Nov. 23, 2007

November 23, 2007

The Catholic News & Herald 1

www.charlottediocese.org

Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte

Perspectives The 150th anniversary of Lourdes miracle; the formula for Middle East peace; World AIDS Day

Established Jan. 12, 1972

by Pope Paul VI November 23, 2007

Pope benedict xvi

He’s coming to America

| Pages 14-15 Serving Catholics in Western North Carolina in the Diocese of Charlotte

vOLUME 17

no. 5

Exploring the ‘breakdown in human coexistence’ Church sees Latin American glaciers as symbols of God, source of life

Archbishop Wuerl hopes pope’s visit will energize people’s faith

by JERRY FILTEAU catholic news service

by BARBARA J. FRASER catholic news service

WA S H I N G T O N — Wa s h i n g t o n A r c h b i s h o p Donald W. Wuerl said he hopes Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to the nation’s capital next spring will deepen the faith of Catholics in the Archdiocese of Washington and give them new energy.

“Personally, I’m thrilled that he will be here and be with all of us,” he said.

“There is so much renewal going on, among our young people, in the whole church,” said Archbishop Wuerl.

“His visit will be a reaffirmation of that. But also I’d like to think it’s going to be a way of just re-energizing us,” he said.

HUANCAYO, Peru — The snow-capped peak of Mount Huaytapallana, which looms over the landscape in the Archdiocese of Huancayo, is a symbol of God and a source of life for the Quechua people of the central Andes.

“Snow-capped mountains are a symbol of the divine,” said Huancayo Archbishop Pedro Barreto Jimeno.

“In the Quechua culture, there is a very close relationship between nature and

See POPE, page 6

See GLACIERS, page 8

CNS photo by Barbara Fraser

Tourists climb on bare rock on the Pastoruri glacier in Peru’s Cordillera Blanca mountain range in July. The Pastoruri glacier, long a leading tourist attraction in Peru, has lost 40 percent of its mass and is technically no longer a glacier. The area in this photo was covered by ice a decade ago.

‘Awed by the energy’

Catholic youths at national conference in Ohio keep their faith alive

by TIM PUET catholic news service

CNS photo by Jack Kustron, The Catholic Times

Some of the more than 20,000 young Catholics from across the U.S. take part in the National Catholic Youth Conference in Columbus, Ohio, Nov. 8. The three-day gathering featured worship, seminars, a Catholic theme park, music and lots of time for fellowship.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — During the National Catholic Youth Conference in Columbus Nov. 8-10, about 20,000 youths — including youths from the Diocese of Charlotte — had the chance to sing, pray, ask questions about their faith, meet new people and even play dodgeball.

Celebration and step dancing Awards dinner recognizes IrishAmerican culture, supports parade by

KEVIN E. MURRAY

Twenty-five youths from six churches in the Diocese of Charlotte attended the conference, with four youths serving as “animators,” or onstage entertainment.

The youths said they had an “awesome” time, according to Peg Ruble, assistant director of youth ministry for the Diocese of Charlotte.

CHARLOTTE — WBTV anchor Maureen O’Boyle, a Catholic, was named grand marshal of the upcoming 12th annual Charlotte St. Patrick’s Day Parade.

O’Boyle also received the Irish Person of the Year Award during the fourth annual

See YOUTHS, page 5

See IRISH, page 4

editor

Culture Watch

In Our Schools

When nature strikes

Book on papal liturgies; Catholic toys hit market

Bishop McGuinness’ Hall of Fame; Thanksgiving sharing

Chile earthquake; Bangladesh cyclone

| Pages 10-11

| Pages 12-13

| Pages 7,16

November 23, 2007

2 The Catholic News & Herald

InBrief

Current and upcoming topics from around the world to your own backyard

Finding God in the stillness

CNS photo by Bob Roller

Benedictine Father Laurence Freeman (left), a native Briton and president of the World Community of Christian Meditation, conducts a Nov. 8 midday meditation session at Georgetown University in Washington.

Christian meditation finds a sanctuary at Georgetown University WASHINGTON (CNS) — In the oldest building on the campus of the United States’ oldest Catholic university, Christian meditation has found a place to take root.

The structure at Georgetown University is now home to a meditation center that had for two years before been based in a pair of adjoining row houses one block from campus.

In the center, organized meditation is offered twice a day, although students, faculty and staff can walk into the building at all hours for some moments of silent meditation.

“Ma-ra-na-tha,” counseled Benedictine Father Laurence Freeman, a native Briton, at one recent midday meditation session.

He was instructing those present to say the ancient Greek invocation for “Come, Lord” to themselves, inside their heads slowly and evenly, without putting emphasis on any syllable.

“The best way to learn is to practice,” Father Freeman said, as the meditation session had a few first-timers.

Some sat in chairs, some sat on small pillows on the floor and a majority had their footwear off, as they meditated.

Meditation, the priest asserted, is “simple. It’s not easy, but it’s simple.”

Although anyone could meditate, not everyone does, said Father Freeman, noting that many Christians have lost touch with this ancient form of prayer.

What’s the reason? “The mind is not attentive,” Father Freeman explained.

“It’s very distractive. ... Don’t be disappointed if your mind wanders.

Someone once described it as a monkey jumping among the branches.”

The Georgetown meditation session was flanked by two readings: one from

a Chinese text called “Tao-Ching,” the other by the late Benedictine priest, Father John Main, for whom the Georgetown center is named.

2007 marks the 25th anniversary of Father Main’s death, and his efforts to spread Christian meditative practices have been observed this year with different programs across North America.

Father Main, who believed that the contemplative experience creates community, began the first meditation groups at his monastery in London and, later, in Montreal. His student and collaborator in these endeavors was Father Freeman, now president of the World Community of Christian Meditation.

Father Freeman said he believes the meditation center at Jesuit-run Georgetown is unique among U.S. Catholic colleges in that a specific spot on the campus has been reserved for meditation.

“People say to me they’re missing something,” Father Freeman said.

“They’re often confused” by unceasing demands placed on them in society and respond by undertaking a “spiritual search,” he said.

The search can begin at any time in life. For some it starts quite early. In the Diocese of Townsville, Australia, 31 Catholic elementary schools have adopted meditation as part of the school routine.

Father Freeman said he marveled at the energy of Georgetown students who work and study hard yet want to maintain a rich prayer life and embrace meditation as one way to pray.

A verse from Psalm 46 in some versions of the Bible carries a rich reminder about the benefits of meditation: “Be still and know that I am God.”

Federal lawmakers, including Pelosi, chided for not attending global poverty conference SAN FRANCISCO (CNS) — A San Francisco Catholic official wrote letters in early November to California’s two U.S. Democratic senators, Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein; House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.; and three other federal lawmakers to voice “deep disappointment” that none of them attended a conference on global poverty held at St. Mary’s Cathedral.

George Wesolek, the Archdiocese of San Francisco’s Office of Public Policy and Social Concerns director, said he could only surmise “elimination of global poverty” is not a priority for them.

The Point7Now! Action Conference Oct. 27 was designed to urge federal lawmakers to support legislation aimed at implementing a U.N. mandate to reduce the most dire poverty in the developing world by 2015.

Pelosi had a representative at the meeting. In replies to Wesolek, some of the other lawmakers said their aides had talked with conference planners

Diocesan planner For more events taking place in the Diocese of Charlotte, visit www.charlottediocese. org/calendarofevents-cn.

CHARLOTTE VICARIATE CHARLOTTE — SPRED (Special Religious Development) is a faith formation program at St. Matthew Church, 8015 Ballantyne Commons Pkwy., for those of all ages with developmental disabilities. We invite all members of your parish, those with disabilities and those without, to share our common bond as we celebrate a SPRED Advent Family Mass marking the beginning of the Advent season, Dec. 2 at 12:30 p.m. Refreshments will be served in the banquet room following the Mass. If you have questions, call Pat at (704) 541-8362.

CHARLOTTE — The next Blood GiveIn Sunday at St. Matthew Church, 8015 Ballantyne Commons Pkwy., will be Dec. 9, 8 a.m.-1 p.m., in the family room of the Parish Center. Donors will be required to provide identification, such as driver’s license or Red Cross blood donor card. Sign-up tables will be in the narthex Nov. 24-25 and Dec. 1-2.

Appointments are encouraged and will be honored. Walk-ins are welcome, but will be taken as time permits. If you have questions, call Pat at (704) 541-8362.

prior to the event.

The conference focused on foreign aid and trade reforms and a debt-relief measure — all topics of bills pending in the current congressional session and requiring urgent action, according to conference speakers.

The speakers said the legislation would have an immediate impact on the extreme poor by boosting spending on health and education, which they said would lessen suffering from preventable diseases such as malaria and HIV/AIDs. “On behalf of the over 500 participants at the event, I can say that there was deep disappointment because of your lack of participation,” wrote Wesolek. “Perhaps, this lack of participation is a brief glimpse into why congressional job approval is at an all-time low.”

Wesolek said the fact Pelosi’s representative, Phil De Andrade, attended was appreciated but noted his responses were not that pertinent to the legislation on global poverty.

CHARLOTTE — “Las Posadas,” a free bilingual Christmas program, will take place at St. Gabriel Church, 3016 Providence Rd., Dec. 14 at 7 p.m. Enjoy a memorable evening with beautiful scenes, unforgettable music and prayerful spirit in preparation for the Christmas season. For more information, call the church office at (704) 364-5431.

CHARLOTTE — A World AIDS Day commemoration will take place Nov. 30 at 4 p.m. A reading of names of individuals who have died of AIDS will occur in Polk Park at the corner of Trade and Tryon streets in uptown Charlotte. The public is invited to attend and participate by remembering persons they have known who died of this disease. Participating AIDS service organizations include House of Mercy, Regional AIDS Interfaith Network, CHARM Project, CW Williams Health Center, the Latino Outreach Program and Metrolina AIDS Project. For more information, contact Marjorie Storch at (704) 825-4711 ext. 3.

GASTONIA VICARIATE BELMONT — A new study series, “Living the Questions 2.0,” will be offered at Queen of the Apostles Church, 503 N. Main St., Nov. 27 and Dec. 11 and 18, 7:30-9 p.m.

This series is for the serious Christian who is concerned with and committed to the way of Jesus Christ in the world and journeying with God through the labyrinth of human experience. For more information, call Dennis Teall-Fleming, director of faith formation, at (704) 825-9600, ext. 26, or e-mail teallfleming@yahoo.com.

BELMONT — First Saturday Devotions take place on the first Saturday of each month at Belmont Abbey Basilica, 100 BelmontMt. Holly Rd. Devotion begins at 9:30 a.m. with the recitation of the rosary, followed by reconciliation and Mass. For more information,

NOVEMBER 23, 2007 Volume 17 • Number 5

Publisher: Most Reverend Peter J. Jugis Editor: Kevin E. Murray Staff Writer: Karen A. Evans Graphic DESIGNER: Tim Faragher Advertising MANAGER: Cindi Feerick Secretary: Deborah Hiles 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 $23 per year for all other subscribers. The Catholic News & Herald reserves the right to reject or cancel advertising for any reason deemed appropriate. We do not recommend or guarantee any product, service or benefit claimed by our advertisers. 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.

November 23, 2007

The Catholic News & Herald 3

FROM THE VATICAN

Veteran Vatican diplomat named to head U.S. military archdiocese WASHINGTON (CNS) — Pope Benedict XVI has named Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, a Cleveland native who is apostolic nuncio to the Dominican Republic and delegate to Puerto Rico, to head the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services.

The appointment was announced in Washington Nov. 19 by Archbishop Pietro Sambi, apostolic nuncio to the United States.

Archbishop Broglio, 55, succeeds Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien, who was installed as head of the Baltimore Archdiocese Oct. 1.

“I am indeed privileged to take the reins from Archbishop O’Brien,” said Archbishop Broglio at a Nov. 19 news conference at the military archdiocese’s headquarters in Washington.

The new military archbishop, who has never been in the armed forces, said he has encountered members of the military in countries where he served in

the diplomatic corps.

He said his primary goal as military archbishop will be to find more chaplains.

Currently there are about 300 Catholic military chaplains serving U.S. troops.

“The greatest resource of our (archdiocese) is our priests,” Archbishop Broglio said. “Chaplains are committed to letting the light of Christ shine.”

Archbishop Broglio is to be formally installed as head of the military archdiocese Jan. 25 at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington.

In the new post, he will be in charge of the spiritual, pastoral and sacramental care of the 375,000 Catholic activeduty U.S. military personnel and their 800,000 family members; 200,000 Catholics in the Reserves and National Guard; 30,000 Catholic patients in 172 Veterans Affairs hospitals; and 66,000 Catholics in government service overseas in 134 countries.

call Phil or Terri at (704) 888-6050.

at no cost or obligation to anyone who has experienced miscarriage, stillbirth or the death of a newborn. For details, call Renee Washington at (704) 637-0472 or Sharon Burges at (704) 633-0591.

GREENSBORO VICARIATE GREENSBORO — An Advent Bible study, “The Coming of the Lord,” will meet at The Franciscan Center, 233 N. Greene St., Dec. 6 and 13, 10:30 a.m.-12 p.m. Read and reflect on passages showing us that Jesus’ coming is in both the “now” and the “not yet.”

Presenter will be Kitty Rodgers, Bible scholar and spiritual director. Pre-register by calling (336) 273-2554.

GREENSBORO — The Greensboro Council of Catholic Women will have a Christmas Tea at the Knights of Columbus Hall, 2780 Horse Pen Creek Rd., Dec. 6, 2-4 p.m. For more information, contact Carmen Wood (336) 545-9266.

GREENSBORO — The Men’s Early Morning Bible Study Group at St. Paul the Apostle Church, 2715 Horse Pen Creek Rd., meets Tuesdays, 6:30-7:30 a.m. in the Parish Life Center. “Genesis 12-36: The Patriarchal Stories,” will be studied beginning Nov. 27.

Bring your own Bible. For more information, contact Gus Magrinat at gmagrinat@pol.net or John Malmfelt at jmalmsie@aol.com.

SALISBURY VICARIATE MOORESVILLE — St. Therese Church, 217 Brawley School Rd., an Ignatian-staffed parish, will host a Reception for Alumni of Jesuit Universities, Colleges and Parishes Dec. 1 at 2 p.m. The reception will provide an opportunity to expand our connection with those who have experienced Ignatian spirituality and to reignite friendships or make new ones.

To RSVP and for more information call Rosemary Hyman at (704) 664-3992 or email at rhyman@sainttherese.net.

SALISBURY — Elizabeth Ministry is a peer ministry comprised of Sacred Heart Church parishioners who have lost babies before or shortly after birth. Confidential peer ministry, information and spiritual materials are offered

Episcopal

calendar

SMOKY MOUNTAIN VICARIATE MURPHY — A Charismatic Prayer Group meets Fridays at 3:30 p.m. in the Glenmary House of St. William Church, 765 Andrews Rd. Join us for praise music, witness, teaching, prayers and laying on of hands for those in need. For more details, call Gery Dashner at (828) 494-2683.

Cardinal calls it a ‘real breakthrough’ that Orthodox discuss authority VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The “real breakthrough” in a new CatholicOrthodox dialogue document lies in the fact that the Orthodox were willing to discuss how authority was shared and exercised on a universal level in the early church, said Cardinal Walter Kasper.

The cardinal, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, spoke Nov. 14 about the document on the unity of the church and how authority is shared and exercised on a local, regional and universal level.

After finalizing the document during a meeting in Ravenna, Italy, members of the dialogue commission planned to release the text Nov. 15. But a Web site associated with the Russian Orthodox Church, whose delegation abandoned the Ravenna meeting, published it in late October.

Cardinal Kasper said that the Catholic delegates were “very saddened and concerned” that the Russians left the meeting, “but the absence of the Russian

Orthodox Church does not take away the validity or the legitimacy of this document.”

“The real breakthrough is that for the first time the Orthodox were ready to speak about the universal level of the church,” he said, and not simply about the reality of the church on a local or regional level under a patriarch or archbishop.

The document recognizes there must be “synodality” — responsibility exercised by all the bishops together — on the universal level, but also that one bishop must hold the place of honor as the primate and, in the ancient church, that position was held by the bishop of Rome.

The document said, however, that Catholics and Orthodox disagree on how his leadership translated into a concrete exercise of authority and jurisdiction over other bishops.

The Ravenna document, he said, “is an important first step, a basis, but not more.”

Clearing the way for World Youth Day

WINSTON-SALEM VICARIATE WINSTON-SALEM — Franciscan Sister Kathy Ganiel will present “Primacy of Christ (Bonaventure)” Dec. 9, 3-5 p.m. as part of a series of free talks offering an exploration into some of the major contributions of Franciscan men and women of faith. The talk will take place at the Fatima Chapel, 211 W. Third St. For more information and registration, call (336) 723-1092 or e-mail spiritofassisi@bellsouth.net.

WINSTON-SALEM — The Compassionate Care-Givers meet the first, third and fifth Thursdays of each month at St. Benedict the Moor Church, 1625 East 12th St. This group provides affirmation, support and prayer for people who have cared for and are caring for loved ones living with Alzheimer’s and any other chronic illnesses. For more information, call Sister Larretta Rivera-Williams at (336) 725-9200.

CNS photo courtesy of World Youth Day 2008

Is your parish or school sponsoring a free event open to the general public? Deadline for all submissions for the Diocesan Planner is 10 days prior to desired publication date. Submit in writing to Karen A. Evans at kaevans@charlottediocese.org or fax to (704) 370-3382.

Bishop Peter J. Jugis will participate in the following events:

Dec. 1 — 7:15 a.m.

Mass for aspirants in Permanent Diaconate Formation Program Catholic Conference Center, Hickory

Dec. 5 — 1:30 p.m.

Diocesan Building Commission Meeting Pastoral Center, Charlotte

Dec. 2 — 5 p.m.

Affirmation of N.C. Catholic/Lutheran Covenant Lutheran Church of the Epiphany, Winston-Salem

Dec. 6 — 10 a.m.

Diocesan Foundation board meeting Catholic Conference Center, Hickory

The Royal Randwick Racecourse in Sydney, Australia, is shown in this undated aerial photo. The horse racing venue will be the site of the 2008 World Youth Day vigil and closing Mass in July.

A dispute that threatened the use of the racecourse was resolved with the announcement that the Australian and New South Wales governments will disperse a $30 million (US$26.7 million) taxpayer-funded compensation package to the affected parties.

Under the terms of the agreement announced Nov. 15, an additional $10 million (US$8.9 million) will be set aside in a contingency fund in case the racecourse is so trashed that it cannot be used for the 2008 racing carnival, which this year had to be canceled due to the outbreak of the highly contagious equine influenza.

Up to half a million people are expected to attend the closing Mass, which will be celebrated by Pope Benedict XVI. The papal Mass will be the largest single gathering of people ever organized in Australia.

4 The Catholic News & Herald

around the diocese

Awards dinner recognizes IrishAmerican culture, supports parade IRISH, from page 1

Irish-American Awards Dinner held at St. Gabriel Church in Charlotte Nov. 15.

The dinner, which serves as the primary fundraiser for the parade, was organized by the Charlotte St. Patrick’s Day Parade Foundation, a nonprofit group. The awards recognize outstanding individuals who have made cultural, social and professional contributions to the Irish-American community in the Charlotte area.

The event, attended by 125 people, featured live Irish music and performances

by Charlotte Irish dance schools. Knights of Columbus honor guards were on hand to escort award winners.

“I thought the evening went very well,” said Frank Hart, one of the organizers of the dinner and parade.

“We received a lot of feedback from those who have been to more than one of the dinners, that they felt it was the best yet,” he said.

Moira Quinn, Charlotte Center City Partner’s senior vice president for communications and chief operating officer, who served as awards emcee and last year’s parade grand marshal, presented O’Boyle with her Irish Person of the Year Award.

Previous grand marshals include Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory and

Principal Jerry Healy of Charlotte Catholic High School.

“I hope to live up to this honor,” said O’Boyle, a Charlotte native who has anchored on “A Current Affair” and “Extra,” while accepting her award.

The other winners of the night were: — Irish Civic Leader of the Year: Edward Brynn, history professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and former ambassador to Burkina Faso and Ghana.

— Irish Ambassador of the Year: Kevin Devin, owner of Connolly’s on 5th Irish Pub. — Irish Business Person of the Year: Rosemary Harrington, vice president of First Trust Bank.

— Irish Person in Media: Olivia Fortson, an editor and reporter with the Charlotte Observer.

— Irish Bar Person of the Year: Christine Doherty, a bartender at Tyber Creek Pub. The 2008 Charlotte St. Patrick’s Day Parade, to be held March 15, will also feature the annual Charlotte Goes Green Festival in uptown Charlotte.

Approximately 40,000 spectators watched the 2007 parade.

WANT MORE INFO? For more information about the Charlotte St. Patrick’s Day Parade and festival, visit www.charlottestpatsday.com.

Photo by Kevin E. Murray

Dancers from Rince na h’Eireann School of Irish Dance perform during the fourth annual Irish-American Awards Dinner at St. Gabriel Church in Charlotte Nov. 15.

November 23, 2007

Mass on Mount Zion

Courtesy Photo

Father James Hawker, pastor of St. Luke Church in Mint Hill, gives a homily during Mass in a chapel at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on Mount Zion in Jerusalem. The church is considered one of the most important Christian holy places in the world, as it was built over the site of Jesus’ crucifixion and his burial tomb.

The visit to the church was part of a diocesan pilgrimage to the Holy Land Nov. 6-15. Fortyfive people took part in the trip, which toured significant biblical sites including Mount Carmel, the Sea of Galilee, the Dead Sea, Masada, Bethlehem and Jerusalem.

Deacon Carlos Medina, a permanent deacon at St. Patrick Cathedral in Charlotte, assisted Father Hawker at daily Masses at various sites on the pilgrimage.

November 23, 2007

from the cover

The Catholic News & Herald 5

Catholic youths keep faith alive at Ohio conference YOUTHS, from page 1

Bishop Matthew H. Clark of Rochester, N.Y., told participants during the closing ceremony that he hoped the experience was a “profoundly confirming time for you and an expression of the deep love of the church for you.”

“And I hope that when you return, you share your experience and tell how your being together in these wonderful days in Columbus has spoken to your heart. The folks back home are very anxious to hear what you have learned and shared about Christ,” he added.

Bishop Clark served as celebrant for the closing ceremony in place of Columbus Bishop Frederick F. Campbell who was recovering from foot surgery.

The Washington-based National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry was the conference’s sponsor, and the Columbus Diocese was the conference host.

The Rochester bishop also addressed the sadness that overshadowed the conference because of the death of conference participant Veronica Gantt, 16, of Las Vegas, who was killed by a hitand-run driver in Columbus Nov. 8.

“There has been cause for tears among us through the weekend,” Bishop Clark said.

“I have also seen you laugh, be inspired to dance, break into marvelous song, and extend kindness, care and consideration not just to one another, but to the arena staff and the people of Columbus. You have been able to wrap your arms around that which is painful and that which is beautiful,” he told them.

During question-and-answer sessions with the youths, Bishop Clark was joined by seven other bishops who were asked about temptation, heaven, vocations, celibacy, contraception, the Latin-language Mass and the war in Iraq, among other topics.

Participants also had the chance to discuss bullying, dating, sharing the faith with family and friends, Catholic social teaching, deepening one’s faith, stress management and tragedy in a variety of panel discussions and workshops.

Beating back bullying The workshop on bullying dealt with how to respond to a bully without becoming one and how body language may cause some people to become targets for bullying.

“Kids who have a strong relationship

CNS photo by Jack Kustron, The Catholic Times

A crowd of more than 20,000 young people from across the U.S. gather Nov. 8 in the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, for the opening session of the 2007 National Catholic Youth Conference. The three-day event featured worship, seminars, a Catholic theme park, music and lots of time for fellowship. with God seem less likely to get bullied,” said workshop presenter Terry Clark of the St. Thomas Center in Des Moines, Iowa.

“They are self-assured, walking with God. If you want to feel less bullied, look up, smile, act like you’re happy to be alive. Act like you’re a son of God.” “We have a God that understands bullying,” Clark said, pointing out that Jesus was “bullied on the way to Calvary like no one else before or since.”

“He responded with love. That’s the ultimate answer to bullying — love for yourself and love for each other,” she added.

During the conference there were also daily liturgies, opportunities to pray in an adoration chapel and opportunities to receive the sacrament of reconciliation.

Another highlight was a theme park that featured displays from many Catholic organizations and included a series of webcasts with youths from India, El Salvador and the Philippines.

Future of the church Mark Butler, director of the Columbus diocesan Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry, said the ultimate effect of the conference is likely to be seen in parish youth ministry programs.

“Many parishes don’t yet have a youth ministry, and I anticipate many young people will be going back to those parishes wanting to be more active. In the long run, this is going to be a great way to further the cause of youth ministry,” he said.

Valerie Johnson, a 15-year-old from St. Paul Church in St. Petersburg, Fla., called the conference “a life-changing experience” primarily because she met so many people from all over the country who “share the same faith.”

“It’s not just praying and singing all day, like I thought it would be,” said Adele Literski, 15, of St. John Fisher Church in the Cincinnati suburb of Newtown.

“There’s so much more,” she said, noting that the event also provided the chance for participants to play dodgeball and do sumo wrestling.

“And the people have been incredible,” she said. “There’s just so many of them, and we have so much in common.”

Tom Gaier, an adult leader with Adele’s group said he was “awed by the energy of 20,000 Catholic youths in one place,” and it gave him “a real sense of joy and hope for our church in the 21st century.”

Courtesy Photo

Youths from Sacred Heart Church in Brevard are pictured at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, during the 2007 National Catholic Youth Conference.

6 The Catholic News & Herald

November 23, 2007

in the news

April Visit The tentative schedule of Pope Benedict XVI on his first pastoral visit to the United States.

WASHINGTON Arrive in the nation’s capital.

April 15

16

Official welcome at the White House. Address to U.S. bishops at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.

Mass at the new Nationals baseball stadium. Visit to The Catholic University of America. Interfaith meeting at the Pope John Paul II Cultural Center.

CNS photo by Nancy Wiechec

Washington Archbishop Donald W. Wuerl answers questions from the media on the first day of the U.S. bishops’ fall meeting in Baltimore Nov. 12.

Archbishop hopes pope’s visit will energize people’s faith POPE, from page 1

The archbishop said he believes the emphasis of the pope’s trip will be “on the renewal of the faith life of the church.”

Archbishop Pietro Sambi, apostolic nuncio to the United States, announced the pontiff’s April 15-20 visit to Washington and New York — billed as an “Apostolic Visit to the United States of America and to the Seat of the United Nations” — at the Nov. 12 opening session of the U.S. bishops’ national meeting in Baltimore.

Pope Benedict’s main public event in Washington will be a Mass April 17 at the Washington Nationals’ new baseball stadium.

Shortly after the nuncio spoke, Archbishop Wuerl told the Catholic Standard, newspaper of the Washington Archdiocese, that the visit “will be an opportunity for all of us in the church in Washington to show the Holy Father our affection, to show him our profound loyalty, but also to demonstrate to him how alive the church in Washington is, how profoundly faith-filled the church is.”

He said he and other church officials have been laying the groundwork for the visit since August, but he did not know for sure if it would happen until the nuncio officially announced the planned papal itinerary.

The pope is to arrive in Washington April 15 and meet with President George W. Bush at the White House the following day, which also happens to be the pope’s 81st birthday.

That afternoon he will address the U.S. bishops — probably at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Archbishop Wuerl said.

After the stadium Mass April 17, the pope is to meet with heads of Catholic colleges and universities and diocesan education leaders at The Catholic University of America, followed by a meeting with leaders of nonChristian faiths at the Pope John Paul II Cultural Center.

During a midday press conference Nov. 12, Archbishop Wuerl said that in visiting the nation’s capital “the Holy Father is attempting to speak to the church throughout the United States.”

He said that when it was first announced last summer that the pope was considering a U.N. visit next spring “it seemed appropriate to invite him to Washington.”

The fact that the pope would make Washington his first stop “says to me that he sees this as a center representing the entire church in the United States,” he said.

Besides being the home of Catholic University and the national shrine, Washington is the location of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ headquarters.

He added that the pope’s plan to address representatives of Catholic higher education highlights the importance of faith formation and Catholic education in the life of the church.

The archbishop said preparing for the papal visit “will be a lot of work, but it’ll be joyful work, because we’ll be welcoming the head of the church.”

“We’ll be welcoming the successor to Peter, and he will come here to say to all of us, ‘Be strong in your faith. ... Be a light of the Gospel to this country,’” he said.

Asked how ticket distribution would be handled for the stadium Mass, Archbishop Wuerl said he did not know yet.

“I suspect there will be more people who want to see and be with the pope than there are places at the stadium. ...

We have to take into account that there will be people coming from all over the country,” he said. “They will not see this as a Washington event. They will see it as a national event.”

“I think that we have to make sure that people — especially our young people — get a chance to see him,” he added.

“That’s going to take some planning on our part, but I think the principle we want to work from is (that) we want to make sure the coming generation of Catholic young people get a chance to see him,” he said.

17

18

NEW YORK Address to the United Nations.

Ecumenical meeting.

19

Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral.

Meeting with youths and seminarians.

20

Visit to ground zero. Mass at Yankee Stadium. ©2007 CNS

Source: U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops

Attention Readers!

Have a Story to Share?

Do you have a story to share with The Catholic News & Herald? Do you know of people who are living the tenets of their faith? Do you have photos of a parish- or ministry-based event?

If so, please share them with us.

Contact Staff Writer Karen Evans at (704) 370-3354 or kaevans@charlottediocese.org.

November 23, 2007

The Catholic News & Herald 7

in the news

Care after the collapse Church in Chile collects funds to help victims of earthquake by

PASCALE BONNEFOY catholic news service

SANTIAGO, Chile — The Catholic Church has begun collecting funds for the more than 15,000 people left homeless after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake rocked the desert and mining region of Antofagasta, 760 miles north of the capital, Santiago.

The Archdiocese of Antofagasta, through the regional Caritas office, was coordinating with local parishes and the national offices of Caritas Chile to mount a nationwide fundraising campaign for victims of the earthquake.

Two women died and 161 people were injured — 11 seriously — while nearly 4,000 homes were severely damaged or lay practically flat on the ground after the Nov. 14 quake.

Most of the damaged homes were made of adobe.

“People have not only lost their homes, but also many of their belongings, from furniture to kitchen utensils. But to save the costs and complications of transporting donated goods, we are calling on people to donate money that we can convert into

bedsheets, chairs, pots and pans, etc.,” said Luis Gonzalez Pizarro, director of Caritas Antofagasta.

C ar i t a s a l s o w a s c o l l e c t i n g information from parishes throughout the region for an estimate of damages to church facilities.

“The problem is that distances are long, and there are isolated areas that can only be reached by helicopter, because roads have been cut off due to landslides,” Gonzalez said.

In the midst of powerful aftershocks Nov. 15, Chilean President Michelle Bachelet and several Cabinet ministers visited the most devastated areas to assess the damage.

The three most severely hit municipalities — Tocopilla, Maria Elena and Quillagua — were declared disaster zones, allowing for the swift allotment of fiscal and emergency assistance.

“In these kind of situations, people have to help one another,” Bachelet said, seeking support from Chileans across the country.

Bachelet announced that within a month the government would complete a registry of which homes need to be

CNS photo by Reuters

Residents look at a roof that collapsed on a car after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake in Antofagasta, Chile, Nov. 14. repaired or demolished, and she promised soft loans and subsidies to help families rebuild their homes.

She also said that the hospital in Tocopilla would be completely rebuilt.

During the quake, two of its floors collapsed, and patients were transferred to other health centers or were being treated on outdoor patios while the

military set up a hospital tent.

In Santiago, the youth vicar, Father Galo Fernandez Villaseca, expressed the church’s solidarity with the victims.

“It is painful to know that so many families have lost their homes and are going through a sad moment. We express our solidarity and affection,” he said.

Chilean bishops defend company’s refusal to sell morning-after pill

Salcobrand considers the drug abortive, is appealing $68,000 fine by

PASCALE BONNEFOY catholic news service

SANTIAGO, Chile — Chilean Catholic bishops have defended a Chilean pharmaceutical company’s right to refuse to sell the morning-after pill because it considers the drug abortive.

Auxiliary Bishop Fernando Chomali Garib of Santiago, a member of the bishops’ bioethics commission, wrote in early November that forcing the pharmaceutical industry to sell the drug is wrong.

At least one pharmaceutical company said the government is forcing it

to sell the drug.

“To force salespeople, pharmacists and pharmacy executives, as well as pharmacy shareholders and owners, to collaborate materially and formally in the sale of a product that is harmful to health ... constitutes not only an abuse of power ... but also an act of intolerance in the name of tolerance,” said Bishop Chomali.

“Refusing to participate in an injustice is not only a moral duty, but also a fundamental right,” he said.

In mid-October, the Chilean Health Ministry fined three pharmaceutical companies that control 90 percent of the Chilean market for not selling

“Refusing to participate in an injustice is not only a moral duty, but also a fundamental right.”

— Auxiliary Archsbishop Fernando

Chomali Garib of Santiago

Levonorgestrel 0.75 as required by law.

The companies are appealing the fines of $68,000 each.

One of the companies, Salcobrand, said in a statement that in order to avoid further fines it “was being forced to sell Levonorgestrel ... against our will,” because the company considers the pill abortive.

The other two companies claimed that supply problems, not ethical qualms, were inhibiting their sales, and promised to maintain a permanent stock of the drug in their pharmacies.

The Catholic Church and government opposition parties quickly criticized the government for imposing public health policies they consider immoral and reopening the debate over whether or not the drug is equivalent to abortion.

More than a year ago, a similar controversy arose after the government issued guidelines authorizing public health centers to distribute Levonorgestrel 0.75 to minors over age 14 without cost or parental consent.

Bishop Alejandro Goic Karmelic of Rancagua, president of the Chilean bishops’ conference, and Bishop Chomali were invited Nov. 6 to present their views before the congressional health commission.

“An issue so important and fundamental like the origin of human

life merits an ample, national debate, and not the imposition of a unilateral point of view,” Bishop Goic said.

He told members of Congress that “everyone knows” that the two nongovernmental organizations that helped the Health Ministry prepare the guidelines authorizing free distribution of the pill to teens “are clearly proabortion, and their ultimate goal is to have abortion legalized in Chile.”

The Public Health Institute authorized the sale and distribution of Levonorgestrel 0.75 in March 2001, when President Michelle Bachelet was minister of health.

After a series of legal actions taken by pro-life groups, in 2005 the Supreme Court ruled in favor of its distribution.

It is now part of an official list of drugs that all pharmacies must have available.

The morning-after pill usually prevents pregnancy if taken within 72 hours of sexual intercourse.

It is available over the counter to women over age 18 in the United States and has long been available to victims of rape at U.S. Catholic hospitals, following a pregnancy test and an ovulation test.

The pill’s opponents argue that it is abortive because they say it prevents the implantation of a fertilized egg.

In late October, Pope Benedict XVI defended the right of pharmacists to refuse to dispense drugs “which have clearly immoral aims.”

Speaking to delegates to an international congress of Catholic pharmacists in Rome Oct. 29, the pope called on them to educate their clients on “the ethical implications of the use of particular drugs.”

8 The Catholic News & Herald

special report

layers date back about 1700 years

As glaciers melt, historical record is lost, says glaciologist Time lost from the surface down

by BARBARA J. FRASER catholic news service

H U A N C AY O , P e r u — A n important historical record is being lost as the glaciers melt, said a glaciologist at Ohio State University’s Byrd Polar Research Center.

“The ice is the best recorder (of history) that we have,” said Lonnie Thompson, who has studied glaciers from Greenland to Antarctica and from the Andes to the Himalayas.

Glaciers accumulate a new layer of snow every winter, just as a tree grows new rings. That layer contains particles of dust, which could indicate a volcanic eruption or a drought, as well as grains of pollen, insects and air bubbles that scientists can sample to determine the exact composition of the atmosphere that year.

From that information, they also can

calculate air temperature.

As more snow accumulates, the ice is compressed, but scientists can still distinguish the layers.

By boring vertically into the ice, Thompson extracts core samples that provide a snapshot of history.

The Quelccaya ice cap in the highlands of Cusco, in southern Peru, which Thompson has been studying since the 1970s when he was a graduate student, contains one of the most unblemished ice records in the world.

The layers date back about 1700 years, but rising temperatures are causing the top of the glacier to melt and refreeze more frequently, blurring the record.

“I think we’re going to lose the record from the surface down,” Thompson said during a visit to Peru in June. “In places like Kilimanjaro in Africa or Naimonanyi in the Himalayas, they’re already losing time from the top down.”

November 23, 2007

Latin American glaciers s GLACIERS, from page 1

human beings,” he said.

T h e M a n t a r o R i v e r Va l l e y, where Huancayo is located, is Peru’s breadbasket. The rich soil produces crops for export and food that is sold locally and in Lima, the capital.

Between December and April, there is abundant rainfall in the valley, while snow falls on the white-peaked mountains, where glaciers serve as frozen reservoirs. During the dry season, the slow melting of Andean glaciers provides irrigation and drinking water.

Throughout the Andes Mountains, however, that water supply is threatened because the glaciers are melting faster than snowfall can replenish them.

In Bolivia, the glaciers in the Condoriri mountain range that provide much of La Paz’s drinking water have shrunk by 30 percent in the past 20 years.

Ecuador’s capital, Quito, relies on the rapidly melting Antisana glacier for its drinking water.

In Peru, Huaytapallana’s ice cap has retreated by more than 1,000 feet in the past five years.

“Blocks of ice that were solid for years are breaking off,” Archbishop Barreto told Catholic News Service.

“That indicates a rapid deterioration of Huaytapallana, which is the source of Huancayo’s drinking water,” he said.

Diminishing water The Andes are unusual because they are located in the tropics, but are high enough to have glaciers. The snow caps on Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania are also considered “tropical glaciers.”

All have been receding rapidly in the

This is a view of the Cordillera Blanca mountain range in Per source of irrigation and drinking water for communities in t 1991 and 2002, alarming scientists and others that their c past several decades.

Between 1991 and 2002, the area covered by Andean glaciers shrank by nearly 10 percent, from 2,758 square miles to 2,493 square miles. About 70 percent of the ice is in Peru, with 20 percent in Bolivia and smaller amounts in Ecuador and Colombia.

Venezuela’s glaciers are virtually gone. Scientists generally attribute the melting to global climate change, and they say it is probably too late to save most of the Andean glaciers, which could

November 23, 2007

The Catholic News & Herald 9

special report

seen as symbol of God, source of life pinch, although they do not always recognize it.

In Peru’s Ancash department, in the Cordillera Blanca range that takes its name from its snow-capped peaks, there are more and more conflicts between neighbors and communities over water, said Cesar Portocarrero, a civil engineer who works with the nonprofit organization Practical Solutions.

That is an early warning sign of diminishing water supplies, said Portocarrero, who helps communities install more efficient irrigation systems to reduce water use.

At the foot of the Cordillera Blanca, hydroelectric power plants on the Santa River are part of a system that provides 80 percent of Peru’s electricity. During the dry season, they depend on glacial runoff for an adequate water flow.

A study issued in June found that the glaciers’ disappearance would reduce the capacity of one power plant by at least one-third.

CNS photo by Barbara Fraser

ru in July. Glaciers in the Andean mountains provide a steady the region. Andean glaciers shrank by 10 percent between continued decline could affect water supplies. disappear within 30 to 50 years, affecting drinking water supplies, agriculture, hydroelectric energy and tourism.

Farmers are already feeling the

Once they’re gone The Cordillera Blanca’s glaciers are also a tourist attraction, drawing hikers and mountain climbers. Local guides say the mountains have become more unsafe in recent years, and they worry about what will happen when the glaciers are gone.

Similar concerns have been voiced about Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, where 80 percent of the snow has melted, and Glacier National Park in Montana,

“Blocks of ice that were solid for years are breaking off. That indicates a rapid deterioration of Huaytapallana, which is the source of Huancayo’s drinking water.”

— Huancayo Archbishop Pedro Barreto Jimeno where only 26 glaciers of the more than 100 recorded in 1912 remain and all could be gone by 2030.

“In many parts of the world, there’s an economic side to glaciers,” said Lonnie Thompson of Ohio State University’s Byrd Polar Research Center.

“Mountaineers and tourists come to see these ice-covered mountaintops.

How many of those people will continue to come when the glaciers are gone?” she asked.

Photos that Thompson has taken in the Andes and on Kilimanjaro show how drastically the snowscape has changed.

“When we started serious monitoring (of the Andean ice cap Quelccaya) in 1978, there was very little discussion of global warming,” said Thompson, who received this year’s U.S. National Medal of Science in July from President George W. Bush. “ P e o p l e w e r e talking about the next ice age. It was only in the repeat photography that the demise became so clear and that it was

accelerating,” she said.

A report issued earlier this year by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, an international group of experts, drew a clear link between climate change and human activity, particularly the burning of fossil fuels.

The experts said that while industrialized countries are responsible for most of the emissions that are causing the climate to warm, developing countries will suffer most from the effects, which range from disappearing glaciers to the expansion of deserts to rising sea levels that could cause coastal flooding.

In a letter to participants in the seventh symposium of the Religion, Science and the Environment movement Sept. 1, Pope Benedict XVI wrote: “While it is true that industrializing countries are not morally free to repeat the past errors of others by recklessly continuing to damage the environment, it is also the case that highly industrialized countries must share ‘clean technologies’ and ensure that their own markets do not sustain demand for goods whose very production contributes to the proliferation of pollution.”

In the Andes, where the Quechua people look to the snow-capped mountains for protection, climate change could alter not just the landscape, but also their relationship with the land and with their neighbors, as Portocarrero has seen in the increasing conflicts between communities in the Cordillera Blanca.

In the Quechua culture, “the snowcapped peaks and the earth itself are seen as a gift” from God, Archbishop Barreto said. “It is a relationship of great harmony.”

That, he said, is why the pope’s 2007 World Peace Day message was so important.

“The pope said that when there is not a harmonious relationship between nature and human beings, and when there is a deterioration of the environment and people’s health, there is also a breakdown in human coexistence,” the archbishop said.

November 23, 2007

10 The Catholic News & Herald

Culture Watch

A roundup of Scripture, readings, films and more

‘Complete icon’ of church liturgy Vatican official presents book discussing papal liturgies in detail

by CINDY WOODEN catholic news service

VATICAN CITY — Recent papal liturgies have heightened awareness that the Catholic Church finds its fullest expression in celebrating the Eucharist and that it gathers people of every nation, language and culture, said the archbishop who coordinated the celebrations.

Archbishop Piero Marini served as master of papal liturgical ceremonies for 20 years until his Oct. 1 appointment as president of the Pontifical Committee for International Eucharistic Congresses.

During a Nov. 9 conference sponsored by the Vatican publishing house, Archbishop Marini presented three thick books discussing in minute detail the sometimes-controversial choice of prayers, vestments, language, music and gestures used at Vatican liturgies from the Holy Year 2000 to the inauguration of Pope Benedict XVI’s papacy.

The books, written under Archbishop Marini’s direction, offer the texts of and commentary on the liturgies of the Holy Year, for the death and funeral of Pope John Paul II and the inauguration of the pontificate of Pope Benedict.

“The celebrations commented upon, thanks also to the media, remain impressed on the memory of innumerable faithful,” Archbishop Marini told the conference, and “they are, in my opinion, the most complete icon of the adapted liturgy of the church after the Second Vatican Council.”

Archbishop Marini said it was important for his office and its liturgical and theological consultants to document the liturgies and the studies behind them in order to demonstrate how they conformed to “the changed mentality created by the liturgical reform desired by the Second Vatican Council,” highlighting “the principles of active participation in the liturgy, adaptation and the need for the historical study of the liturgy.”

The volumes, Archbishop Marini said, “are eloquent witnesses that the servant of God, Pope John Paul II, and Pope Benedict XVI have and continue to confirm the holy people of God in the faith, proclaiming the word and celebrating the sacred mysteries.”

In the introduction to the book on the Holy Year liturgies, Archbishop Marini wrote that the central figure in each liturgy was Jesus Christ and his saving action.

But the liturgies also highlighted the fact that the church, the sign and sacrament of unity in Christ, is truly catholic in its composition, “able to welcome different cultures and open to all,” he said.

The Holy Year liturgies were among the most controversial, and the book explains how the various liturgical dances

and the use of instruments such as a Japanese koto, a horn made of an elephant tusk, and a conch shell were chosen to emphasize the Holy Year pilgrimage of all the world’s Catholics toward a renewed commitment to Christ.

Monfort Missionary Father Corrado Maggioni, an official in the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments, said the liturgies studied in the books “are liturgies of primary importance” because “the papal liturgy, a liturgy in St. Peter’s Basilica, must be the exemplary liturgy for all.”

The books, he said, “aim to bring a patient reader into the particular experiences of worship, explaining the meaning of the rituals.”

The liturgical celebrations presided over by the pope are unique, because his ministry is unique and because he brings to the altar the prayers of the entire church around the world, Msgr.

Maggioni said.

“Unity and catholicity find expression in the papal liturgy with the variety of languages — Latin and local languages — and adaptations for people who come from different cultural and ritual backgrounds,” he said.

Beauty is on e of the mos t important elements in liturgy, Msgr.

Maggioni said.

“There is a beauty in the liturgy that is invisible to the eye and must come before and be reflected in the simple beauty” of the rite used, he said.

The aim, he said, is “noble beauty, not sumptuousness.”

As an example of how simple prayers, gestures, vestments and furnishings heighten the beauty of the liturgy, he pointed to the 2005 funeral of Pope John Paul, planned by Archbishop Marini.

“Where was the beauty in that Mass?” he asked. “The beauty present was in that which the love of God accomplished in and through John Paul II for the entire church and the entire world.”

WORD TO LIFE

Sunday Scripture Readings: dec. 2, 2007

Dec. 2, First Sunday of Advent Cycle A Readings: 1) Isaiah 2:1-5 Psalm 122:1-9 2) Romans 13:11-14 Gospel: Matthew 24:37-44

Advent celebrations, liturgies prepare us for Jesus return

by JEFF HEDGLEN catholic news service

In the fall of 1992, I went to Germany to visit my brother and his family who were stationed at Ramstein Air Base.

While there one of their friends, a beautiful German woman named Monika, invited us to dinner. That evening she and I hit it off and ended up spending quite a bit of time together during the rest of my trip.

I returned to Texas wondering what would come of that budding romance. So before the Internet and low-cost, longdistance phone calls, we embarked on a trans-continental relationship.

When she came to visit the next spring, I popped the question and she said yes.

Over the next year we saw each other only once, petitioning the U.S. government then for a fiancé visa. We were told it would be from three to 12 months before we would learn if the visa was granted.

When Monika got on the plane to go home, we had no idea when we would

see each other again. But we knew that when that day came it would be the happiest of our lives.

However, the wait was excruciating.

The Gospel for the first week of Advent gives some insight into how to handle such situations. Jesus, like the Boy Scout motto, calls us to always be prepared: “Therefore, stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come.”

Here the promise of Jesus’ return is made, but the when and how has yet to be revealed.

I wish I could wait for Jesus’ return with the same intense, focused anticipation I had waiting for Monika to return to Texas. But in the midst of the daily grind it can be hard to keep the Lord’s second coming at the forefront of our minds.

To help us, the church brings us Advent, a season of preparing to celebrate Jesus’ coming 2,000 years ago and his promised return in glory.

While I waited for Monika’s return, I prepared her way with letters, cards, gifts and other creative things. These efforts helped keep the connection strong until our glorious reunion.

Similarly, Advent with its various celebrations and liturgies commemorating Jesus’ initial coming prepares our hearts for his return.

Questions: What are the things you do to prepare for the celebration of Christmas each year? What are some things that we can do to stay prepared for the return of Jesus?

Scripture to be Illustrated: Therefore, stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come” (Matthew 24:42).

WEEKLY SCRIPTURE Scripture for the week of Nov. 25-Dec. 1 Sunday (Christ the King), 2 Samuel 5:1-3, Colossians 1:12-20, Luke 23:35-43; Monday, Daniel 1:1-6, 8-20, Daniel 3:52-56, Luke 21:1-4; Tuesday, Daniel 2:31-45, Daniel 3:57-61, Luke 21:511; Wednesday, Daniel 5:1-6, 13-14, 16-17, 23-28, Daniel 3:62-67, Luke 21:12-19; Thursday, Daniel 6:12-28, Daniel 3:68-74, Luke 21:20-28; Friday (St. Andrew), Romans 10:9-18, Matthew 4:18-22; Saturday, Daniel 7:15-27, Daniel 3:82-87, Luke 21:34-36.

Scripture for the week of Dec. 2-8 Sunday (First Sunday of Advent), Isaiah 2:1-5, Romans 13:11-14, Matthew 24:37-44; Monday (St. Francis Xavier), Isaiah 4:2-6, Matthew 8:5-11; Tuesday (St. John of Damascus), Isaiah 11:1-10, Luke 10:21-24; Wednesday (Advent Weekday), Isaiah 25:6-10, Matthew 15:29-37; Thursday (St. Nicholas), Isaiah 26:1-6, Matthew 7:21, 24-27; Friday (St. Ambrose), Isaiah 29:17-24, Matthew 9:27-31; Saturday (Immaculate Conception), Genesis 3:9-15, 20, Ephesians 1:3-6, 11-12, Luke 1:26-38.

The Catholic News & Herald 11

November 23, 2007

Faith on aisle five

Catholic and Bible-themed toys take their place on the market

by LESLIE O’MALLEY catholic news service

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Every year as December approaches, retailers begin stocking their shelves and filling their Web sites with toys.

This year, Moses and the baby Jesus will share space with action figures and fashion dolls.

A test run of three lines of toys based on stories from the Old and New Testaments started this summer at a select group of Wal-Mart stores and Target.com. The tests will continue through January.

These lines, produced by one2believe toys, include “Tales of Glory” figurine sets, “Messengers of Faith” figures and “Spirit Warriors” action figures.

Each toy comes with a small storybook of a well-known Bible story, such as Noah’s Ark, David and Goliath, the birth of Jesus, and Jesus walking on water.

The select Wal-Marts will display the toys on the preschool aisle because the chain felt they were good items for that age range, said Melissa O’Brien, in a written statement from Wal-Mart’s corporate communications department.

This is the first time Wal-Mart has carried a line of “faith-based toys,” and the company will decide if it will continue or expand the offering based on customer response, O’Brien said.

Robert Winzerling, a Wal-Mart toy department manager in North Little Rock, said his store has been selling out every case of the Bible characters they’ve been getting.

He thinks the market for this type of toy comes from parents.

“I’ve heard mothers talk, especially that they didn’t care for (some of the) action figures. They didn’t like what it represented and wanted something more wholesome,” he said.

That’s exactly what inspired David Socha, founder of one2believe toys, the company that introduced the faith-based toys two years ago.

“We’re trying to bring resources to parents that are wholesome and of God,” Socha said.

He got his start in the toy business as a child when his parents ran a gift shop in Buffalo, N.Y. The best-selling figure in his company’s faith-based line is a Jesus figure.

“I was surprised at that,” Socha said.

CNS photo courtesy of one2believe

“Tales of Glory” figurine sets, which include toys and small books based on Bible stories, are seen in a display at a Wal-Mart store in Bentonville, Ark., in late September.

“It has really caught us off guard. It’ll probably be completely sold out.”

The next best-seller is the Nativity set, but Socha’s favorite is Samson, whom he describes as “the toughest guy in the toy box.”

Right now the company has another 75 products in development and is focusing on toys for girls. It plans to introduce a line of Bible princesses such as Ruth, Deborah and Miriam with a “focus on biblical strength.”

Other religious toys available online include characters from the Catholic prayer-based “Holy Baby” DVD series created by Wayne and Dede Laugesen of Boulder, Colo.

The characters — Baby Scholastica and Baby Bosco — are fashioned after saints for whom they are named.

The toys are available at Catholic gift stores in the Boulder area. The couple’s newest product is a puzzle rosary featuring breakaway clasps between each decade.

“There is nothing else like it on the market,” Dede Laugesen said, noting that the rosary can be “taken apart and used for family prayer.”

This past summer the Laugesens took some samples of the rosary to the Catholic Marketing Network Conference where they sold hundreds of them.

“People saw them as practical, as well as fun,” Laugesen said. “They flew off our table.”

Contributing to this story was John Gleason in Boulder, Colo.

Stars, fans attend Goulet funeral service at Nevada Catholic church

LAS VEGAS (CNS) — Stars and fans alike turned out to remember singeractor Robert Goulet at a funeral service for him at the Shrine of the Most Holy Redeemer in Las Vegas Nov. 9.

News reports said mourners filled about half of the 2,200 seats in what is the largest Catholic church in Nevada.

Goulet, whose rich baritone voice made him an instant success when he played Lancelot in the original 1960 Broadway hit “Camelot,” died Oct. 30

in a Los Angeles hospital of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. He was awaiting a lung transplant. He was 73.

His long career as a singer and an actor encompassed theater, radio, television and film. He was a winner of Grammy and Tony awards.

Raised a Catholic, he was born in Lawrence, Mass., Nov. 26, 1933. During his career he starred in 17 movies and made 24 albums. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in California.

12 The Catholic News & Herald

November 23, 2007

in our schools

Can-do attitude at Thanksgiving

‘Helping Hands’ help to brighten worthy cause

Courtesy Photo

Eighth-graders from Our Lady of Grace School in Greensboro are pictured sorting donated food items in Our Lady of Grace Church Nov. 19. Each year, members of Our Lady of Grace Church and School collect items to provide 100 Thanksgiving baskets for needy families. Different parish ministries and school grade levels are assigned a variety of items to donate for a complete Thanksgiving meal. Students then help collect the items and separate them for each family.

Pictured are Dillon Quinn, Joe Gilberto, Michael Hall, Spencer Pasciolla and Samantha Elam.

Student serenade

Courtesy Photo

Fourth-, sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade students from Our Lady of Mercy School in Winston-Salem assemble luminary kits to benefit Ronald McDonald House Charities Nov. 13. As part of the school’s community outreach program, “Helping Hands of Mercy,” the students assembled 2,600 kits, each of which will sell for $5 with 100 percent of the proceeds supporting Ronald McDonald House clients — families in need of affordable housing while children are hospitalized.

Attention Readers!

Have a Story to Share?

Do you have a story to share with The Catholic News & Herald? Do you know of people who are living the tenets of their faith? Do you have photos of a parish- or ministry-based event?

If so, please share them with us.

Contact Staff Writer Karen Evans at (704) 370-3354 or kaevans@charlottediocese.org.

Courtesy Photo

Transitional kindergarten and kindergarten students at St. Ann School in Charlotte serenade the audience of 175 parents and grandparents as part of their Thanksgiving celebration Nov. 16. The celebration included music, coffee and dessert. The students sang again for the student body after Mass at St. Ann Church Nov. 19.

Students help bring Thanksgiving to others

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Courtesy Photo

Sixth-grade students from St. Pius X School in Greensboro are pictured Nov. 8 on the back of a truck in which they loaded canned goods they collected for the middle school students’ Annual November Food Drive. The students coordinated the collection of food pantry items and raised money to buy chickens for the Greensboro Servant Center’s grocery assistance program. As a result of the students’ efforts, 205 families were to receive Thanksgiving dinner.

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Rates: $.80/word per issue ($16 minimum per issue) Deadline: 12 noon Wednesday, 9 days before publication How to order: Ads may be E-mailed to ckfeerick@charlottediocese.org, faxed to (704) 370-3382 or mailed to: Cindi Feerick, The Catholic News & Herald, 1123 S. Church St., Charlotte, NC 28203.

Payment: For information, call (704) 370-3332.

November 23, 2007

in our schools

The Catholic News & Herald 13

Extraordinary legacies

Photo by Karen A. Evans

Kim Richards (pictured right), star of the one-woman comedic play “Late Nite Catechism,” visits St. Ann School in Charlotte Oct. 26. Also pictured is Sister of St. Joseph Helene Nagle, principal of St. Ann School.

‘Sister’ visits students, faculty by

KAREN A. EVANS staff writer

CHARLOTTE — Kim Richards, star of the one-woman comedic play “Late Nite Catechism,” visited St. Ann School in Charlotte Oct. 26.

The play had a 12-night run at the Booth Playhouse in Charlotte in October.

During her show, Richard’s character, “Sister,” quizzes audience members on their knowledge of the Catholic faith.

Throughout the course of the class, the benevolent instructor rewards her students for correct answers with glow-

in-the-dark rosaries and other prizes.

At the conclusion of each performance, Sister takes up a collection for retired women religious. Each week’s after-performance revenue is designated for a specific order. The show’s first week benefited the Sisters of Mercy of the Carolinas in Belmont.

The second week’s collection benefited the Sisters of St. Joseph of Chestnut Hill, Pa., and totaled $5,200.

The staff of St. Ann School hosted a lunch for Richards in appreciation of her choosing the Sisters of St. Joseph for the collection.

Dr. Elinor Ford receives NCEA award

Catholic educational association recognizes teacher who has transformed educators WASHINGTON, D.C. — Dr. Elinor Ford received the President’s Award from the National Catholic Educational Association during the association’s 17th annual awards dinner in Washington, D.C., Oct. 1.

The President’s Award recognizes a teacher who has challenged and transformed fellow educators to reach a higher level of professionalism.

Ford, a parishioner of Immaculate Conception Church in Hendersonville, has long been a supporter and champion of those who serve and lead ministries within Catholic education and parishes.

She was the first woman appointed as superintendent of schools for the Archdiocese of New York, a system that at the time served about 200 elementary and 80 secondary schools.

Following this position she chaired the archdiocesan Council for Religious Education and established the NCEA’s first national Catholic parent organization.

At the same time she was a full professor in the graduate education department at Fordham University.

While there she directed the nonpublic school program for administrators and founded the doctoral program for church leaders in collaboration with Fordham’s Department of Religion and Religious Education.

Ford then became publisher, president and chief executive officer of the William H. Sadlier Company,

Dr. Elinor Ford which publishes catechetical and educational publications.

She has written numerous leadership, educational, mathematics and catechetical articles, books and materials. She has conducted church leadership, teacher, catechist, clergy and parish family programs for dioceses and other groups.

Today she is a consultant and speaker for national and international catechetical, educational, parish, stewardship, clergy and health care groups in the United States, Canada and Europe.

In 1995, the Canadian Catholic School Trustees Association honored her for contributions to and support of Canadian Catholic education. In 1996, she received the Msgr. John Meyer Award from NCEA for her support of Catholic education.

In 1997, Today’s Catholic Teacher magazine named her one of the 25 most influential people in Catholic education over the past 25 years.

Courtesy Photo

Felipe Villalon accepts his Distinguished Hall of Fame honor during homecoming at Bishop McGuinness High School in Kernersville Oct. 6.

Bishop McGuinness honors distinguished alumni during homecoming weekend K E R N E R S V I L LE — Bishop McGuinness High School celebrated homecoming weekend with its fifth annual Hall of Fame and fourth annual Distinguished Alumni Hall of Fame induction ceremonies Oct. 6.

“The legacies of all these exceptional individuals are a gift of extraordinary value to the life and the living memory of this school,” said Principal George Repass.

The Athletic Hall of Fame honored Elissa Bergevin, a 1986 graduate, and Gene Thomas, a 1987 graduate.

Bergevin’s induction was presented posthumously, as she died in a car accident while stationed in Germany in 1993. Her brother, Eric, accepted on her behalf.

While at Bishop McGuinness, Bergevin played softball and volleyball.

As a sophomore, she was recruited to play volleyball at West Point Military Academy.

While in the U.S. Army, she was sponsored for the Olympic volleyball team.

Thomas was a baseball and basketball player at Bishop McGuinness — he helped his teams win one state championship in basketball and three in baseball.

Thomas was awarded Male Athlete of the Year and is among the top 10 players with the highest scoring average

in a season (25.8) and for most points scored in a season (801).

The Distinguished Alumni Hall of Fame honored Felipe Villalon, a 1964 graduate.

After serving in the U.S. Navy, Villalon had a successful 30-year career in the international division at Wachovia Bank in Winston-Salem. He is currently a senior vice president for the international services division of BB&T in Greensboro.

After graduation, Villalon remained involved with Bishop McGuinness, serving on the school’s board of education and as chairman of the Alumni Relations Committee.

He was instrumental in the establishment of the Distinguished Alumni Hall of Fame program. His children have since graduated from Bishop McGuinness.

Bishop McGuinness was recognized in 2006 as one of the Top 50 Catholic High Schools in the United States by the Catholic High School Honor Roll.

WANT MORE INFO? To learn more about Bishop McGuinness, visit www.bmhs.us.

November 23, 2007

14 The Catholic News & Herald

Perspectives

A collection of columns, editorials and viewpoints

Thinking of poverty, building bridges Holidays a good time to begin making changes in world During the after-dinner talk, my mind started to wander. My eye traveled around the lavishly appointed hotel ballroom. It had enormous crystal chandeliers and brocade fabric on the walls.

It was a beautiful space, but in so many ways ordinary. It was like hundreds of other elegant hotel ballrooms.

My mind started to wander to other places. I thought of places of poverty and privation I have visited. I thought of places where sanitation was poor and trash was seen as a resource.

I remembered barrios in rural Mexico where I was fed rice and beans in tiny adobe houses with corrugated metal roofs. I thought of villages in Africa, in places like Malawi and Ethiopia, where I have spent the night in mud huts.

I thought of the meals that the poor so generously set before me.

I also thought of abandoned people.

I remembered the orphanages I visited in Romania. I remembered those with Hansen’s disease I had worked with briefly in Africa.

I thought of people I had seen lying on cots in a makeshift hospital in Ethiopia in the midst of a cholera epidemic. I thought of polio victims I had seen crawling down the roads in Malawi.

How can all these people dwell on the same planet? How can it be said that the rich and the poor are all children of the same God? Can it be fairly said that they all deal with the same reality? Does God really hear the cry of the poor?

This holiday season is a good time to wonder about these things.

I find myself most grateful for the chances I am given to see life in all its contrasts.

I have seen the inside of a banana worker’s house in Costa Rica. I have stayed in a public housing project in Mexico City. I have shared a meal in a

A lesson from the U.S. bishops on how to vote

From the television came a booming voice, promoting the next debate of presidential candidates: “The gloves come off for this one.”

Great. So much for offering any expectation that character and substance will be a part of the next eleven months.

We need thoughtfulness; we are given a metaphorical boxing match.

It is time, as the U.S. bishops said, for “a different kind of political engagement,” free of “powerful interests, partisan attacks, sound bites and media hype.”

By an overwhelming majority, the bishops adopted Nov. 14 “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship.”

“This document is a summary of Catholic teaching; it is not a voter’s

Parish Diary FATHER PETER DALY cns columnist

shack on the edge of the city dump in Addis Ababa in Ethiopia.

The life of a Catholic priest in America is one of privilege. If we want, we can dwell only in comfort.

But it is also true that we can see the whole of the human condition.

The pope is called the pontifex maximus: the supreme bridge builder.

He may be the top bridge builder, but I think every priest, indeed every Christian, is meant to be a bridge builder, too.

We are meant to be a bridge between peoples, to connect the poor to the rich.

I have the feeling that our Lord would want his priests to be bridge builders. He would want us all to connect the farm owner with the migrant worker.

He would want us to bring together the day trader with the day laborer, the lawyer and the landscaper, the professor and the housekeeper.

During the holidays, most of us are surrounded by excess. But I also think the Lord would want our minds to wander beyond our heavily laden tables and our own comfortable surroundings.

He would want us to see other places, where Lazarus lies at the gate.

I, for one, have no excuse. I know what lies outside the brocade-covered walls of the ballroom. The Lord has given me the privilege of seeing life in all its forms.

For that I am truly grateful.

Extra!

Extra!

STEPHEN KENT cns columnist

guide,” said Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio of Brooklyn, N.Y., chair of the committee which drafted it. “It calls us as bishops to help form consciences for political life, not tell people how to vote.”

The document is directed to Catholic voters, “not Catholic politicians,” noted Bishop DiMarzio.

This distinction is critical, for it presents the proper role of the bishops in the church: as teachers — not tyrants or

Being with people in success True friendship means sharing in both good times and bad

The day my brother’s house caught fire, he maintained his composure well.

He rushed home from work when he heard that the roofers had unwittingly left something smoldering when they packed up and departed.

My sister-in-law was home with a brand-new baby and a toddler. She got the kids out of the house, called 911 and then my brother.

Fortunately, the house was saved and everyone was safe.

The neighbors came running, and when my brother’s boss heard about it, he came over, too, and quietly handed my brother a large wad of cash to help out.

After all he’d been through, that’s when my brother broke down and shed some tears.

Have you ever noticed that in the midst of crisis, it’s often the kindness of others that brings out the greatest emotion?

We can be pretty tough in times of trouble, but when people respond generously to our plight, we crack.

I thought of this when I was listening to a news story about the San Diego fires. A family was searching through the rubble of their home for a keepsake when friends came upon the scene with shovels determined to help them clean up and move on.

As the woman of the family talked about their loss, it was when she got to this part — the part where friends come with shovels — that her voice broke and she began to weep, so moved was she by their love and faithfulness.

Now, you might think the point of this column is to encourage all of us to respond with love and faithfulness to our friends in need. Who could argue with that? Indeed, that’s a hallmark of friendship.

But I think friendship is about something else, too, something that’s sometimes harder for us but marks true friendship just as much as — or more than — showing up with the shovel or the wad of cash.

I think we’re only as true a friend as our willingness to sincerely rejoice in the dictators — laying out the principles of faith against which issues and candidates are to be judged.

“Catholics may choose different ways to respond to compelling social problems, but we cannot differ on our moral obligation to help build a more just and peaceful world through morally acceptable means, so that the weak and vulnerable are protected and human rights and dignity are defended,” the document says.

All Catholics “have a responsibility to discern carefully which public policies are morally sound,” the document says.

A Catholic cannot not be a Catholic anymore than a rock cannot not be a rock.

It’s not something that can be turned on or off at the door to a legislative chamber.

John Kerry, a Catholic and former presidential candidate, said recently that he understands the bishops’ role is

For the Journey EFFIE CALDAROLA cns columnist

achievements — the good times — of our friends and relatives.

And even though we can appear to do this on the surface, sometimes our hearts aren’t quite as open to the success of others as we’d like.

When someone is down and out, when we feel pity, we want to help.

But when a friend is at the top of his game, the king of the world, that’s when a tiny drop of envy may seep into us.

Are we quick with a note of congratulations, with a sincere wish that his good luck continue, with a heart full of happiness at his success?

We try to be the kind of people who root for our friends. But a nagging little voice can tug at us down deep, asking if maybe there’s a twinge of jealousy or a little resentment behind our good wishes.

Is it easy to stand by people when they’re down because somewhere inside we’re glad we aren’t in their spot?

Is it hard to be genuinely happy for people’s success because somewhere inside we’re insecure about our own success?

For me, this little dark spot inside, this little crack where jealousy rears its head, is a good place to bring to God in prayer.

Sometimes even the kings of the world feel a little insecure. That’s another reason to point out what a great job they’re doing, to encourage, to praise.

They may not respond with tears, but they will have a joyful sense that they have that priceless thing: a true friend. teaching that all life is sacred. But he also said he saw no contradiction in saying that he is both pro-choice and antiabortion. (Substitute the word “gravity” after the hyphens in the above and see how much sense that makes.)

Expecting the elimination of sound bites, media hype and partisan attacks may exceed reasonable hope. But we should welcome the fact that someone is serious about issues and candidates by putting forth a document based on facts, principle and issues. A group of people who give thousands of hours to an issue cannot be dismissed as some bunch of out-of-it clerics imposing their sectarian dogma upon the populace.

The bishops are not dictating who to vote for but are instructing us on how to vote: by understanding the moral principles of our faith, understanding the candidates’ positions and matching them up.

November 23, 2007

The Catholic News & Herald 15

To experience the miraculous healings The 150th anniversary of Mary’s appearance at Lourdes The miraculous healings that have taken place for decades in the little French village of Lourdes, France have always fascinated me.

The year 2008 will mark the 150th anniversary of the great miracle of Lourdes when Mary appeared to a simple 14-year-old girl named Bernadette Soubirous. A steady stream of pilgrims have been coming to Lourdes to honor Mary since then and to pray for healing.

I was delighted a few months ago when Kathleen Stauffer, the president and publisher of Catholic Digest, invited me to be the chaplain on a pilgrimage to Lourdes in 2008. She explained that Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, retired archbishop of Washington, D.C., agreed to be the spiritual director of this pilgrimage.

I was honored to accept the invitation.

It will be my job, among other things, to give three weekly talks on Mary. This would be a wonderful way for me to honor the mother of Our Lord as well as pray for my own spiritual and physical needs.

When Mary first appeared to Bernadette, she told her to drink from a previously invisible fountain of water that

sprung up spontaneously from the ground.

Bernadette returned to report the incident.

Doubting church officials told her to go back and ask the lady’s name.

“I am the Immaculate Conception,” was the reply.

Ever since that day the Augustinian Fathers of the Assumption have led annual pilgrimages to Lourdes on Aug. 15, the feast of Mary’s assumption into heaven.

The Augustinians own the Catholic Digest. As such, the two decided to combine their efforts to lead an American pilgrimage to Lourdes to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the apparition and the miraculous healings.

From the beginning, thousands upon thousands of pilgrims have flocked to Lourdes. Many of them returned home cured of their maladies.

The church’s teaching on this is quite positive. On Dec. 8, 1854, Pope Pius IX solemnly declared in a papal bull entitled “Ineffabilis Deus” (“Indescribable God”) that “the most Blessed Virgin Mary, from the first moment of her conception, by the singular grace and privilege of almighty God, and in view of the merits

A disease that ‘affects us all’ Marking World AIDS Day, Dec. 1, 2007 Another day, another cause. That’s what World AIDS Day on Dec. 1 each year can seem like, especially if this is a cause that doesn’t appear to have much of an impact on your loved ones or you.

The U.S. bishops’ Secretariat for African American Catholics — to become part of the Secretariat for Cultural Diversity in the Church as of January 2008 — has a direct response to that point of view concerning AIDS/HIV: “If it infects one of us ... it affects all of us.”

Among the resources the secretariat offers to help educate Catholic families about HIV/AIDS is a nine-question pop quiz. Here’s a sampling from it. See how much you know: 1. How many people in the world are living with HIV and AIDS? a. 2 million b. 12 million c. 40 million 2. What percentage of people with HIV and AIDS are in the developing world? a. 50 percent b. 80 percent c. 95 percent 3. How many children in Ethiopia have been orphaned by AIDS? a. 80,000 b. 240,000 c. 720,000

The answer to all three is “c.”

The final question offers the reminder that it isn’t just the one who has HIV or AIDS who suffers; it’s that person’s loved ones, too.

In some ways, HIV/AIDS can seem like old news in the United States. Then, too, many current facts and statistics have to do with “over there,” not “here.” Or with “them and theirs,” not “us and ours.”

The secretariat notes, “Images associated with HIV and AIDS suggest that HIV is an “African disease,” “a gay plague” or a “junkie’s disease.”

Simply put, we can adopt the attitude that “it’s not my problem.”

This is hardly what we as parents want to teach our children. Hardly what we as Catholics claim to profess.

What can a family do? What can you do? A few suggestions: — Pray for those who have HIV or AIDS. Pray for their loved ones. Pray for the children now orphaned because of AIDS. For the spouses, parents, siblings, sons, daughters and friends who grieve.

— Learn more about HIV and AIDS and the tremendous and tragic impact they have on communities and nations.

— Contribute to organizations that are helping alleviate the suffering.

— Wear a red ribbon on World AIDS Day Dec. 1, 2007.

From “Pray with the Church for All Who Suffer from HIV or AIDS”:

Spirituality for Today FATHER JOHN CATOIR cns columnist

The formula for lasting peace in the Middle East The Human Side FATHER EUGENE HEMRICK

of Christ Jesus, savior of the human race, was preserved immune from all stain of original sin.”

This privilege was not merely a personal gift to Mary, unrelated to her mission. Mary’s twofold vocation was to receive Jesus into her body and to give him away to the world for the salvation and sanctification of God’s people.

Both the dogma of the Immaculate Conception and that of the Assumption of Mary into heaven tell us that we, too, are destined for glory, not merely as pure spirits but as humans in glorified bodies.

After death, both body and soul will be reunited for eternal life.

I extend to you this personal invitation to visit Lourdes during this 150th anniversary year. The U.S. bishops have encouraged dioceses to consider a pilgrimage to Lourdes as a way of honoring Mary and increasing devotion to her.

Perhaps I will see you there. God bless you.

Your Family BILL and MONICA DODDS cns columnists

“God of our weary years, God of our silent tears, ... many of us are now suffering with HIV or AIDS. “We come before you and ask you, if it is your holy will, to take away this suffering from us, restore us to health and lead us to know you and your powerful healing, love of body and spirit.

“We ask you also to be with those of us who nurse your sick ones. We are the mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, children and friends of your suffering people. It is so hard for us to see those whom we love suffer.

“You know what it is to suffer. Help us to minister in loving care, support and patience to your people who suffer with HIV and AIDS. Amen.”

WANT MORE INFO? Learn more from USCCB’s Secretariat for African American Catholics. Go to www.usccb.org/saac/wad.shtml.

cns columnist

As I passed the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., something seemed funny. Capitol Hill police cars were parked on the lawn instead of on the street, and police helicopters were sputtering overhead.

It wasn’t until I was a few blocks from the mall that I realized a large march was taking place on Pennsylvania Avenue.

Loud cries of “Bring home the troops!” rang in the street, and signs against the war in Iraq were everywhere. Riot police lined the parade of marchers who were a sea of youthful enthusiasts, middle-age adults and hobbling elders — all moving slowly toward the Capitol.

As they passed I wondered whether we would ever see an end to Middle East conflicts. Even if U.S. troops came home, governments stabilized somewhat and opposing sides began to talk to one another, will this ultimately create lasting peace?

The frightening thought hit me that the only thing to bring peace might be a catastrophic event that brings everyone to their knees, that we might need to hit bottom in order to come up.

On my way home, I passed the House of Representatives. Over its entrance is the frieze, “The Apotheosis of Democracy.” At its center stands Armed Peace protecting the youthful figure of Genius nestled at her feet. On her sides are Agriculture and Industry, a reaper and his helper, a husbandman and a cow, a child garlanded with fruits of the harvest and another child playing with a ram.

The frieze is bounded on both ends by waves symbolizing the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. This masterpiece pictures the love, peace and prosperity upon which the United States was built.

It symbolizes that lasting peace relies on industry, agriculture and maritime trade.

It also represents people who work the land and the sea, and who work not only to create prosperity but to receive nobility.

Work begets identity and dignity.

Many of today’s terrorists were spawned by poverty. They have little or no work, no prosperity to look forward to, and no dignity except that of belonging to a gang of terrorists. The work and prosperity that bless ordinary people are virtually non-existent for them.

In our lifetimes we have had civil strife, but we have never reverted to the level of terrorism the Middle East experiences. In large part, this is because we believe every person has a right to work, and we are blessed in most cases with jobs. Agriculture, industry and maritime trade are the genius behind peace in the United States. Even more so, they are the formula for creating a lasting peace in the Middle East.

November 23, 2007

The Catholic News & Herald 16

in the news

Calling for charity after cyclone catastrophe Pope urges international aid for victims of cyclone in Bangladesh

by JOHN THAVIS catholic news service

CNS photo by Rafiqur Rahman, Reuters

Niru Begum says her 80-year-old mother was killed when their house collapsed in Bakergani, Bangladesh.

A Nov. 15 cyclone killed at least 3,000 people in the country’s coastal area.

VATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI urged international assistance for Bangladesh, where thousands were killed in one of the worst cyclones in the country’s history.

“In recent days a tremendous cyclone struck southern Bangladesh, causing numerous victims and serious destruction,” the pope told pilgrims at his Sunday blessing at the Vatican Nov. 18.

The pope expressed his condolences to the families of the dead and said he hoped the international community, which moved quickly to aid the survivors, would continue to provide relief.

“I encourage every possible effort to help these brothers and sisters who have been so sorely tried,” he said.

Officials estimated that at least 3,100 people died when the cyclone tore through coastal areas of Bangladesh Nov. 15 with winds estimated at 150 mph.

Relief agencies said the final death toll could reach 10,000.

In Dhaka, Bangladesh, the head of the nation’s charitable agency said Caritas officials were rushing aid to areas along the coast.

“Though there were warnings of the cyclone, its impact has been deadly.

The people have been badly affected,” Auxiliary Bishop Theotonius Gomes of Dhaka, chairman of Caritas Bangladesh and secretary-general of Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Bangladesh, told Catholic News Service Nov. 19.

Bishop Gomes said Caritas officials had rushed to the worst-affected areas like the port city of Chittagong to assess the needs of the affected people and plan the church’s relief work.

Caritas Bangladesh appealed for food aid and tarpaulins (plastic sheeting) and blankets to provide shelter to the families rendered homeless by the cyclone.

“Crops have been destroyed in waterlogged areas, fishermen communities and day laborers have lost their sources of income, and thousands of people are too poor to have any food stocks in their homes,” said the appeal.

Caritas said its national, regional and field offices had taken preventive measures and joined in cautioning the villagers along the coastlines to flee the coastal areas.

Many villagers could find no trace

“Though there were warnings of the cyclone, its impact has been deadly.”

— Auxiliary Bishop Theotonius Gomes of their homes when they returned the next day.

Bishop Gomes said although many simple church structures in the areas have also been damaged there has been no report of damage to any major church properties.

Meanwhile, the international Caritas network responded with pledges of financial assistance. For instance, Catholic Relief Services, the U.S. bishops’ international relief and development agency, initially pledged $50,000 in aid.

Christians make up less than 1 percent of Bangladesh’s estimated 150 million people, nearly 90 percent of whom are Muslim; Hindus and Buddhists account for the rest of the population.

In his main talk at the Sunday Angelus, Pope Benedict spoke about how Christians are called on to face daily trials — including natural catastrophes — with the confidence of faith.

History follows its course, which includes human drama and suffering, but it still embodies a “design of salvation” introduced by Christ’s life, death and resurrection, he said.

Christians therefore should trust in God’s love as they cope with difficulties and apprehensions, he said.

“We don’t fear the future, even when it appears ominous, because the God of Jesus Christ, who took up history to open it up to its transcendent fulfillment, is its alpha and omega, the beginning and the end,” he said.

He said Christ guarantees that the entire meaning of the universe is contained in “every small but genuine act of love.”

Contributing to this story was Anto Akkara in New Delhi.