” with Father Mulholland, said that his friend’s calling to social justice came early. As a young man, he said, “Father Charlie” would volunteer and work with Dorothy Day at her Catholic Worker House on Mott Street in New York City.

“That is where his whole intent for the needs of the people came from,” Father Byron said.

“His prophetic voice called us all to realize what our faith meant in very painful ways,” Father Byron said. “Most of us did not go out and stand on the courthouse steps every Wednesday, but Charlie did.”

Father Byron said that Father Mulholland’s weekly trips to the courthouse in Raleigh began during the Vietnam War, but they continued for 25 years as he and others demonstrated for peace.

“His was certainly the loudest, and most determined, and most unfailing of the prophetic voices of the Diocese of Raleigh,” Father Byron said.

Franciscan Sister Joan Jurski, coordinator of the Diocese of Raleigh’s Peace and Justice Department, said that Father Mulholland was a mentor to her.

“Many people called him ‘Father Justice’ or ‘Mr. Justice,’” she said. “We all saw him as the epitome of justice because he lived what he preached. He preached what he practiced, and he practiced what he preached.

“He stood on the line for pro-life; he was at executions, he was in everything. He was a holistic, just person.”

But just as important, she said, was that his justice work was always rooted in kindness. “He always respected the dignity of the other person.”

In 1998, Father Mulholland received, along with Sister Rosemary McNamara, S.U., Catholic Social Ministries’ John J. Carey Award.

The Rev. W.W. Finlator, former pastor at Pullen Memorial Baptist Church in Raleigh, said that he and Father Mulholland arrived in the city at about the same time in 1956. They were close friends from then on, he said.

“He stood on line, he marched, he testified,” Rev. Finlator said. “He identified himself all his life with poor people. He fought poverty and injustice all his life. He had a tremendous spirit.”

It was rare in those days for Catholic priests and leaders to work with Baptists and other denominations on various issues, Rev. Finlator acknowledged, but Father Mulholland “was one of us.... We needed him, and we will miss him.”

In 1976 Father Mulholland was elected president of the North Carolina Civil Liberties Union, a position he held for one year.

“That was wonderful,” Rev. Finlator said. “He was disarming in the presence of hostility because of his quiet calm and truthfulness.

“He was not confrontational. He loved those who opposed him.

“I am honored to have been associated with Father Charlie.”

Father Mulholland was born in the Bronx, N.Y., April 26, 1921. He attended the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, N.Y., from 1942 to 1944.

After serving in the Merchant Marine during World War II, he went to St. John Seminary in Little Rock, Ark., from 1950 to 1952, and Catholic University in Washington 1952 to 1956.

He was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Raleigh by Bishop Vincent S. Waters at Immaculate Conception Church in Durham May 24, 1956.

His pastoral assignments included Our Lady of Guadalupe in Newton Grove; St. John Church in North Wilkesboro; Infant of Prague, Jacksonville; and the diocese’s Outdoor Mission Apostolate.

His first pastorate was at Sacred Heart Church in Brevard from 1963 to 1966.

He was also pastor at St. Ann, Smithfield, St. Mary, Garner; and Mother of Mercy, Washington. He was also co-chaplain at East Carolina University in Greenville.

He served as pastor at St. Michael Church in Cary from 1982 to 1989, and at St. Mary in Garner from 1989 to his retirement in 1996.

He also served the diocese as dean of the New Bern Deanery, a member of the Council of Priests, then known as the Priests’ Senate; and as a member of the Diocesan Ecumenical Commission.

John Strange is editor of the NC Catholic, newspaper of the Raleigh Diocese.

August 3, 2001

Smoky Mountain Vicariate to sponsor death penalty

USCC, is a reminder to Catholics MAGGIE VALLEY — “The of the need ‘to protect human life Catholic Pro-Life Struggle: The Death from conception to natural death.’”

Penalty” is the topic of a workshop In his statement, Bishop Fiorenza Aug. 11 at the Living Waters Reflecstated: “In an age where respect for tion Center in Maggie Valley. life is threatened in so many ways, we Sponsored by the Smoky Mounbelieve it is important to emphasize tain Vicariate of the Diocese of Charthat human life is a gift from God, and lotte, the day of reflection will feature no one or any government should prepresenter Sister Patricia McCarthy, a sume to kill God’s gift....

Sister of the CongregaWe call on Catholics and tion of Notre Dame, from all people of good will — Rochester, R.I. particularly legislators The workshop will — to reconsider the use focus on four compoof capital punishment. nents: the scriptural basis “The resumption for life; myths behind of federally-sanctioned the death penalty; moral killings and the atmochoices to be made; and sphere surrounding it decisions for action. have brought us to this “This topic was chosad day for our country.” sen because the position Sister McCarthy has of the Catholic Church worked for more than on the issue of the death Sister Patricia two decades with the penalty is so clear from McCarthy, CND needy in the field of eduthe teachings of Pope cation, particularly with John Paul II, the Catabused children. She has echism, the American studied the theology and bishops and our bishops spirituality of Christian nonviolence in North Carolina, and, yet, for many and has lectured throughout North Catholics, the death penalty is an acAmerica, Ireland and Japan. ceptable form of punishment,” said She has published articles for ReFather George Kloster, vicar of the view for Religious, The Spiritual Life Smoky Mountain Vicariate. and Momentum.

“The recent execution of TimThe program runs from 10 a.m.othy McVeigh once again high3 p.m. Advanced registration is relighted the prominent role of the quired. For registration details, call death penalty in American soci(828) 926-3833, or e-mail LWCRC@ ety,” he added. “The statement of main.nc.us. the American bishops by Bishop Joseph Fiorenza, president of the

August 3, 2001

The Catholic News & Herald 13

1 4 The Catholic News & Herald Book Review

August 3, 2001

Read-

Books on Stein assist meditation on saint

especially of Aquinas) and modern pheReviewed by Eugene J. Fisher nomenology.

Catholic News Service Next comes her banishment from In 1999, on the eve of the turn of German academia as the dark night of the millennium, Pope John Paul II added Nazism fell over her country; her flight new names to the list of patron saints of to Holland with her sister; and finally, Europe, making a total of three women her arrest, deportation and death in and three men, celebrating East and Auschwitz as one of the 6 million of her West and key moments of profound fellow Jews murdered by the Germans change in the history of Christian Euin history’s most depraved and evil act, rope. the Shoah.

The sole representative of the 20th Oben spends less time on the narracentury, which saw the worst eruptions tive of her subject’s life, but delves more of violence in recorded history as well as deeply into the saint’s philosophical and the great renewal of Catholic hope aristheological writings. ing out of that carnage with the Second Her summary of St. Edith Stein’s Vatican Council, is St. Edith Stein. synthesis of scholasticism and pheThrough the life, works, and, pernomenology is exhaps above all, tremely helpful for death of this tow- THE LIFE AND THOUGHT OF EDITH understanding its ering Jewish intelcontinuing signifilectual and hum- STEIN, by Freda Mary Oben. Alba cance for Catholic ble Carmelite, the House, Society of St. Paul (New York, thought today. I Holy Father chal- 2001). 165 pp., $12.95. came away with lenges us to discern the conviction that, something of what EDITH STEIN: ST. TERESA BENEDICTA in addition to being is at the core of named a martyr of the past we have OF THE CROSS, by Maria Ruiz the church, a very come from and the Scaperlanda. Our Sunday Visitor good case can be future we and our (Huntington, Ind. 2001). 208 pp. made that St. Edith children face. $11.95.

Stein also should What are the be named a doctor challenges the of the church, one of very few women to pope sees embedded in and embodied by be so honored. the figure of Edith Stein, Sister Teresa Oben is herself a Jewish convert to Benedicta of the Cross? These two books Catholicism who, like St. Edith Stein, — by award-winning journalist Maria maintains a deep sense of her Jewishness Ruiz Scaperlanda and Freda Mary Oben, and of the respect Judaism is owed as a a scholar with a doctorate from Catholic religion integral to itself and founded on University — will greatly assist our divine revelation. meditation of this singular saint who is This gives her a special sensitivity to the spiritual model for our time. the positive influence on future generaBoth books are based on solid retions of Catholics that veneration of St. search, and are well written and very Edith Stein can have. readable. Both contain numerous inThe saint who died with and for her sights into the saint and why reverence fellow Jews will always remain a goad to for her can deepen our spiritual lives in the conscience of Christians. the 21st century. Both conclude with exShe is a perpetual reminder on the tensive, thoughtful commentaries on her Christian calendar of the utter sinfullegacy and on the challenge she poses for ness of anti-Semitism and the very real Catholic-Jewish relations. dangers of corruption of the faith when Each gives a good sense of Edith Christians fall — as they did so often Stein’s life and times, but their different and for so many centuries leading up to approaches make them complementary, the Holocaust — into the twin heresies not redundant. of supersessionism (the idea that ChristiScaperlanda’s book is chronological, anity has “taken the place” of Judaism in beginning with Edith Stein’s early life God’s heart) and triumphalism (the idea as a Jewish girl in a typical middle-class that Christianity is somehow “superior” Jewish family in Breslau, Germany. It to Judaism, as if God played such petty describes her hunger to learn and pursue games of favoritism with the history of truth, and her early loss of her ancestral salvation). faith (though never her identity as a What should emerge from Christian Jew!). contemplation of St. Edith Stein’s life We learn about her academic develand profound thought is a renewed apopment as a student of renowned philospreciation of the mystery of salvation opher Edmund Husserl; her conversion itself. from atheism to Christianity through the It is a mystery in which the church confidence that a steadfast faith gave to and the Jewish people are called, together a Lutheran widow; and her attraction to and not in opposition, to witness to the Catholicism through the writings of St. infinite love and mercy of the one God of Theresa of Avila.

Israel who has called us both into being in Scaperlanda recounts Edith Stein’s order that we may prepare the way for the entry into a Carmelite cloister and the coming of God’s kingdom. pain that separation caused her family and herself.

Fisher is associate director of the U.S. The author writes about Stein’s Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Secrepioneering spirit as a leader of Catholic tariat for Ecumenical and Interreligious feminism and as a philosopher-theoloAffairs. gian bringing together the insights of medieval scholasticism (in the writings

Word to Life

August 5, Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Cycle C Readings: 1)Ecclesiastes 1:2; 2:21-23 Psalm 95:1-2, 6-9 2)Colossians 3:1-5, 9-11 3)Gospel: Luke 12:13-21

By Dan Luby Catholic News Service When my mother died more than 10 years ago, my siblings and I knew better than to expect a monetary windfall from her estate. She’d lived frugally on Social Security and a widow’s pension. Still, when the sad morning came when my sister and I drove to her bank to close out her accounts and empty her safe deposit box, a less than noble part of my consciousness was tickled by a fantasy scenario featuring thick stacks of Treasury bonds or velvet bags of mysteriously undisclosed gemstones.

Of course nothing of the kind was found, only personal papers: will, insurance information, old passbooks. Similarly, emptying her apartment in the weeks ahead revealed no secret stash of currency, no priceless coin collection. Her few outstanding bills pretty much zeroed out what money she’d had in the bank and the proceeds from the sale of her car.

But when we all tearfully departed

her modest home for the last time, we knew that the legacy she’d left us had made us rich.

Each of us has something tangible that had been hers: her engagement ring, a comfortable couch, some well-worn but handsome pieces of furniture, her piano. But more blessedly we have walked away with treasures which won’t fade or get lumpy or lose their beauty.

In the long run my mother was rich in things that count, that last: a great capacity for affection, the wisdom of experience, commitment to family, intellectual curiosity, the courage to embrace new ideas and new people. Most important, her legacy was a deep and lively faith in Christ, a faith in which all her other gifts were rooted.

Sunday’s Gospel parable of the rich fool is a cautionary tale about mistaking passing wealth for permanent riches. May each of us be blessed with people in our lives who help us to know the difference.

QUESTIONS: Who is an example for you of investing your life in the things that last?

What is one specific way you can enrich your relationships with the people you love?

Weekly Scripture

Readings for the week of August 5-11 Sunday, Ecclesiastes 1:2; 2:21-23, Colossians 3: 1-5, 9-11, Luke 12: 13-21; Monday (Transfiguration of the Lord), Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14, 2 Peter 1: 16-19, Luke 9:28b-36; Tuesday (St. Sixtus II and Companions, St. Cajetan), Numbers 12:1-13, Matthew 14:22-36; Wednesday (St. Dominic), Numbers 13:1-2, 25 —14:1, 26-29, 34-35, Matthew 15:21-28; Thursday, Numbers 20:1-13, Matthew 16:13-23; Friday (St. Lawrence), 2 Corinthians 9:6-10, John 12:24-26; Saturday (St. Clare), Deuteronomy 6:4-13, Matthew 17:14-20 Readings for the week of August 12-18 Sunday, Wisdom 18:6-9, Hebrews 11:1-2, 8-19, Luke 12:32-48; Monday (Sts. Pontian and Hippolytus), Deuteronomy 10:12-22, Matthew 17:22-27; Tuesday (St. Maximilian Mary Kolbe), Deuteronomy 31:1-8, Matthew 18:1-5, 10, 1214; Wednesday (The Assumption of Mary), Revelation 11:19a; 12:1-6a, 10ab, 1 Corinthians 15:20-27, Luke 1:39-56; Thursday (St. Stephen of Hungary), Joshua 3:7-10a, 11, 13-17, Matthew 18:21 — 19:1; Friday, Joshua 24:1-13, Matthew 19:3-12, Saturday (St. Jane Frances de Chantal), Joshua 24:14-29, Mat-

August 3, 2001

Video reviews

By Gerri Pare Catholic News Service NEW YORK (CNS) — The following are home videocassette reviews from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Office for Film and Broadcasting. Each videocassette is available in VHS format.

Theatrical movies on video have a U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops classification and Motion Picture Association of America rating. All reviews indicate the appropriate age group for the video audience.

“Down to Earth” (2001) Stale remake has an aspiring comedian (Chris Rock) die prematurely, followed by inept angel (Eugene Levy) placing him in the body of an elderly millionaire who has just been bumped off by his wife and her lover. Directed by brothers Chris and Paul Weitz, the romantic comedy is a poor rewrite that uses the race issue for cheap laughs. Some sexual references and fleeting profanity with recurring crass language.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops classification is A-II — adults and adolescents. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 — parents are strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13. (Paramount) “Head Over Heels” (2001) Frivolous romantic comedy in which an art restorer (Monica Potter) living with four supermodels in New York City falls for the seemingly perfect guy (Freddie Prinze Jr.), until she thinks she sees him commit murder. As directed by Mark S. Waters, the film has a few entertaining moments despite its conventional comedy-of-errors plot.

Fleeting violence, a few sexual encounters, some crude humor and brief crass language.

EntertainThe U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops classification is A-III — adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 — parents are strongly cautioned.

Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13. (Universal) “Malena” (2000) Shallow tale set in Fascist-era Sicily in which the sexual yearnings of a 13-year-old boy (Guiseppe Sulfaro) are awakened by the town’s curvaceous bombshell (Monica Bellucci), whose beauty makes her the target of nasty rumors and innuendos. Director Guiseppe Tornatore’s nostalgic comingof-age film is dramatically underdeveloped with some tasteless scenes and a cursory narrative that fails to make an impression.

Subtitles. Brief violence, a few implied sexual encounters, masturbation, some nudity and minimal rough language. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops classification is A-IV — adults with reservations.

The Motion Picture Association of America rating is R — restricted. (Miramax) “Monkeybone” (2001) Strange comic fantasy in which a cartoonist (Brendan Fraser) in a comatose state plunges into the spooky dream world of his comic book creation and must escape back to reality before Death (Whoopi Goldberg) claims him. As directed by Henry Selick, the live-action/stop-motion animation film is filled with entertaining characters and kooky creations but the muddled narrative is impenetrable. Some sexual references, fleeting rear nudity, an instance of profanity and brief crass language. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops classification is A-III — adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 — parents are strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

(20th Century Fox) “Recess: School’s Out” (2001)

The Catholic News & Herald 15

CNS photo from Universal

Scene from movie ‘Jurassic Park III’ Sam Neill stars as Dr. Alan Grant in “Jurassic Park III.” The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops classification is A-II — adults and adolescents. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 -- parents are strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

Innocuous animated movie about six elementary school youngsters who foil the plans of a bitter former principal (voice of James Woods) to wipe out summer vacation. Based on the cartoon TV show, director Chuck Sheetz’s film feels like an extended series episode with flat animation and a flimsy narrative. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops classification is A-I — general patronage. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is G — general audiences. (Buena Vista) “Saving Silverman” (2001) Mindless comedy about two twentysomething friends (Jack Black and Steve Zahn) who concoct a plan to save their best friend (Jason Biggs) from marrying the wrong woman (Amanda Peet) by kidnapping her and reuniting him with his longlost love. As directed by Dennis Dugan, the familiar story is told in a monotonous fashion with a lagging pace and an occasional chuckle. Comically intended violence, a few sexual situations and references, fleeting profanity and some crude expressions. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops classification is A-III — adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 — parents are strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13. (Columbia Tristar Home Video) “Snatch” (2001)

Savage crime caper in which two low-level boxing promoters and their bareknuckle gypsy fighter (Brad Pitt) unintentionally become embroiled in the theft of an 86-carat diamond by a gambling addict (Benicio Del Toro). Writer-director Guy Ritchie pulls together seemingly unrelated plot lines with kinetic editing and colorful characters, but the escalating brutality and benign attitude towards wrongdoing are repulsive. Much gratuitous violence, brief nudity, constant rough language. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops classification is O — morally offensive. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is R — restricted. (Sony Pictures Entertainment)

1 6 The Catholic News & Herald

August 3, 2001

Editorials & Col-

The Pope Speaks

POPE JOHN PAUL II

Pope says God’s last word is always one of mercy, love

By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY (CNS) — While God punishes people for their sinfulness, his last word is always one of mercy and love, Pope John Paul II said.

At his first general audience after an 11-day Alpine vacation, the pope July 25 said that throughout history, people have asked, “Why does God treat us this way?”

The answer is a combination of “justice and divine mercy: ‘He scourged you for your inequities, but will again have mercy on you all,”’ the pope said, quoting the Book of Tobit.

“Punishment appears as a kind of divine teaching method in which, however, the last word always is given to mercy,” he told the thousands of visitors who filled the Vatican’s air-conditioned Paul VI Audience Hall.

The story of Tobit, the pope said, is the story of a man who, despite all kinds of suffering, remains faithful to God and to his law, especially to the laws of charity and almsgiving.

And God remains faithful to Tobit as well, ensuring a happy marriage for his son, leading the young man home and healing Tobit’s blindness, the pope said.

“The message is clear: One who does good, especially opening his heart to the needs of his neighbor, is pleasing to the Lord and, even if he is put to the test, in the end he will experience God’s benevolence,” Pope John Paul said.

“We can always place our trust in the mercy of God, who never forsakes us,” he said.

In the story of Tobit and throughout the Bible, the pope said, “suffering itself, provided it is accepted in a spirit of abandonment to God’s plan, takes on a mysteriously positive meaning.”

“The cross of Christ provides the ultimate response to the question of human suffering,” he said.

Pope John Paul said Tobit’s canticle of praise acknowledges the fact that sinners are punished for their faults and called to conversion, which opens them to “the marvelous prospect” of God renewing his favor to them.

“It is God, even more than his gifts, that we need,” the pope said. “Sin is a tragedy not so much because it brings God’s punishments, but because it pushes him from our hearts.”

Pope John Paul, spending two months at the papal villa south of Rome, traveled by helicopter to the Vatican for the audience. Afterward, he spent nearly an hour greeting individuals and posing for photos with groups, including several members of general chapters of religious orders meeting in Rome.

A group of Latin American indigenous dancers, wearing traditional costumes and elaborate feathered headdresses, performed for the pope, who then returned to the summer residence at Castel Gandolfo.

Just imagine!

Here’s something worth thinking about: When school starts you’ll get a whole new chance. You’ll have new teachers, new classes. It’s your opportunity for making a change.

Big deal, you may say. Everybody gets to start over in the fall.

In fact, those annual new starts are one of the special privileges of youth. Adults don’t get “start-overs” nearly as often.

For most adults, the experience of starting over is rare and precious. For kids, it comes every fall, with each year offering a chance to try something different, some new way of handling an old situation.

As you think about this year’s new start, what would you like to do differently?

Some things you can’t change. For example, most junior high girls hate their noses. Looking in a mirror, they see a nose that is too small or too wide, too crooked or too pointy. Given a chance to fix just one thing, lots of girls — and guys, too — would change their looks.

You don’t alter the shape of your face; you can’t make yourself taller or shorter. You have the body God gave you.

What you can change is your behavior, the way you interact with other people as you go through the day, and your attitude. Those are within your control.

Over the years I’ve watched teens make some marvelous changes during a single summer.

Elizabeth grew up shy and socially awkward. The summer between middle school and Catholic high, she decided to change all that. That fall she introduced herself to the other kids as Becky — a name she never had used before.

Shy Elizabeth was left back in middle school.

With her new name, Becky adopted a new attitude. She went right up to people and talked to them. She smiled and laughed instead of brooding in the corners. The new Becky made lots of friends.

I wouldn’t necessarily promote changing your name.

However, this summer you doubtless will find yourself thinking about what you’d like to do differently this fall.

Guest Column RICO De SILVA Guest Columnist

to Maximilian’s request as he identified himself as a Catholic priest. On Aug. 14, 1941, after two weeks without drink or food, St. Maximilian and three other prisoners, still alive, were given a lethal injection and their bodies cremated. On the eve of the Assumption of Mary, Mother of God, the Woman who promised him the two crowns of purity and martyrdom, his ashes rose to Heaven like incense to give honor to God and His Mother.

Francis Gajowniczek, the man for whom St. Maximilian Kolbe offered his life, survived Auschwitz and was reunited with his wife and family. He was present at Maximilian’s canonization by Pope John Paul II on Oct. 10, 1982. Perhaps the best words to describe St. Maximilian’s life are the same words to describe the life of Jesus: There is no greater love than this, for a man to lay down his life for his friends (Jn. 15:13).

Saint Maximilian Kolbe, priest and martyr, pray for us.

The feast of St. Maximilian Mary Kolbe is Aug. 14.

Rico De Silva is a seminarian of the Diocese of Charlotte.

Coming of Age Christopher Carstens CNS Columnist Instead of dwelling on what you plan to stop doing, think about what new behaviors or attitudes you want to add to your life.

Be specific, and then give yourself a chance to daydream about the changes. Imagine yourself acting in the new way or experiencing the new attitude. Those positive images — like little movies in your head — are powerful tools we have for self-change.

If you want to improve your grades, imagine yourself taking careful notes and getting started on your assignments before the last minute. Visualize yourself sitting down to the task, turning work in on time and receiving compliments on your project from a teacher.

If your goal is making more friends, imagine yourself starting conversations with people you don’t know well.

If you want to do better at your sports, imagine yourself at practice, giving every ounce of your attention to the game.

You’ll have plenty of time for daydreaming this summer. Spend a few minutes each day rehearsing success in your head. Those rehearsals make success in the real world much more likely.

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

Love to the Max Words have power. Words inspire us to greatness. Words move us to practice heroic virtue and to love our neighbor. When the hour of our death comes, words give us courage to lay down our lives for a higher purpose. When I think of St. Maximilian Kolbe, 10 words come to mind: love of God, love of Our Lady, love of neighbor. St. John tells us, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” (Jn. 1:14) Christ is the Word of God and is that Word who gave St. Maximilian Kolbe the courage to lay down his life for another. This was a prisoner at the Auschwitz concentration camp during World II, a man hardly known to Maximilian.

A line from the Eagles’ popular hit, “Peaceful Easy Feeling,” summarizes in a sense the relationship between this great saint and the Woman of his life. “I found a long time ago what a woman can do to your soul,” captures that relationship. St. Maximilian always found profound peace and solace in Mary, the Woman in his life, as he discovered this bond early.

When he was about 10 years old, the Blessed Virgin appeared to St. Maximilian and offered him two crowns, a white one for purity and a red one for martyrdom. In his enthusiasm, Raymond, as he was known then, picked both. From that point, his life was characterized with a great trust in the neverfailing intercession of Mary. This tremendous trust touched every area of his fruitful apostolate as a priest. It safeguarded his great apostolic zeal to save “as many souls as soon as possible,” as he would say.

St. Maximilian Kolbe wore his white crown of purity throughout his life by practicing heroic charity. He showed great love of God and neighbor by leading many souls to God by a life marked with burning zeal for souls under the patronage of the “Immaculata,” his favorite title for the Virgin Mary.

When the time came for him to wear his red crown, he offered his life to replace a married prisoner. This man was condemned with nine others to die in the starvation bunker. The perplexed Nazi officer agreed

August 3, 2001

Editorials & Col-

Light One Candle MSGR. JIM LISANTE Guest Columnist

But, truth told, he also carried a sadness that would not be lifted. Friends say he aged significantly in the years following Hugh’s death.

At our television interview, O’Connor spoke of Hugh with gentleness and a proud love. But he was struggling, still. You’d see it in the sorrowful tone, in the eyes that longed to see his son again.

Then, toward the end of our conversation, the topic turned to life beyond this life. I asked Carroll if he believed that our lives continue beyond the earthly journey. His answer was unequivocal: “Absolutely.”

Then I asked him if he thought that Hugh was alive and living in heaven. Again, the certainty: “Without a doubt.” And with my final question, a gentle smile returned to his face. “Carroll,” I asked, “do you expect to meet Hugh again in the hereafter?” I will always remember his twinkling eyes and the certainty with which he said, “Oh, yes.”

Sadly, we have lost an actor of great talent and charm. Sadly, his family is without a husband, a father-in-law and a grandfather whom they adored.

But I know of one place where there is surely great happiness. And that’s in a place we call heaven, where a father and his son are joined in a loving and much longed for embrace. Rest in peace, dear Carroll, dear Archie, you have well earned you place in Paradise.

has left us a valuable work titled “The Apostolic Tradition,” with information about Christian worship and structure in his time. The bishop is the “sacerdos” (priest), says Hippolytus, elected by the people and ordained by imposition of hands by another bishop.

It was the bishop’s role, among other functions, to preside at the Eucharist and proclaim the word of God. “Presbyters” (elders or priests) were ordained by the bishop, with other priests laying on hands with him. “Presbyters” stood with the bishop as he presided at the eucharistic celebration and could themselves preside at the Eucharist with the bishop’s permission.

Deacons were ordained by the bishop alone, since the specifics of their service to the bishop and priests in the local church were determined by the bishop himself.

With the restoration of the permanent diaconate in the last 40 years, that picture of Catholic Church hierarchy described by Hippolytus remains in basic outline the one we know today.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church, summarizing this tradition, speaks of two degrees of ministerial participation in the priesthood of Christ, the episcopacy and the presbyterate, and a third degree, the diaconate, to serve liturgical and other needs of the local community as determined by the bishop.

“Catholic doctrine teaches that the degrees of priestly participation (episcopate and presbyterate) and the degree of service (diaconate) are all three conferred by ... the sacrament of holy orders” (Catechism, Nos. 1554 and 1596).

The catechism quotes a letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch, martyred in Rome about the year 107, emphasizing the importance of all three degrees of

Finally at peace Having the legendary actor Carroll O’Connor as a guest on our television program was a genuine thrill. Like most adult Americans, I grew up with his beloved if irascible incarnation of Archie Bunker. Carroll O’Connor was a terribly gifted man who managed to teach us both right and wrong through the opinionated blue-collar Archie. We could laugh at him, but we also understood that the limits of his tolerance were sometimes a mirror of our own prejudices and limitations. Years later Carroll gave us another challenging portrayal in the television drama, “In The Heat of the Night.” In their unique and powerful ways, both his comedy and drama series taught us about the need to live the Golden Rule. It’s a lesson Carroll O’Connor tried to live throughout his life. And it pained him when all his efforts came up short.

I remember asking Carroll if he felt that his programs had advanced the cause of racial harmony in the 25 years since he first came to prominence. With an expression etched with sadness, he said that he doubted it. “After ‘All In The Family’ and ‘In the Heat of the Night,’ we’re still dragging black men to their deaths in places like Jasper, Texas. So how far have we really come, Father Jim?” But ever the optimist, Carroll said he had confidence that what we lack the ability to accomplish, would, through the grace of God, be made right one day. That outlook especially reflected his attitude toward the tragic loss of his son. Hugh, the child adopted by Carroll and his beloved wife, Nancy, was the apple of his eye. Brought back from Italy as an infant, he never lacked for the dedicated love of his parents. But all the love in the world can’t always thwart the path of drug addiction. For years, Hugh wrestled with this demon. And his parents wrestled along with him. If they could have willed him to sobriety, they would have. If they could have offered their lives in place of his, they would have. But it was not to be. Driven to despair, Hugh took his own life. In a way, Carroll’s heart died on the same day as his son’s.

Oh, he did what he could to spread the message about resisting drugs. He did continue to love his widowed daughter-in-law and his grandson. He worked a bit. He went to Mass each week in the company of his wife of half a century, praying for peace.

Question Corner FATHER JOHN DIETZEN CNS Columnist

Is Permanent Diaconate conferred by holy orders?

Q. A recent article on the “Jubilee of Permanent Deacons,” celebrating Vatican II’s restoring permanent deacons in the church, states, “In its effort to update the life of the church, Vatican Council II made allowance for the diaconate ‘to be restored to its own permanent position in the hierarchy’ (‘Lumen Gentium,’ 29), also making it possible for married men to be conferred this sacrament.”

Is conferring the diaconate considered the same as the sacrament of holy orders? When a seminarian receives the order of deacon and then priesthood, does he receive the sacrament twice?

A. One might put it that way, I suppose, since the sacrament is conferred in two distinct ceremonies. It is more proper and theologically correct, however, to speak of three degrees of the sacrament of orders.

St. Hippolytus, a Roman priest who died in 236,

The Catholic News & Herald 17

Family Reflections ANDREW & TERRI LYKE Guest Columnists Paying attention to God’s handiwork Picture a sunset on a hazy summer sky. Vivid colors of red, yellow and blue mix into a scene of natural beauty. Depending on atmospheric conditions, density of the clouds, and juxtapositions of the sun and earth, every sunset reveals God’s unique handiwork and artistry.

Not only do such conditions create awe and beauty, so does our attention. For there is no appreciation of art without human senses and intellect. If we don’t pay attention to God’s handiwork, we miss out. Perhaps it’s not reasonable to attempt to capture every sunset.

Our human intellect might trivialize it into a mundane everyday experience. However, no matter how common a sunset may be, with reflection on and appreciation for its colors and its uniqueness - the spiritual gifts of awe and wonder - we are capable of grasping its beauty and experiencing the sacred in the ordinary.

Several years ago we vacationed in the Dunes of Western Michigan. Hearing that there was a sunset “to die for” at a particular point along the Lake Michigan Shore, we eagerly scrambled to get there to see it first hand.

We left our campsite by car and parked as close to the site as we could. We hiked dune over dune, on a heavily forested trail. Taking much longer than we anticipated getting there, we finally reached the last and steepest hill. The sun was setting quickly and the uphill trek through the sand took its toll on our tired limbs. As we emerged from the forest we caught the final seconds of what had been a magnificent sunset.

Despite our late arrival, we grasped those few seconds and reveled in that sunset as though it was our last.

This experience and the appreciation of sunsets are a metaphor for family life. Like sunsets, we don’t create life; God does. We participate in the beauty of family life with our presence. Its beauty may be elusive because of its ordinariness. It requires our attention to be appreciated. Each relationship between family members is unique. When we reflect on and appreciate God’s handiwork in our family life, we are filled with awe and wonder. Combined with other family relations, unique “atmospheric conditions” make family life a scene of natural beauty.

Our sunset adventure—the anticipation, the dunes, the forest, our tired legs and the brief sunset—though it was not what we had expected, was an experience of awe and wonder.

Our hunger for beauty beautified us.

Questions for Reflection When was the last time you caught a sunset or sunrise?

What are the “atmospheric conditions” that make your family life wondrous and aweinspiring?

Are you paying attention?

What other ordinary phenomenon reveal God’s divine’s presence?

“Family Reflections” is a newspaper column that presents a continuing theology of family life.

Andrew and Terri report, from their experiences as married partners, parents, and members of extended families, their observations of God’s presence in family life. As active members in the Catholic community they share their perspectives on the Church in society. Through the prism of their African American heritage, they share their unique spirituality.

1 8 The Catholic News & Herald

August 3, 2001

Around the Di-

Enthronement equals evangelization

By BETTE BARTHOLOMEW Correspondent SALISBURY — “Evangelize” was a call Bill Owens had heard throughout 12 years of Catholic education in Lafayette, La. That he was called to missionary work, he had no doubt. He had found ways here and there to be a witness for Christ, but he never felt that he had found the most pertinent channel for him.

In January 2001, that all changed.

He heard Gloria Anson, director of the Sacred Heart Apostolate, speak at a mission in Sacred Heart Church in Salisbury. Anson talked about the miracles that happen in families when the image of the Sacred Heart is enthroned in homes and the family is dedicated to him.

“We sometimes assuage our call to be the mission arm of the church by sending a check to some faraway place. This is a good thing to do,” said Owens. “But as Pope John Paul II and Mother Teresa have pointed out, mission is where we are. Our families, our work, our community and our parish are our first mission. Near proximity is our God-given assignment.”

For Owens, that assignment has involved a devotion to the Sacred Heart. It is a devotion he wants to share with others. Inspired by Anson’s talk, Owens and his wife, Michelle, began participating in Sacred Heart enthronements in local parishioners’ homes — starting with their own.

“When my family turned their lives

Classi-

EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES Business Manager: Immediate opening. Start part-time with potential for full-time. Responsible for A/R and A/P functions. Basic accounting knowledge with Quick Books experience required.

Detail oriented. Salary based on experience. Mail resume to: Father Richard Hokanson, Queen of the Apostles Catholic Church, 503 N. Main St., Belmont, NC 28102.

Campus Ministry Intern: Appalachian State University, Boone, NC. The Diocese of Charlotte seeks Catholics who are committed to their faith and are seeking education and training in ministry.

In this 3-year program, intern will work with local parish and Catholic students, staff and faculty to develop campus ministry program at Appalachian State University. Compensation includes housing, health insurance, $2,000 yearly tuition grant, and $800 monthly stipend. Requirements: bachelor’s degree, strong organizational skills, excellent communication skills, ability to take initiative and assume leadership. Send cover letter, resume, three letters of reference to: Colleen McDermott, Diocese of Charlotte, 1123 S. Church Street, Charlotte, NC 28203.

Director of Faith Formation: Growing parish of 1,000 families seeks enthusiastic and knowledgeable Catholic as full time Faith Formation Director. Minimum of B.A. in related field of study and Parish/Faith Formation experience. Position requires strong leadership, organizational, interpersonal, and basic computer skills. Responsibilities include, but not limited to: Pre-K through 5th Grade Faith Formation, R.C.I.A., V.B.S., Adult Ed. Salary and benefits commensurate with experience. Start immediately. Send resume and three (3) references to: DFF Search, Attn: Wally Haarsgaard, Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish, 605 Barbee Ave., High Point, NC, 27262. Visit our website at www.ihmchurch.org.

Director, Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO): Murphy, NC. The Office of Justice and

Photo by Bette Bartholomew

Bill and Michelle Owens have placed their picture of the Sacred Heart of Jesus on their family room mantle. They are pictured with daughter Breanna, one of their six children. over to the Sacred Heart and gave him kingship in our home, he became our safe harbor where we went not just for devotion, but to make him part of every joy, sorrow, work and suffering, and focal point of our decisions,” Owens said.

“We are a long way from perfection as yet, but we are centered where we need to be.”

When Jesus appeared to St. MarPeace, part of Catholic Social Services, seeks person with economic development and non-profit experience. Will maintain current OEO programs and develop new programs, collaborating with community partners to promote the economic well-being of individuals and communities in western NC. Required: excellent communication skills, ability to travel regionally, BA/BS in relevant field (master’s preferred).

Willing to work within the tradition and mission of service of the Diocese of Charlotte to implement Catholic Social Teaching’s vision on economic justice and human dignity. Full-time (25-33K, depending on education/experience). Send by 8/24 resume with cover letter to Office of Justice and Peace, CSS, 1123 S. Church St., Charlotte, NC 28203 or as MSWord e-mail attachment to justicepeace@charlottediocese. org. Projected start date: 10/01/01. More detailed position description available upon request.

Director of Religious Education: Suburban Charlotte parish of 500 families. Major responsibilities include: oversight of faith formation program K-6, youth ministry, and adult education programs. Applicant must be a practicing Catholic with good organizational skills and the ability to engage children, youth and their parents. Salary and benefits commensurate with experience and dependent on DRE or CRE credentials. Position may be 1 FT position or would consider 2 PT (1 FF K-6 and 1 YM 6-12).

Contact: Search Committee, Queen of the Apostles Church, 503 N. Main St., Belmont, NC 28012.

Housekeeper needed: 2 full days, cleaning, light laundry and ironing. Must have own transportation. English not necessary.

Southpark area. Excellent pay. Please call 704-540-8004.

Parish Music Minister: St. Joseph, Kannapolis, seeking dedicated, spiritual leader for music ministry program. Would like to have music teacher/ instructor with church experience and music degree.

Knowledge and familiarity with choral and instrumental programs desirable. Beginning hours, parttime (5-10 hours per week). Send resume and salary requirements to: St. Joseph Catholic Church, Attn: Music Ministry Position, 108 St. Joseph St., Kannapolis, NC 28203. For information, (704)932-4607 or fax: (704)932-0566.

Teacher: Middle School Language Arts. Applica-

garet Mary Alacoque in the 17th century, he promised her, “The more you honor me, the more I will bless you.”

Devotion to the Sacred Heart was greatly furthered by the St. Margaret Mary’s revelations from Jesus, which focused on the sovereignty of Jesus Christ in the Christian family.

In his appearances to her, Jesus told Margaret Mary that she was to

proclaim Jesus’ love—his heart—for all people, and that his heart was to be honored in the form of a heart of flesh.

Enthronement of the Sacred Heart is one way to illustrate that devotion. A picture, statue or some other image of the Sacred Heart is placed prominently in the home, accompanied by an act of consecration.

Frequently, the enthronement is made a social event, with the head of the family placing the picture of the Sacred Heart in a prominent position.

But it can also be a private devotion.

The prayers, for dedication and consecration of the family, can be helpful.

When families work with local representatives such as Bill and Michelle Owens, they become registered at the national apostolate headquarters, whereby they are linked with all the prayers of those participating in this apostolic endeavor.

Since January, Bill and Michelle Owens have participated in 23 enrollments in Sacred Heart Church.

“Families tell us it has made a vital difference in their family life,” said Bill.

“Some have seen miraculous flip-flops in a family member who was struggling with a problem.”

In the very least, there has been a change in outlook and approach to problems.

“Giving Christ kingship means that you can take a deep breath and realize that no matter what transpires, it is part of a divine plan, and when offered in love and prayer to the Sacred Heart of Jesus,” Owens said, “you can trust that it will all come out OK.”

Classified ads bring results! Over 117,000 readers! Over 47,500 homes!

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

Payment: Ads may be pre-paid or billed. For information, call (704) 370-3332. tions available: Our Lady of Grace School, 2205 W. Market St., Greensboro, NC 27403; call (336) 2751522 or fax (336) 279-8824.

Youth and Young Adult Ministry Director: Roman Catholic Church of the Most Holy Trinity, 720 Telfair Street, PO Box 2446, August, GA 30903. www. themostholytrinity.org. (706)722-4944. Full-time position to direct and develop middle/high school and young adult ministries that are relational, holistic, developmental, ministerial, goal-centered with a multidimensional approach to youth ministry. Must work in harmonious collaboration with parish personnel, parents, many volunteers and youth. Must also work closely with DRE (Director of Religious Education) in areas of administration. Must have computer and office skills. This parish is a traditional, downtown parish with 1200 families and is demographically and ethnically diverse. Qualifications: Active, practicing Catholic in good standing with the Church. Experience in parish youth ministry and/or college campus ministry. BA in Theology and/or related field or Certificate of Advanced Study in Youth Ministry preferred. Competitive salary/benefits package offered. Send resume and references to: Fr. Allan J. McDonald at above address.

REAL ESTATE Home for Sale: Lovely 3 bedrooms, 2 baths in Yorkshire subdivision in SW Charlotte. 2-car garage, fenced, mature landscaping, new dishwasher, laminate floor and carpet, washer, dryer and refrigerator remain, many extras. Only $149,000. Call Joe McKenzie at 704-542-0939 or 704-542-4775.

Home for Sale: Bright Ryan-built 3 bedroom, 2 bath ranch in NE Charlotte. Large kitchen, den with fireplace, neutral colors, fenced, wooded backyard,

2-car garage. $130,000. Call Steve Perri, broker: 704-905-1780.

VACATION RETREATS Bed and Breakfast: The Lord’s peace be with you.

Beautiful weekend Blue Ridge mountain log home B&B. Quiet, scenic, unsupervised spiritual retreat.

828-297-7499.

Vacation Rental: Daytona area. Fully furnished, 2 bedrooms, 1 bath. $500/week ($700/week special events. 904-441-5834.

COMPUTER TRAINING ATTENTION! Learn and fine tune your computer skills. computer moms, today’s personal technology trainers for the adult learner. At your place, at your pace, on your own equipment in you home or office. One-on-one training. Each franchise is independently owned and operated. Call now: 888-HIRE MOMS. PRAYERS & INTENTIONS Thank you, St. Jude, for prayers answered. N.P. Thank you, St. Jude, for prayers answered. T.P.F.

August 3, 2001

In the

The Catholic News & Herald 19

W.Va. bishop calls for aid, Congressional briefing how to make prayers for flood victims discusses Web safe for kids

By Thomas R. Papeika Catholic News Service WHEELING, W.Va. (CNS) — Bishop Bernard W. Schmitt of WheelingCharleston toured the flood-devastated region of southern West Virginia July 14, and called on Catholics across the state to provide material and spiritual comfort for an area already among the poorest in Appalachia.

Some areas in southern West Virginia were inundated with nearly eight inches of rain July 8, causing what the National Weather Service called a “100year flood.”

The rugged topography of the area exacerbated the unavoidable flooding and forced flood waters down mountainsides and into the narrow, but populated, valleys below.

At least 1,000 homes were destroyed, and 2,000 more were badly damaged. Stephen Kappa, director of the state’s Office of Emergency Services, estimated that the tally of destroyed homes would eventually total more than 2,000.

In one community alone, 80 percent of the businesses were destroyed. Nearly 6,000 applications for assistance were filed and 40,000 residents were left without drinking water.

In addition, 4,100 doses of tetanus vaccine were administered, nearly wiping out the state’s stockpile of the medicine, and 15 temporary debris collection points quickly filled to 90 percent capacity and were plagued by bears and snakes picking through the debris.

But statistics don’t tell the full story, according to Bishop Schmitt.

“We have to be more human in our thinking about this,” he told The Catholic Spirit, the diocesan newspaper.

“The personal grief and hurts are so deep. Somehow these people are going to physically survive. The question is how to help with the pain,” he said. “And the only way over that is with the help of the Holy Spirit and the works of the Christian community.”

The bishop said he made his visit the same day the familiar “Good Samaritan”

Gospel was being proclaimed in Catholic churches around the world.

“People read that Gospel and ask themselves who their neighbors are.

Well, their neighbors are here in southern West Virginia, beaten and robbed by the floods,” he said. “The Good Samaritan gave his time, money, and concern, and this is the kind of help we need from our people.”

He said he was impressed by the way people were caring for one another after the flood.

“If anything good can be said about the flood, it’s that there is a real sense of Christian community and spirit of fellowship that has surfaced,” he added.

Bishop Schmitt praised several Catholic youth groups that have already traveled to the area to aid in the recovery and urged more to come, particularly to help the elderly.

He also requested that all parishes and missions in the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston take up a special collection for flood relief to be administered through Catholic Charities.

George Smoulder, executive director of the diocesan Department of Catholic Charities, said the office’s funds were “ almost exhausted by the floods in May and June” and they are “really counting on the generosity of people throughout the state to help our ongoing and sustained efforts.”

But in addition to providing help and financial support, Bishop Schmitt urged Catholics to pray fervently to the Holy Spirit for strength and consolation for the flood victims.

“We have to root everything in prayer. We have to pray that the people’s faith is strengthened in times of such trial,” he said. “Our faith is no good to us, if it is only there when things are going well.”

Recovery from the flood is expected to take years. People from some towns were trying to decide whether they should even bother to rebuild, or just leave.

By Mark Pattison Catholic News Service WASHINGTON (CNS) — Children need to be protected from sexual predators who are using Internet chat rooms to locate new prey, participants at a July 26 congressional briefing were told.

“Congress must ensure that efforts are made to ensure that children are never exploited in the first place,” said Wendy Braffman, an aide to U.S. Rep Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, a member of the Congressional Children’s Caucus and the Congressional Caucus for Missing and Exploited Children, both of which sponsored the briefing.

“The Internet is the new playground, and it’s not monitored,” said Catholic actor Robert Davi, who had starred for four seasons on the crime drama “Profiler” and has backed efforts to keep children out of harm’s way.

Davi spoke of playing “abduction games” with two of his daughters, now 11 and 9, using such ruses as “I’ve lost my puppy. Can you help me look for him?” When the girls got within arm’s reach, Davi said, he would grab them and exclaim, “Gotcha!”

The daughters may have taken it all in good fun because he was their father, Davi added, but the lesson on how to be aware of one’s surroundings was worth teaching and learning, and he extended the lesson to his girls’ softball teams.

Davi said he was asked to accompany the traveling all-star softball team. On their first day at the new field, one player saw a suspicious character in a nearby parking lot. Police questioned him, but the man’s answers made it seem as if nothing was amiss.

The next day, Davi said, police told him the man had been arrested the previous night on molestation charges.

Katie Tarbox, 19, spoke of being targeted online at age 13 by a sexual predator. When she started chatting online, “I didn’t really understand what

a modem was,” Tarbox said. “We were into the teen chat rooms, just like any other kid.”

It was there that she met 23-yearold “Mark,” who was really 41-year-old Francis Kufrovich.

While Tarbox said she hadn’t thought about Mark in a romantic way, “I was 13 years old, emotional and vulnerable. ... He certainly led me to believe that I was intelligent and that I was beautiful. As a 13-year-old that means the world to me, to be paid attention by this older man.”

When Tarbox went to Texas to compete in a swimming tournament, Mark got a room at the hotel where she was staying with her mother. He enticed her to his room and sexually assaulted her.

While he eventually pleaded guilty to charges of persuading a minor to have sex and of crossing state lines to have sex with a minor, Tarbox said she became “clinically depressed for two years. I got bad rashes on my skin; the blood vessels popped from me vomiting so much.”

Part of Tarbox’s therapy was to write “Katie.com: My Story,” a book detailing her ordeal. Kufrovich’s case was the first one prosecuted under the federal 1996 Communications Decency Act. Maryland State Police Lt. Barry Leese, who works on the force’s Internet Crimes Against Children’s Task Force, said that only 10 percent of parents responding to a telephone poll knew who to call should their child receive an online sexual solicitation; meanwhile, 17 percent of the minors did.

The problem is likely to escalate.

About 24 million minors ages 10 to 17 were regularly online in 1999, according to the Census Bureau. By 2005, it is estimated that 77 million minors will have Web access.

2 0 The Catholic News & Herald

Living the

Deacon fulfills lifelong call to serve God through ordained velopment, now as a project executive, for his 37 years with the company.

“I have had fun, have never been bored, and have been on the leading edge of technology,” said the self-proclaimed “gadgeter and tinkerer” who builds computers from scratch using parts purchased from the Internet. He gives them to his children for their use and says that if anything happens, they can call the “manufacturer” at any time.

The computer whiz moved to Endicott, N.Y., where IBM was founded and raised his family. He says that his wife’s support and ability to communicate through all mediums has been the family glue over the years.

The permanent diaconate crept back into his life as the Diocese of Syracuse was preparing to have its first formation class in the late 1970s. The classes were difficult, and even though it was optional for wives to attend, Mrs. Sims accompanied her husband to nearly all of his classes. “Cheryl was supportive and helpful. I really believe that there is a lot the church could learn about the two sacraments — holy orders and matrimony. The interaction between the two is very beautiful and is a powerful gift of the Holy Spirit.”

Ordination in 1979 came a little late because of a stopped clock in the social hall of his church during the ceremony. However, Rev. Mr. Sims, the youngest in his class at age 35, was ordained in September of that year. The deacons were assigned to specific areas of ministry at that time in his diocese, and his interest was youth ministry.

Later, when he was assigned to his parish, he focused his energy in youth ministry but also worked with sacramental preparation, evangelization and in other areas of ministry.

His life was moving in the way that he had planned, but there was another plan in store for him. While on a retreat in 1994, something told him that he had a move

coming up in his life. Not one to question these feelings, one of which originally led him to the permanent diaconate, he prepared for a move. That move came in the form of company relocation to Charlotte. It was a difficult decision requiring prayer and contemplation of the Sims and their friends, but when they arrived in the town similar to their own home, they knew it was where they should be.

“The place was growing and needed many people. ‘The harvest was full, and the workers were few,’” said Rev. Mr. Sims, referring to the biblical passage.

He jumped right into St. Therese Church and has not stopped since. The growth in the area has been the most surprising to him, but he enjoys his ministry. “I am a much better person, and my faith life is a lot different. Every moment of my life is directed toward my service of God and my fellow human beings.”

Rev. Mr. Sims, who has received all seven of the sacraments including anointing of the sick during an illness, says that the sacraments are important in his life. “The graces of the sacraments keep me focused. I am sure my faith life is much more different than it would have been. God has walked a long road with me. It has been almost 40 years since I listened to a call that was neither solicited nor expected. However, Cheryl and I thank God for all of the wonderful, awesome blessings given to us by the Holy Spirit.”

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

August 3, 2001

in math at the college in New Rochelle,

By ALESHA M. PRICE N.Y. While in a required theology class, Staff Writer he heard a call that would change his MOORESVILLE — John Sims allife. As his professor was reading a list of most did not make it. His was a breech birth, items that would be discussed at Vatican and he was baptized just hours after he was II, Rev. Mr. Sims heard the words “resborn. His parents watched nervously as toration of the permanent diaconate.” the child made it through the night and He cannot explain why or how, but he the next. It was a tiny miracle during a big knew at that instant war — World War he would become a II. While growing up, permanent deacon. he hung around his “I knew it just big sister and lived his as well as I knew life as other children my own name that did during that time I would become a period in Yonkers, deacon. I went home N.Y. In the midst of and told my girlfamilies from various friend while on a backgrounds, young date, and her reJohn grew up having sponse was ‘what’s a friends of various nadeacon?’” tionalities.

His girlfriend His high school and future wife Cherexperience with the yl was as unaware of Marist Brothers was the ordained minisa positive one that he try as was Rev. Mr. feels shaped his spiriSims, and strangely tual life. “I received a enough, they forgot great education, and all about that idea my faith was formed until years later. The there. I sent all five of Rev. Mr. John Sims two married after my children to Cathcollege and moved olic school because to Poughkeepsie, N.Y., where he accepted of my experience.” Toward the end of his a job as an assistant programmer in high school years, his father’s unexpected the research and development divideath was difficult for him because he sion for IBM. This computer science passed away just before his son received a pioneer programmed the first IBM full scholarship to Iona College. compatible system and has worked in Rev. Mr. Sims’s love of chemistry the area of advanced research and dewas superceded by his hatred of the smells in the chemistry lab, so he majored