09.14.07

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St. Patrick's in Somerset re-blessed following its profanation by vandals

By DEACON JAMES

N.

DUNBAR

SOMERSET - Father Marek Tuptynski led p~ayers blessing St. Patrick's Church in Somerset prior to the 4 p.m., vigil Mass last Saturday, following its profanation by teen-agers from that town who allegedly broke into and ransacked the house of worship on

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September 1, and stole dozens of items including sacred vessels.

According to Somerset police, the intruders - who were sub-· sequently arrested - entered the church at 306 South Street, broke into the tabernacle and ate and or spit out consecrated hosts of holy Tum to page 19 - Vandals

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OUT OF THE WAY BEAUTY - The spire of the Metttodist church pops up on the left along the road from the highest point on Cuttyhunk Island. Aboutilso people attended Mass in the church on September 2, the only Mass of the year on the little tract at the end of the Elizabeth Islands. (Photo

by Matt McDonald) II

'We finally get to ctme to a Mass'

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By MATT McDONALD ANCHOR STAFF

CRIME SCENE - St. Patrick's Church in Somerset was robbed and vandalized during a break-in on September 1. (Anchorfile photo)

Diocesan seminarian to be ordained a transitional deacon on October 4

By DEACON JAMES

N.

DUNBAR

still much to do," Floyd told The ROME - When 21 young men Anchor as he breezed through last present themselves beweek, the day before he was to kiss his parfore the altar at St. ents and kin goodbye, Peter's Basilica on the and fly to Rome and morning of October 4 to be ordained transithe North American tional deacons en route College, to begin his to the priesthood, semifourth and final year of narian Ronnie Paul theological studies on Floyd of the Fall River track to ordination to Diocese will be among the priesthood in 2008. them.

But he will be see"It's hectic but very Tum to page 18RONNIE FLOYD exciting and there is Seminarian

CUTTYHUNK - Mass is celebrated from east to west, as the liturgy says, but it isn't celebrated everywhere. On Lab9r Day weekend, though, Mass came to far-off Cuttyhunk.

About 30 people filled much of the tiny Methodist church on a tiny island that feels like it's at the edge of the world.

"We finally get to come to a Mass," said a middle-aged man standing in the doorway of the 1881 church to a woman outside. "Isn't that wonderful?"

You can't take it for granted on Cuttyhunk, an

island at the end of the' chain of Elizabeth Islands 1 . the R oman pace m th.T at IS arguabl y th e remotest Cath6lic Diocese of Fall River.

It'~ about 15 miles southwest of Woods Hole in Falm?uth, about eight miles northwest of Gay Head on Mptha's Vineyard, and about 17 miles south of New :Bedford on the mainland.

T1e is~and's land m:ea i.s less than a square m~le.

TIie wmter population IS a matter of speculatIon - th'e 2000 federal census said 52; one summer residAnt said 30; a year-rounder said "about 38."

Whaibver it is, it increases many times·over during the s~mmer, when visitors fill many of the island's i Tum to page 10 - Mass II

Annual Red Mass is October 14 at Cathedral <I

FALL RIVER - Judges, attorneys, and others work- is formally the Mass of the Holy Spirit, who - as the ing in the justice system are invited to the annual Red sour~e of wisdom and understanding - will be invoked Mass to be sponsored by the Fall River Diocese at 3 upon: those in attendance. . p.m. on Sunday, October 14, at St. Mary's Cathedral in hi keeping with a special tradition in this diocese, Fall River. ilillMiiiiiii"'llili~"EIF''''I the Red Mass will include the presentation of the St. Thomas More Awards to Bishop George W. Coleman will be recognize distinguished service to jusprincipal celebrant of the Mass.

Homilist will be Father J. Bryan tice. The names of this year's recipients Hehir, secretary for Social Services and will be announced within the coming weeks. president of Catholic Charities in the As homilist, Father Hehir brings to Archdiocese of Boston and a faculty the Mass a deep perspective gained from member at the Kennedy School ofGovemment at Harvard University. his ministerial experiences and scholarly The Red Mass is hosted annually by work. the diocese to invoke God's guidance He is currently the ParkeJ: Gilbert . and strength on those who work in the Montgomery Professor of the Practice legal system and to honor members of of Religion and Public Life at the that community for dedicated service.

FATHER J. BRYAN HEHIR Kennedy School ofGovemment. He has \ also servedonthefaculty of Georgetown A centuries-old tradition in the Church, the Red Mass is widely celebrated in dioceses University and the Harvard Divinity throughout the United States.

School, where he became dean.

Prior to taking his current posts in the Boston ArchIts name derived over the years from the color of the vestments customarily worn by during the liturgy which Tum to page 18 - Red Mass , /

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SEPTEMBER

14,2007

New Vatican official wants cultural duel to become duet of dialogue

By CAROL GLATZ CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

Internet.

He wants to put the council's quarterly magazine, Cultures and Faith, online and revamp the council's Website "with blogs and other tools of this kind since I think that these are the modern tools" for getting people of different cultures and religions to meet and engage in dialogue. ' A noted expert on Scripture recognized for his ability to make Christianity ~nderstandable in today's world, Archbishop-designate Ravasi is a prolific writer and a longtime host of a religious program on a major national Italian television station. Pope Benedict chose him to write the 2007 Good Friday Way of the Cross medita- FLIGHT PLAN - Nuns speak at Tarbes-Lourdes-Pyrenees airport, near the shrine in Lourdes, France, after arriving on the inaugural Mistral Air flight from Rome recently. The new airline service from Rome tions.

In an interview with Vatican will offer the faithful direct routes to several pilgrim destinations, including Lourdes; Fatima, Portugal; Radio, Archbishop-designate Santiago de Compostela, Spain; and the Holy Land, according to The Associated Press. (CNS photo/ Laurent Dard, Reuters) Ravasi praised his predecessor, Cardinal Poupard, as "one of the foremost figures in Catholic culture."

Under Cardinal Poupard, the culture council made enormous

By CAROL GLATZ can, with splashes of blue rainbows cyclists from Canterbury arrived in strides in ecumenism, especially CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE Rome August 26 after pedaling I, 110 here and there. with the Russian Orthodox VATICAN CITY - The sky was While low-cost plane travel to miles to raise money for the restoraChurch, he said. Catholic and Orthodox leaders have come closer no longer the limit when a Rome holy places will make visiting Chris- tion ofCanterbury's famous cathedral.

That same week Vatican Radio tqgether by focusing,and working travel agency started offering spe- tian sites possible for many more on similar challenges such as hQW cially chartered flights exclusively for people,some wonder whetherjetting received calls asking whether a pil. thousands of people for quick visits grim traveling by a horse and buggy to.PTomote Christianity in today,'s globe-trotting pilgrims.

Opera Romana Pellegrinaggi, run will fundamentally alter the slower- ,along the same medieval path had 'ri~w'culturesof sechlarism and indifference, Archbishop-designate by the Diocese of Rome, had long paced spiritual nature of a religious made it yet to St. Peter's Square.

In an effort to bring it back to life Ravasi said in a 2006 interview been offering special package tours pilgrimage. for religious destinations worldwide.

Despite the conveniences of air and spread a message of peace, Branwith Catholic News Service.

Cardinal Poupard has written Each year some 300,000 pilgrims , travel, greater numbers of modem- don Wilson of Maui, Hawaii comhundreds of articles and scores of book their religious journey by plane, day pilgrims are traveling the old- pleted the 2,700-mile trek from books on subjects from Galileo train and bus through the agency, fashioned way with a backpack, Dijon, France, through 10 countries Galilei to the history of the world's which is headed by Cardinal Camillo plenty of water and a sturdy pair of and two continents in five months. He traveled according to the true pilgrim shoes. religions, and his works have been Ruini, paPal vicar of Rome.

But those numbers have kept soarOne of the most ancient and most tradition: no tent, just 15 pounds of translated into dozens of laning - so much so that Opera Ro- popillar paths for the foot pilgrim is ,supplies in his pack and a lot of faith guages.

Pope John Paul created the Pon- mano could barely keep up with fud- to the Spanish city of Santiago de in the goodness of humanity.

Lacking the certainties of booked tifical Council for Culture with the ing spots for'its clients on scheduled Compostela. More than 100,000 aim ofhe1ping the world's cultures airline flights. So the agency signed people walk, bike or ride atop don- meals and rooms that come with encounter the message of the Gos- a five-year contract with Mistral Air, .keys or horses every year to visit the, package tours makes the pilgrim pel. He named then-Archbishop a small Italian airline run by the Ital- cathedral where, according to tradi- "learn to trust again in the goodness Poupard head of the new council's ian postal' service, to run charter tion, the remains of St. James the of people," and by "breaking bread, laughing, rubbing sore feet" with othGreater are buried. executive committee and president flights exclusively for pilgrims.

After a successful inaugural flight A once little-known pilgrim path ers ''you discover the commonalities" of the council six years later.

Pope Benedict made Cardinal 'from Rome to Lourdes August 27, from Canterbury, England, to Rome that link humanity, he said, "and all Poupard interim head of the Pon- Mistral Air's next pilgrim flights were - the Francigena Way - is gaining of a sudden all our differences fall by tifical Council for Interreligious set to start next year and were ex- in popularity. More than two dozen the wayside."

Dialogue in 2006 before appoint- pected to transport an estimated ing French Cardinal Jean-Louis 150,000 people each year.

Father Cesare Atuire, an official Tauran to head that council in June. at Opera Romana, told reporters the pilgrim charters will be a "religious OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER OF THE experience from the moment the pil.

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DIOCESEOFFAlLRIVER grim leaves home to the moment he Vol. 51, No. 35 or she returns."

Member: Catholicl'ress Association, Catholic NewsSetvicc The airline carrier said its flight Published weekly except for two weeks in the summer and the week after Christmas by the Catholic Press of the Diocese OfFall RiVet, s87 Highland Avenue, crew will be trained "in voyages of a Fall River, MA 02720, Telephone 508-675-7151 - FAX 508-675-7048, email: sacred nature," and in-flight entertaintheanchor@anchomews.org. Subscription price by mail, .pos1paid$14.00per year. ment will consist of religious music Send address changes to P.O. Box 7, Fall River,. MA; call or use email addr$SS PUBLISHER. Mosi Reverend GeQrge W.OQleman . and videos.

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VATICAN CITY - The new head of the Pontifical 'Council for Culture said he wants to help turn the duel between different cultures and religions into a harmonious duet of dialogue and understanding. , Msgr. Gianfranco Ravasi, a noted biblical scholar and former prefect of the Milan Archdiocese's , Ambrosian Library, was appointed

by Pope, Benedict XVI last week to replace the long-serving council president, French Cardinal Paul Poupard. Msgr. Ravasi will be ordained an archbishop in late September.

The pope accepted the resignation of the 77-year-old cardinal, who was a leader of the council since its creation by Pope John Paul II in 1982.

Pope Benedict also appointed Archbishop-designate Ravasi, 64, president of the pontifical commissions for the Cultural Heritage of the Church and for Sacred Archeology. Archbishop Mauro Piacenza, who was appointed secretary of the Vatican's Congregation for the Clergy in the spring, had headed both commissions. ' Archbishop-designate Ravasi said he would continue the council's work of u-si~g cultur~'~;~ a bridge for dialogue between people of other faiths and traditions.

The concept of a clash of civilizations has to be abandoned, he said in an interview with the Ital, ian Catholic magazine Famiglia Cristiana.

Instead of cultures and religions engaging in a "duel," they should be part of a "duet, like in music, when two voices remain different, but harmonious," he said.

The great urgency today is to rediscover unity in a fragmented and sectarian world, he said. JU,st as one diamond has numerous faces, today that diamond has been "shattered, (and) everyone is looking at his fragment convi~ced of possessing the truth."

Archbishop-designate Ravasi said he also would like to; boost dialogue through the use of the

• The Anch.or

Pilgrim globe-trotters: Modern jetsetters or old-fashioned trekkers?

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SEPTEMBER

14, 2007

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THE INTERNATIONAL CHURCH ,

Catholic Church in China gears up to provid~ services for Olympics

SIGN OF THE TIMES - A portrait of Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta is seen in the middle of a road in Bangalore, India, recently. Similar posters were installed at several road junctions in Bangalore shortly before the 10th anniversary of Mother Teresa's death. (CNS photo/Anto Akkara)

Many come to celebrate feast of Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta

By CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

In an August interview with motherhouse chapel with 12 priests.

CALCUTTA, India - It was The chapel was crowded with Mis- UCA News, Sister Nirmala said the still dark, almost an hour before sionary of Charity novices, all in Vatican has cleared most formalisunrise September 5, but the freshly white, professed nuns in their blue- ties for declaring Mother Teresa a decorated white marble tomb of bordered white saris, religious saint. All that is requir~d is "one Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta brothers, priests and people of dif- more miracle" through Mother gleamed as the feast day of the nun ferent religions. Mother Teresa Teresa's intercession, she added.

When a reporter asked Sister started the Missionaries of Charity began.

Nirmala if everyone experiences the Activities began early in the in 1950.

The archbishop asked the congre- "crisis of faith" that Mother Teresa morning with the arrival of more than 150 women, men and children gation to meditate on the words had, as revealed in a recently pubfrom slum areas where Mother MotherTeresa spoke or wrote. ''They lished book, "Mother Teresa: Come Teresa had begun her mission were very simple," but revealed a Be My Light:' she said, "Only those of an advanced level of spirituality" among the poorest of the poor. They person of great depth, he said. experience this. moved, each with a lighted candle, praying the rosary in Sister Nirmala caned it a Sister Nirmala Joshi, Mother sign of being close to God. It the local Bengali language and singing Bengali and Teresa's successor, told the gather- is like being close ''to the sun Hindi songs praising God and· ing she was "overwhelmed with joy" and so blinded by the brilMother Teresa, reported the and "a great feeling of gratitude for liance," she added.

Asian church news agency what God has given to each one of At the tomb, people conUCANews. to pray. Harihar Sabu, tinued us, especially in Calcutta, " through Some played percussion who was born' blind and a Mother Teresa. instruments, some swayed to Hindu but later became a the music, while others Protestant, sang his own comclapped as they walked past the After the Mass, the novices position at the tomb. The nuns said tomb that sits inside the headquar- walked down to the courtyard and he regularly visits on Mother ters of the Missionaries of Charity sang "Happy feast day, mother, and Teresa's birthday and feast day. congregation where the Nobel may God make you a saint" before People from the slum area where Peace Prize laureate once lived. a huge picture of her. The picture Mother Teresa began her work also The activities marked the 10th had been displayed at St. Peter's visited the tomb. anniversary of the death of the Square when Pope John Paul II beNarnita Biswas wailed loudly as world-renowned nun, who lived in atifiedMotherTeresaOct. 19,2003, she asked Mother Teresa to help her.

Agatha Stevens, another woman this eastern Indian city of Calcutta. at the Vatican.

The tomb, adorned with flowers Sister Nirmala Joshi, Mother from the same area, told UCA News and the words "Happy Feast, Teresa's successor, told the gather- she always is grateful to Mother Mother" formed with yellow mari- ing she was "overwhelmed with Teresa, whom she had known since gold petals, was lit up by the glow joy" and "a great feeling of grati- childhood. ofcandles held by people who came ' tude for what God has given to each The Missionary of Charity nuns one of us, especially in Calcutta," for the morning program. prepared for the feast with a spePeople sang, some breaking through Mother Teresa. cial novena, nine days of prayers, down in tears, as they asked the help She wanted all to "pray to and daily Mass at the tomb starting of the nun many considered a saint mother to instill in us love for God August 27. The archdiocese celbefore her death in 1997. and all his children, especially the ebrated Mass in English and in Archbishop Lucas Sirkar of neglected, poor and those who have Bengali at Mother Teresa's Christ Calcutta led the 6 a.m. Mass in the nowhere to go." the King Parish.

BElJING (CNS) - The Catholic Church in Beijing and sbveral other Chinese cities hosting the 29th Olympic Games has been gearing up to provide religious services for athletes and visitors.

Most events for the first Olympic scheduled Games to be held in cruria, II for August 8-24, 2008, will take place iri Beijing, but Hong Kong, Qingdao, Qinhuangdao, Shanghai, Shenyang and TIanjin also will host events.

Father Chen TIanhao, parish priest at 51. Michael's Cathedral in Qing~o, which will host the sailing competition, told UCA News in arecent interview that his diocese has ~et up a team to provide religious servicks during the games.

II Father Chen said the ckhedral will include English Masses, fIJld the Diocese of Qingdao may send priests to the competition venue to celebrate Mass if they are needed..'

To help its choirs sing hymns in English, the diocese hasil invited foreign musicians to train them, the priest

added.

one of five cities that will host soccer matches.

About 60-70 foreign Catholics working or studying there attend the English Masses regularly.

The priest noted that the Olympic competition venues appear to have worship areas. However, whether local priests with a good command of English will be assigned there for pastoral services will depend on the government, he said.

According to the Beijing diocesan Website, the Beijing Municipal Religious Affairs Office held a three-day course in late July at the Central Institute of Ethnic Administrators to train Olympic volunteers from various religions on etiquette, cultures, China's religious policies and regulations.

The 60 participants included Buddhists, Catholics, Muslims and Protestants, said the Website.

It said that through the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association of Chongwen district, 15 Catholic laypeople from the Diocese ofBeijing also enrolled in two courses on English and etiquette in July in preparation for the Olympics.

Worship venues in Beijing can be found online through the official Website of the Olympics: en.beijing2008.cn/spectators/ beijing/religion.

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Father Zhang Liang ffom the Diocese of TIanjin told ucA News that since March the diocese's cathedral has started holding English Masses said by an Irish priest two Sundays a month in preparation for the Olympics. TIanjin, southeast of Beijing, is If

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SEPTEMBER

14, 2007

Bishop: U.S. should play role in restarting Israeli-Palestinian talks

By JUDITH SUDILOVSKY CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE JERUSALEM - The United States has a respoQsibility to play a vital role in restarting Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, said the chairman of the U.S. bishops' international policy committee.

"We have a certain responsibility. By not being engaged at this level it will certainly involve us in ways we do not want to be involved in (later)," said Bishop Thomas G. Wenski of Orlando, Fla. "There needs to be a negotiated solution.

"The status quo is not tenable," he said. "The two partners are not on equal strength ... and the USA has to prevail on Israel to negotiate in good faith and not take advantage of the Palestinian weakness."

He said the U.S. bishops' conference needs to encourage both sides to negotiate and to reach a workable solution in which East Jerusalem still has a role in Palestinian society. East Jerusalem was captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war. Palestinians say the city should be the capital of a future Palestine.

Bishop Wenski's five-day visit, which began last week, was hosted by the U.S. bishops'.intemational relief and development agency, Catholic Relief Services. The bishop met with Latin Patriarch Michel Sabbah of Jerusalem; Archbishop Antonio Franco, papal nuncio to Israel and the Palestinian territories; and Israeli and Palestinian academic, legal and political activists. He also visited West Bank villages and schools.

Bishop Wenski said it is imperative to rekindle hope in the Palestinian population by starting serious negotiations toward a two-state solution to the ongoing Palestinian-Israeli conflict. He said Palestinians are experiencing a "sense of discouragement and pessimism."

"The daily frustrations and hu-

miliation the Palestinians have to endure because of the situation do not help create an atmosphere for a future of peace," he said.

"A just solution to occupation that includes a secure Israel and safe Palestine would take the fuel out of (extremism) on both sides and bring hope for the future," Bishop Wenski said.

"Part of our advocacy for the education of our people and gov- , emment officials is so that the hope of the people for peace here will not be disappointed. It is incumbent on politicians to bring out the best of the Palestinian and Israeli peoples, not to appeal to the (extfeMfsts)/' he said.

Obstacles such as the Israeli separation wall and the settlements that are making a two-state solution increasingly impossible need to be confronted, he added.

While acknowledging the need for Israeli security, the bishop said the separation wall- which Israel has said it needs to safeguard the lives of Israelis - is built in such away that it "does not enhance security but ... expands control of territory." The wall eventually will become a 400-mile-long barrier of concrete slabs and barbed-wire fences separating Israel from the West Bank; in some places, it , physically' divides Palestinian communities.

The bishop said he did not discuss the continuing bombing of southern Israeli towns by Palestinian forces in Gaza in his meetings.

A rocket fired from Gaza September 3 landed in an empty courtyard between a kindergarten and a school in the Israeli border town of Sderot. . Bishop Wenski said the bishops' conference would continue to dialogue with interfaith partners in the United States and express "sincere commitment" to the future of Israel with a right to exist within defendable borders. At the same time, ' . he said, the bishops also will promote the rights of Palestinians.

INTERNATIONAL HANDSHAKE - Bishop Thomas G. Wenski of Orlando, Fla., greets Palestinian children in the library of the Ibda Cultural Center during a tour of the Dehiyshe Palestinian refugee camp in the West Bank. Bishop Wenski is chairman of the U.S. bishops' international policy committee. (CNS photo/Debbie Hill)

LIFE LINE - Dr. Patrick Stiff, director of Loyola's Cardinal Bernardin Cancer Center, uses protective gloves to hold a frozen unit of umbilical-cord blood at the center in Maywood, III. The blood is stored in liquid nitrogen at minus 100 degrees Celsius. (CNS photo/Mark Indreika, Catholic Explorer)

Catholic doctor fights cancer with stem cells from umbilical cords

By MARK INDREIKA CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE MAYWOOD, Ill. -About 10 years ago, Holly Becker's future appeared bright. At 24, she had just graduated from college, moved out of her parents' home and taken a job in sales and marketing. But then something went terribly wrong.

She started running temperatures of 105.4 degrees and she couldn't eat. At first her doctors thought she had the flu, then mononucleosis. Soon she couldn't get out of bed; she couldn't work and had to move back home.

Doctors diagnosed Becker with stage four non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. The cancer had already spread to her spleen, liver and bone marrow. She spent six months undergoing chemotherapy without success. She was in desperate need of a bone-marrow transplant, but no donor was available.

"I was really as bad as somebody could get," she told the Catholic Explorer, Joliet diocesan newspaper, in a telephone interview.

Running out of options, she went to the Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood for an umbilical-cord-blood stem-cell transplant.

"Cord blood has opened the door to curing patients who otherwise would die," Dr. Patrick Stiff, director of Loyola's Cardinal Bernardin Cancer Center, told the Catholic Explorer. "We actually have transplanted patients in whom the only other option was a

Hospice program."

The use of cord-blood stem cells does not involve the destruction of embryos, and the Catholic Church supports their use. They are taken from an umbilical cord after birth and used to treat cancers originating in bone marrow or in the lymphatic system when a traditional bone-marrow transplant is not an option.

According to a statement released by Loyola, "umbilical-cordblood transplants at Loyola are curing or slowing the progression of many cancers."

Stiff, also a professor of medicine and pathology at the Loyola Udiversity Chicago Stritch School of Medicine in Maywood, said cord-blood stem cells "are more immature and have a better growth potential" than other adult stem cells. Doctors still consider livingdonor, bone-marrow stem cells to be the best treatment option, but cord-blood cells are getting close, he added.

Ten years ago, Stiff and his team of researchers developed a new technology to grow cordblood stem cells outside the body.

In the past doctors could only 'get enough stem cells to treat a child.

Now they can grow enough for an adult.

"So now a patient who comes to Loyola, who 10 years ago had as little as a 30, percent chance of finding a donor, now has approximately a 90 percent (chance) of finding a donor," said Stiff, a parishioner at路St. Margaret Mary Parish in Naperville.

In 1998 Becker was one of the

first patients to be treated in the Chicago area.

Although at the time she didn't fully understand how bad it was, "pretty much my only chance for survival would have been to have a cord-blood transplant," she said.

She路 spent five very difficult weeks at Loyola, trapped in isolation where she felt "completely horrible." People around her had to wear masks, and she couldn't "do anything."

Before, receiving the cord blood, she received full-body radiation treatments twice daily and high-dose chemotherapy to wipe out her immune system. She said getting the cord blood was easy.

"It's just like a blood transfusion," she said.

Two years ago, President George W. Bush signed the Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Act of 2005, creating a national network matching cord blood with patients.

Stephen Sprague, a New York man who has been free of leukemia for 10 years after a cord-blood transplant as part of Stiff's study, now advocates for cord-blood usage. ''They do have the capacity to produce pretty much anything, and I guess that's part of the work that we're interested in pursuing," he said. "We don't need to go to embryonic stem cells. There are obvious differences, but we think that the differences are so minor as to never warrant the use ofembryonic stem cells for any research or clinical use."

SEPTEMBER

14, 2007

51

4; THE CHURCH IN THE U.5. $ Task force distributes $10 million to Katrina-stricken dioceses II

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WASHINGTON (CNS) More than $10 million was distributed by the U.S. bishops' Hurricane Recovery Task F;orce to the two dioceses hit hardeSt by Hurri. cane K atnna two years ago.

The "Rebuild Church, Rebuild Hope" collection approved in June 2006 by the bishops distributed $6,175,103.41 to the Archdiocese of New Orleans and $4,116,735.60 to the Diocese of Biloxi, Miss., according to Archbisho~ Joseph A. Fiorenza, retired archbishop of Galveston-Houston and task force chairman.

The bishops of the two dioceses had previously agreed ,on a 60-40 division of the funds raised through the collection, Archbishop Fiorenza said in a lette, dated August 8; the letter, addressed to the U.S. bishops.

The first national collection to support hurricane relief and recovery efforts generated more than $130 million, ArchbishbP Fiorenza said.

The $10 million in~~ funds was raised in a collection in U.S. parishes last year on the weekend closest to the first anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.

"While the needs of the dioceses of the. Gulf Coast region affected by. hurricanes K,atriJl~ .~d Rita remain great, I beli~ve that the task force has completed the mandate given to it," the archbishop added.

In his role as task force chairman, Archbishop Fiordnza argued against a cut in federal aid to the poor to pay for hurricape cleanup costs.

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HAPPIER TIMES - Maryknoll Father Raymond Nobiletti, pastor of the Church of the Transfiguration, visits children at Transfiguration Kindergarten School in New York City's Chinatown recently. Father Nobiletti was one of three priests from the parish who ministered to victims at Ground Zero on 9/11.

(CNS photorrodd Plitt)

Maryknoller who ministered at Ground Zero recalls 9/11 horrors

By BETH GRIFFIN CATHOUC NEWS SERVICE

NEWYORK-Six years later, the sound offire engines brings Maryknoll Father Raymond Nobiletti back to ground zero. ''Whenever I hear them, .I have to stop and remind myself where I am," he said.

On Sept. 11, 2001, Father Nobiletti answered an urgent call for priests from St. Andrew's Parish near the World Trade Center. He and two other priests from Transfiguration Parish in New York's Chinatown grabbed their stoles and holy oils and made their way through the sea of horrified people fleeing north. ''The second plane had hit and it was clear that this was not an accident," he recalled. ''We were bumping the shoulders of the people running the other way."

At the scene, the priests were sent in different directions. FatherNobiletti was stationed near an ambulance in front of the Millennium Hotel, where people from the north tower of the World Trade Center were being evacuated. '1twasahorror:'hesaid. "People were coming out burned, screaming and disoriented.

'1 was a magnet. People were grabbing me and crying and asking me to help them contact their loved ones:' Father Nobiletti said. As he knelt over the injured, he said, "there were chunks of stuff coming down all around us. I'm glad I didn't look up."

If he had, he might have seen the news photographers capturing both the chaos and his comforting presence in photos that were beamed around the world.

He did look up when he heard the roar made by the collapse ofthe south tower. '1 ran and held onto the gate at the cemetery of St. Paul's chapel. I thought it was going to be the last thing I was ever going to see. 1\vo people

were holding onto my thighs to keep from getting swept away:' he said. '1 couldn't breathe. Everything was dark for eight to 10 minutes:' When the brown-gray dust cleared enough for him to get to his feet, Father Nobiletti said, his ears and nose were clogged and he had cuts on his face. ''People were crying and screaming. A policeman lying in the street yelled to us to get out of where we were:' The warning was timely, because as Father Nobiletti made it around to the other side of St. Paul's chapel, the north tower collapsed.

Father Nobiletti said that as he walked back to his parish, not knowing what to expect there, a man he knew doused him with water from an office water cooler. '1t was a thoughtful gesture," said Father Nobiletti with a smile, ''but it turned all the dust into something like cement:' When he arrived atTransfiguration, the students being evacuated from the parish school looked at him with horror and did not recognize him.

FatherNobiletti went to the rectory, which occupies the top floor of the school. He assumed that his two priest colleagues had perished and he was dreading having to let their religious superiors know that they were lost.

Instead, he found them drinking coffee.

They had been diverted to another street near ground zero and then evacuated before they were able to minister to anyone. Father Nobiletti and his staff then opened the doors ofTransfiguration and sat outside talking and listening to the people who came by.

Ofhis experiences that day, Father Nobiletti said, '1t was a real privilege to be there and a great affirmation for the priesthood:' Months later, when a badly burned survivor returned home from rehabilitation, she gave an interview crediting ''the priest who prayed

over me" and the medical personnel for saving her life.

On the day of the terrorist attacks, there were 19 Transfiguration parishioners missing, but ultimately, there were three fatalities, including one firefighter.

Father Nobiletti, a n~ve New Yorker, speaks Cantonese and has worked to make his parish an inclusive one. He calls September 11 "one of those peaks, a moment of which there are a handful, in which the parish came through to serve the whole community."

Each year on September 11, the parish hosts an ecumenical service.

I

In the Biloxi Diocese, with only 70,000 Catholics, Church-owned structures sustained more than $70 million in damage. All but five of the 433 Church-owned structures in the diocese were destroyed or severely damaged.

In the New Orleans Archdiocese, estimates made a year after the hurricane pegged uninsured flood damage to buildings that the archdiocese had then been trying to reopen at $52 million. Buildings whose reopenings had been delayed still further sustained another $70 million in uninsured flood damage.

In his report to the bishops last year, Archbishop Fiorenza said, "While some of the dioceses affected by Katrina and Rita are reporting significant progress in rebuilding and recovery, extraordinary needs remain throughout the region.

"Donor intent has understandably concentrated on humanitarian relief, which remains critically important; however, 'bricks-andmortar' projects ... are placing exceptional burdens on the dioceses involved."

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The Anchor

Religion and politics Labor Day has passed and, as predicted, the political season has begun to heat up locally and nationally. On the basis of recent elections in which faith-inspired and values-based voters have had a decided impact, political operatives and commentators are continuing to pay much attention to the intersection of religion and politics.

We have seen it already in several ways. Much ink has been dedicated to whether Mitt Romney's Mormon faith alone will be enough to keep him from the White House, as our former governor has continually sought to invoke the much-flawed principles articulated by John F. Kennedy in 1960. The Democratic Party has established a "Faith Advisory Council" to guide Democratic candidates in addressing issues of faith, as a clear sign both of the importance of speaking about religious issues as well as the unnaturalness with which many Democratic candidates do so. The moral issues surrounding embryonic stem-cell research, the redefinition of marriage, abortion, the war and immigration are still very much on the front burner and even the most teflonesque candidates have not been able to duck them. There have also been questions about the political impact ofvarious immoral choices candidates have made with regard to their marriage vows.

What is becoming clearer, however, is that more voters - religiously motivated and secularist - are growing increasingly intolerant of receiving vacuous religious platitudes from candidates seeking their support. They want to know, and think they have a right to know, how a person's faith actually marks a person's character and decision-making ability.

In a September 6 article in TIme, Michael Kinsley - the one-time liberal counterpart to conservative Pat Buchanan on "Crossfire," 路wh6'thinks that "all religious are hard to believe" and that "any candidate who believes in the literalttuth of the Old Testament, the New Testament, the Book ofMormon ... is probably too credulous to be president - weighed in from the secularist side. With his characteristic candor, he targeted by means of example Mitt Romney, but he easily could have picked almost any presidential candidate from either party. And his words could just as easily be found in the writings of the U.S. Bishops' Conference on political participation.

"Mitt Romney wants the J.F.K. deal with voters: If you don't hold my religion against me, 1won't impose my religion on you. But that deal made little sense in 1960 and makes no sense today. Kennedy said, 'I believe in a president whose religious views are his own private affair.' But the Roman Catholic Church holds that abortion is the deliberate killing of a human being. Catholic liberal politicians since Mario Cuomo have said they personally accept the doctrine oftheir Church but nevertheless believe in a woman's right to choose. This is silly. There is no right to choose murder.

Either these politicians are lying to their Church, or they are lying to us." Or, we can add, they're trying to lie to both.

"If religion is central to their lives and moral systems," he continues, ''then it cannot be the candidates' 'own private affair.' To evaluate them, we need to know in some detail the doctrines of their faith and the extent to Which they accept these doctrines.... what a person deeply believes says something about his or her character, which voters may wish to take into account" . .

Not everyone on the secularist side, however, is ready for Kinsley's open call for a more serious discussion ofreligion in politics and what it means about those in politics.

We see this playing out now in the gubematorial race in Louisiana, where pedlaps the most articulate candidate about Catholic beliefs in a generation is being smeared on the basis of his well-argued Catholic beliefs alone. Many have begun to notice that the issues at play extend far beyond who becomes the next leader of the Bayou.

The favorite for the governor's mansion, two-tenn Republican Congressman Bobby Jindal, is a 36 year-old Rhodes Scholar who converted from Hinduism to Catholicism as an undergraduate at Brown in Providence. While still in his 208, he became head and led a tum around of the Louisiana Department ofHealth and Hospitals as well as Louisiana's state university system. Prior to running for Congress, for three years he was assistant secretary for Health and Human Services in Washington.

He is being attacked in political ads, however, not for any of the items on his resume, ~ut because of articles he wrote about his conversion and in defense of the Catholic faith in America and New Oxford Review in his early 20s. In those articles, he gave a crisp and accurate double-"apologia," first for his life with regard to the reasons behind his conversion and the suffering he encountered as a result of it from his Hindu family; and secondly, for the faith he has fully embraced, and why he is convinced on the basis of sacred Scripture that the Catholic Church is more than "one denomination among others," but the true path established by Christ to lead human beings to salvation. The articles are nuanced and consistent not only with his Rhodes-Scholar training and brilliance, but with the teachings of the Catholic catechism.

Despite the respect Jindal gave in the articles to non-Catholic Christians and stated appreciation for the achievements ofecumenism, the Democratic Party in Louisiana, however, has been using these articles to say that Jindal, essentially, hates Protestants.

Nationally syndicated columnist Michael Gerson adroitly summarizes the articles and the reaction. 'The whole basis for the Democratic attack [is] that Jindal holds an orthodox view of his own faith and rejects the Protestant Reformation. He has asserted, in short, that Roman Catholicism is correct - and that other religious traditions, by implication, are prone to error. This is presumably the main reason to convert to Catholicism: because it most closely approximates the ttuth."

The reaction by the state Democratic party, however, "reveals a secular, liberal attitude: that strong religious beliefs are themselves a kind of scandal; that a vigorous defense of Roman Catholicism is somehow a gaffe. This is a strange, distorted view ofpluralism, which once meant civility, respect, and common enterprise among people . with strongly held and differing convictions. In the liberal view, pluralism means a public square purged of intolerance - defined as the belief in exclusive ttuth-claims and absolute right and wrong. And this view of pluralism can easily become oppressive, as the 'intolerant' are expected to be silent."

Jindal's reaction to the controversy has revealed not only his willingness to suffer on account ofthe Catholic faith for which he converted, but also the type ofcandor for which secularists like Kinsley and people of genuine faith long. 'This would be a poorer society," he told Gerson, "ifpluralism meant the least common denominator, if we couldn't hold a passionate, well-articulated beliefsystem. If you enforce a liberalism devoid of content, you end up with the very violations of freedom you were trying to prevent in the first place."

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SEPTEMBER

14, 2007

the living word WOMEN CARRY WATER FROM A WELL IN GELES, AN ARAB VILLAGE IN THE DARFUR REGION OF SUDAN. POPE BENEDICT

XVI

EXPRESSED CONCERN ABOUT THE EQUITABLE SHARING OF THE WORLD'S WATER SUPPLIES, WARNING THAT A WATER SHORTAGE COULD EASILY FUEL 路CONFLICTS.

(eNS

PHafOIPAUL JEFFREY)

. "HAppy ARE THOSE WHO FIND REFUGE IN YOU, WHOSE HEARTS ARE SET ON PILGRIM ROADS. As THEY PASS THROUGH THE BACA VALLEY THEY FIND SPRING WATER TO DRINK. ALSO FROM POOLS THE LORD PROVIDES WATER FOR THOSE WHO LOSE THEIR WAY" (PSALM 84:6路7).

Five loaves, two fish ... and God This Sunday, September 16,

and filthy that mushrooms grew on

marks the fifth anniversary of the

his sleeping mat. To keep his

death of Cardinal Fran~ois-Xavier Nguyen Van TInmn, the heroic Archbishop of Saigon who for the Gospel spent 13 years in Communist prisons, including nine years of solitary confinement.

After his release, he was exiled to Rome, where he became the president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. It was there, during my years as a seminarian and a baby priest, that I got to know him over several unforgettable dinners with a mutual priest friend.

Sitting across from him for hours, I was able to learn from his own lips the moving testimony of his saintly life.

He was appointed the coadjutor Archbishop of Saigon only days before South Vietnam fell to the Communists. The Communists did not wait long to arrest him for the sole reason of his office; they wanted to strike the shepherd in order to scatter the sheep. They rushed him to the North under the cover of darkness, eventually bringing him, in various types of dank vessels, over 1, I()() miles from his flock. He was assigned to mountainous "re-education camps," the euphemism for prisons that specialized in mental torture, where the guards tried to break him and others down any way they could.

Since Van Thuful not only personally resisted this brainwashing but by his example was inoculating his "parishioners" the other starving, desperate prisoners - he was assigned to isolation chambers. He lived for years in a windowless room that was so hot and had so little air that many days he thought he would suffocate. His only light came from a small hole for water to escape at the bottom comer of a wall. He would spend hours with his nose against the hole just trying to breathe. The room was so damp

arthritis in check he would to walk from one side of the room to the other, trying not to step on the anny of millipedes, earthworms and spiders with whom he had to share his tiny space. He did all he could to keep from going insane due to lack of light and human contact for weeks on end.

He began to wonder why the Lord would allow him to remain in that situation. He was only 48 when he was arrested, with eight years of episcopal experience, and the people of his Archdiocese really

needed their leader. How much ~ore good he could do for God, he reasoned, if he were released. What good could he do in solitary confinement? . That's when the Lord helped him to see just what meaning his life could still have, even in the midst of what seemed to be a totally hopeless situation. In prayer he reflected on the lasting fruits St. Paul bore by writing letters from jail and asked the Lord to give him the same opportunity. .

The Lord heard the prayer. A seven-year-old boy named Quang would walk by his cell very early each moming. Van Thuful called him over, disCovered that he was a Catholic, revealed who he was, and asked him to have his parents send him some paper. Each morning they would send Quang with old newspapers. The exiled Archbishop would scribble one or two spiritual thoughts on them over the course of the day and give them to the boy the following morning. The boy

would bring the notes to his parents, who copied them into a book. Van Thuan recognized that he could not do much, but, like the young boy with the five loaves and two fish in the Gospel (In 6), he would give the Lord all he had that day and 3llow the Lord, if he wished, to multiply the offering.

The Lord did. Eventually the spiritual aphorisms were published in a book entitled 'The Road to Hope," a spiritual classic which has inspired Vietnamese Catholics to remain faithful despite their . persecution.

How did he celebrate Mass?

Since he was arrested without any time to pack, his family was able to send him toothpaste, soap, clothes and other supplies.

He wrote them asking them never to forget to - send his "stomach medicine," a code word they properly interpreted as a request to send some wine in a bottle labeled . "stomach medicine," and conceal some crumbs of bread among the other necessities. He would put a few cru.mbs on his hand, three drops of wine and one drop of water, and each mid-afternoon he would renew the "eternal covenant" with Jesus, mixing Jesus' blood with his own.

At his funeral Mass, Pope John Paul II referred to him as an "heroic herald of Christ's Gospel, a shining example of Christian loyalty to the point of martyrdom," and "faithful to the end" all words that did not hide the pope's appreciation for Van Thuan's obvious holiness. Five years after his death, his cause for canonization is about to open.

May his example of giving the Lord the best he could in the most trying of circumstances inspire all of us to give the Lord our five loaves and two fish, too.

Father Landry is pastor ofSt. Anthony's Parish in New Bedford.

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SEPTEMBER

$ The Anchor $ Introducing Buddhism

14, 2007

Having explored Hindu some versions. religion, let us now tum our For a few years, Siddhartha attention to Hinduism's offshoot, lived and studied with Hindu Buddhism. ~uddhism takes its ascetics, subsisting at times on name from the Sanskrit word just a few grains of rice per day.

Buddha, meaning Awakened One, The extreme fasting m~arly killed a title used both to describe and him. Realizing that the path of venerate Siddhartha Gautama (c. the ascetic was as pointless as that 563-483 B.C.), who was born in of the affluent, he sat under a Bo what is now Nepal.

Little is known about Siddhartha's life and personality. The common -~The story is that he was a prince of the Shakya clan, whose family spared no ,By Father effort to shield him from ThOmas M. K~cik pain and suffering.

Despite his family's precautions, Siddhartha tree to meditate, determined not encountered on four successive to rise until he had gained journeys what Buddhist folk enlightenment. After weeks of / tradition calls the "four passing meditation, during which he was sights." The first sight was an old subjected to a variety of visions man suffering all the infirmities of and demonic temptations, age; the second, a diseased man; Siddhartha realized the truth he the third, a corpse on a funeral had been seeking: one must pyre; and the fourth, a waildering choose the middle way between beggar. Age, sickness, death, and extreme austerity and luxury: the want: How, Siddhartha mused, way of temperance, serenity, and can people be spared these harsh personal responsibility. realities? And so he set out on a It was at this point that journey, leaving behind his life of Siddhartha became the Buddha. wealth and privilege - as well as Eager to share his newfound his wife and child, according to wisdom, he traveled from place to

Fullness -of the Truth

It's a middle school classroom.

All of the students have their heads down. The pencils in their hands rock to and fro as they make their way through an exam.

Except for one curly-haired imp who's using his best Marcel Marceau impersonation to grab the attention of the lad to his left.

Obviously the boy needs an answer and implores his classmate for assistance.

Reluctantly, the interrupted student writes a response and passes a slip of paper across the aisle to the harried mime.

A split second before he gets his answer, a large measuring stick traps the paper to the desk.

Attached to the stick is a teacher, clearly perturbed at the sequence of events.

She releases and unfolds the paper. All of the students are upset as she brings it to her eyes.

"Let's not cheat;' is the message on the slip.

A pleased teacher delivers the note to its intended recipient.

This commercial, sponsored by the Foundation for a Better Life, is one of my favorites.

I bring this up because I am perturbed at the never ending sequence of events our kids are bombarded with each day.

The most recent - the New England Patriots are under

investigation for spying. The organization noted from bringing in players of good character was seemingly caught red-handed being of not-so-good character.

And this isn't the first time they've been accused of the misdeed. Nor the second.

This is all speculation right now. But should this be true, to

think that none ofthe Patriots' braintrust knew this was going on is absurd.

The reactions to the Pats videotaping the Jets coaches signaling their players on the field, and relaying the information to the Pat's coaches is sleazy at best.

If this is in fact true, I'm very embarrassed for this club.

The reactions are varied. Some are appalled. Some shrug it off s~ying everyone cheats now and then. And others state it's part of the game.

My take is that if this doesn't bother people, then maybe these people have either regularly

place preaching and recruiting disciples, the earliest of whom formed monastic communities.

The teachings of Siddhartha the Buddha, like those of Jesus the Christ, were passed on orally before being written down. Most of the sayings and sermons attributed to the Buddha are the product of later Buddhist teachers. Although little can reliably be said to be Siddhartha's actual words, there is general agreement as to his most basic doctrines.

Foremost among these teachings are the Four Noble Truths: life is suffering; the root of suffering is desire and attachment; no desire means no suffering; and desire can be overcome through following the Noble Eightfold Path.

The Noble Eightfold Path consists of three ways of practice: good conduct (right speech, right action, and right livelihood), mental development (right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration), and wisdom (right understanding and right thought).

At first glance, this looks like a statement of the obvious - who wouldn't want to be right in all of

.1, . these ways.? - but thew meamng is not entirely self-evidJnt. What l does each of these eight points mean?

Right speech means to avoid lying, harsh words, gossip, and idle talk. Right action means to I avoid killing, stealing, and sexual misconduct. Right livelihood II. means to aVOl'd any occ1;1patIOn that brings harm to others and ourselves, such as trading in lethal weapons, animals for slaughter (strict Buddhists are vegetarians), prostitution, and intoxic~ts. a ' I Ri ght euort requIres a constant II struggle against all unwjlolesome . h thoughts an d paSSIOns, suc as I greed, vengefulness, and lust.

Right mindfulness means being aware of our true feelin~s and motives so to avoid ensl~vl:?melltt, to them. Right concen~ation aims to steady and calm', the mind . order to re al'lze th e true II In nat ure of things; the object of Qur concentration may be our I,

breathing, or a material thing such as a flower, or a concept such as compassion. Right understanding is accepting the Four Noble Truths. Finally, right thought means to avoid desire and ill will.

That, in brief, is the doctrine of the Four Noble Truths, Buddhism's answer to the question, How can we achieve liberation from suffering?

There are other doctrines to consider, as well as Buddhism's sacred scriptures, religious rituals, and dominant forms. Suffice it to say, by way of preview, that Buddhism played in the history of South and East Asia something of the role of Christianity in the West, by effecting a reform or rather a complete overthrow of foriner paganism.

In the process, some seeds of the Word were watered.

Father Kocik is a parochial vicar at Santo Christo Parish in Fall River.

Bishop Coleman to lead diocesan group at Bpston Respect Life Walk

By DEACON JAMES N.

DUNBAR

from moms pushing babies in

FALL RIVER - The annual strollers, high school students and Respect Life Walk to Aid Moth- young adults, to senior citizens. ers and Children will get underDesrosiers extends an invitaway in downtown Boston on Oc- tion for all to join the contingent tober,7 at 1 p.m., and Bishop j~inin~ Bishop Coleman on the George W. Coleman w:illlead the,'"walk, ,~or thos~: who cannot pardelegation from the Fall River ticipate, consideration might be Diocese. given to sponsoring a walker by a "Consider joining Bishop donation. ''This will show your support Coleman, Pro-Life leaders and thousands more in thi$ peaceful of the walkers and also benefit he manifestation of positive, family- Pro-Life work done in the diocese based values:' said Mlman Des- throughout the year;' Desrosiers rosiers, director of the Pro-Life explained.

Apostolate in the diocese.

"And if you cannot be present, The purpose of the walk is to please join spiritually by praying give witness to the dignity of hu- for your fellow parishioners man life from the moment of con- and all who will be present - that ception to natural deatp. In addi- the prayerful and peaceful spirit tion to being a form of :~itness, it ofthe walk will not be interrupted is also a source of soijdarity for and that fair coverage, will be all who embrace the Gospel of given by the print and broadcast life. media," she added.

"Reverent, yet very powerful, Some parishes are reportedly the walk is a vivid demonstration arranging transportation for parishof faith commitment," she added. ioners interesting in making the The three-and-a-half mile walk walk. Contact your local or area usually attracts persons·lof all ages parishes for more information.

cheated at something in the past or continue to do so now.

My take is that cheating is sleazy at best.

When I was a kid, we were taught cheaters never prosper.

That's not quite true today. Now it's cheaters who get caught never prosper.

The Patriots may have been in the espionage business for years now. We may find out.

A trusted veteran admits to using a banned c substance to speed up his recuperation.

Baseball records are tainted with the speculation of steroid use.

Pitchers throw spitballs. Players cork bats.

--------_.Hockey players use illegal curves on their sticks.

CHRISTIAN PRO-LIFER Who knows what else is going HELPER ApOSTOLIC on out there. My problem is that for the past 40 years, I've been far AD~ISOR TRUE too naive to realize not everyone RESTORER thinks cheating is sleazy. My bad.

HOLY -MEDICATOR For me, this week's spying ANTI-ABORTIONIST ONE revelation completely took the wind out of the sails of a great CAREGIVER LOVING victory in the Meadowlands.

INstRUCTOR Why? Because cheating is sleazy.

I INFALLIBLE PECIALIST No matter though. I'll continue il to teach my children that cheating CHARITABLE HERAPEUTIST is nasty. I'll continue to conduct my own life accordingly.

Meanwhile, can someone slip the New England Patriots a note?

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~ Walsh Pharmacy THOMAS PASTERNAK

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202 RockSt. Fall River

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8

The Anchor

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SEPTEMBER

14, 2007

The prodigal sons Have your ever done something incredibly stupid, foolish or even sinful? I suspect that most of us have. That's why this parable of Jesus has such enduring power - because we see ourselves in the people in the story. The characters are so real, so human that we can identify with them.

The younger son leaves his father and home, wastes his inheritance in loose living and comes to his senses only when he finds himself hungering for the slop fed to the pigs. For us this sounds real bad, but to the Jews listening to Jesus tell this tale, it can't get much worse than this - taking care of unclean animals and starving for their food. The boy remembers how his father treated the hired hands back home. He will go back to his father. He is very aware of his own foolishness and feels guilty. And so he and practices his speech: "Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you; I no longer deserve to be called your son." So guilty does he feel that he is willing to give up his birthright. and

identity. When he actually gets the chance to say this, his father pays no attention to the speech.

He has been looking out for the return of his son, knowing his son better than the boy knew himself. Without hesitation the father runs to meet him, kisses and embraces him, and orders a welcome home party because "this son of mine was dead and has come to life again." This welcome goes well beyond the boy's expectations and hope.

Perhaps we identify with this father or perhaps we need to.

Jesus preached unceasingly about forgiveness. The father in the parable represents the Father as a model of forgiveness for us to follow. In the Lord's Prayer we say: "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us." Jesus links God's forgiveness of our sins to our willingness to forgive others. As his followers we form a community of forgiveness which becomes a community of mercy, reconciliation and love.

Then there is the older son.

He is someone with whom we can identify as well. When the loving and compassionate fatheJ;' goes out to him - the good, obedient, stay-at-home one, he repeats the same phrase to convince this older, angry, jealous and resentful son to join

the celebration. He tells him that this son was dead and now lives.

Strong words indeed. The parable ends without a decision on the part of the older brother.

We do not know how the story will end for him. Will he follow the father's example, forgive his foolish brother and celebrate?

Or will he choose to remain angry, resentful and aloof? If he does that, then he will become the prodigal son, not the foolish· younger boy. This older "good"

son has now separated himself from the father just as surely as the younger son had done by leavi,ng.

Notice Jesus tells this parable to a crowd of sinners and tax collectors (the official sinners of the day) and to scribes and Pharisees (the officially righteous folks). Perhaps the sinners and tax collectors will delight in seeing themselves as the younger son. They can understand him and may be encouraged by his example to return to God. Perhaps Jesus wants the scribes and Pharisees to see themselves in the older son. Will they remain unforgiving of the sins of others?

We, too, may recognize ourselves in the attitude and actions of the older son. We, too, are invited by Jesus to decide.

Will we repent of our sins like the younger son? Will we leave the Father like the older son? In the parable we learn that closeness to the Father is the most important thing - more

important than our own wishes and desires. From Jesus we learn that the most important thing is being close to the Father. We also learn that the Father's fondest wish is that we, his sons and daughters, come close and stay close to him. We, who were dead in our sins, are now alive by his grace and forgiveness.

The Church continues preaching forgiveness of sins just as Jesus had always done.

The Church continues to forgive our sins through the sacrament of reconciliation because Jesus gave her the power to forgive in his name. Through God's grace sinners can come to their senses and seek forgiveness and mercy.

In the sacrament the Father wel~omes them back, restores their health and helps them know his mercy, love and forgiveness so that the sinner may be close to him and that all those forgiven may be close to each other as a community of mercy, forgiveness, reconciliation and love.

Father Hindsley is pastor of St. John the Baptist Parish in Westport.

Upcoming Daily Readings: Sat, Sept 15, 1 Tm 1:15-17; Ps 113:1-5a, 6-7; Jn 19:25-27 or Lk 2:33-35. Sun, Sept 16, 1\venty-Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Ex 32:7-11, 13-14; Ps 51:3-4,12-13,17,19; 1 Tm 1:12-17; Lk 15:1-32. Moo, Sept17, 1 Tm 2:1-8; Ps28:2, 7-9; Lk 7:1-10. Tues,Sept18, 1 Tm 3:1-13; Ps 101 :1-3,5-6; Lk 7:11-17. Wed, Sept19, 1 Tm 3:14-16; Ps 111:1-6; Lk 7:31-35. Thurs, Sept 20, 1 Tm 4:12-16; Ps 111:7-10; Lk 7:36-50. Fri, Sept 21, Eph 4:1-7, 11-13; Ps 19:2-5; Mt 9:913.

What we can't not know, six years after 9/11 Six years after 9/11, there are certain things we can't not know.

We may wish these things weren't true. We can try to ignore them.

But safe passage through a moment in history fraught with both danger and possibility requires us to see things as they . are.

What can't we not know?

We can't not know the name of the enemy: the nameis jihadism, that form of IslariUc extremism which teaches that it is the duty of every Muslim to use any means available to advance the prospects of a world that acknowledges the sovereignty of Allah and lives under shari' a law. That jihadists are a small minority of the

world's 1.2 bi11ion Muslims is both true and irrelevant. What counts is cultural morale, and the morale of jihadists is may be higher today than it was six years ago.

We can't not know that jihadists read history through the prism of their theological convictions. The West, tutored by a progressive view of history, read the Soviet defeat in Afghanistan as a victory for freedom.

Jihadists read it as a victory for jihadism, a Phase One triumph in an ongoing war against the infidels. Phase 1\vo, which

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jihadists imagined might be easier than Phase One, had the United States as its target. Attacks on American embassies in East Africa in the mid-1990s were intended to trigger a struggle in

which the United States would be defeated as the Soviet Union was defeated in Phase One. When that didn't work, jihadists blew a hole in the side of the U.S.S: Cole as it was refueling in the harbor at Aden. When that didn't elicit the expected response, Osama bin Laden concluded that an outrage impossible for the Americans to ignore was required. Thus 9/11.

Bin Laden got one thing . wrong, and we can't not know that, either: he hadn't reckoned on the robust response of those allegedly decadent Americans, first in Afghanistan, later in Iraq.

As the dean of western scholars of Islam, Bernard Lewis, has written, "it is noteworthy that there has

been no successful attack on American soil since ... the U.S. actions in Afghanistan and in Iraq indicated that there had been a major change in the U.S." But now, closely watching our politics and monitoring our national morale, jihadists like bin Laden may, Lewis suggests, be returning to their original assessment of American fecklessness - and may conclude "that they need only to press a little harder to achieve final victory." A determination to make clear that this reassessment is wrong ought to be the threshold test of seriousness applied to any presidential or . congressional candidate in 2008.

For, as Lewis concludes, if the jihadists' reassessment is proven right, "the consequences - both for Islam and for America - wi11 be deep, wide, and lasting."

Another thing we can't not know is that the war against jihadism is for the long haul: it won't be resolved in the next administration, or in the next ttITee administrations. Staying power - rooted in the conviction that religious freedom, tolerance and civility, the rule of law, and

the method of persuasion in politics reflect universal moral truths - is essential to victory.

Moreover, we can't not know that this long-term war against jihadism has to be fought on multiple fronts, many of them non-military. Interreligious dialogue is one such front. It ought to focus (as Benedict XVI suggested last December) on helping Islamic reformers assimilate the positive accomplishments of the Enlightenment - like the separation of religious and political authority in the modem state. Cleaning up our own cultural act is another, nonmilitary front in this struggle: a country whose principal exports include pornography is not in a particularly strong moral position in a struggle ~gainst a religiouslyshaped alternative vision of human goods.

Prayer for the conversion of our enemies is yet another "front" in the war that has been declared upon us. Yet I've heard very few, if any, such prayers in the past six years. Their necessity is one more thing we can't not know.

George Weigel is a senior fellow ofthe Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C.

SEPTEMBER

~ The Anchor

14, 2007

$

Wicked night in NYC Friday 7 September 2007 Port-O-Call: New York - "The Flying Nun'" TV premiere (1967) Sitting on my piazza these cool mornings, I watch the buses filled with drowsy young scholars go bumping by. Later as I drive the back roads, I encounter traffic. In the country, you learn to expect slow-moving traffic at harvest time. It's caused by the tractors heading out to work the fields.

If I was awarding blue ribbons, I'd give one to the young men and women at the Bristol County Agricultural High School on the Dighton!

Berkley line. The school's cornfields are marked with labeled and calibrated poles.

The corn stalks are almost 12 feet high. They must be doing

something right.

I've spent my summer going like "a bat out of heaven" (if there's such an expression). I remind myself to avoid the "Atlas Complex." I don't carry the world on my shoulders. I'm

a "Type A ++" personality.

When my head is spinning day and night with thoughts of the parish, it's time to take a breather. This can just be doing something different for a day going new places, seeing new things.

Father Ray Cambra " and I grab an accelerated train to New York City late Thursday morning. Tonight's performance is sold out, but we have tickets to see the acclaimed Broadway musical "Wicked." Ray and I both love theater. He is good at it.

I discovered my appreciation of theater when I was a college seminarian. We weren't allowed

Come be my light It was Sept. 10,1946 when Mother Teresa heard the voice of Christ while on a 400-mile train ride to Darjeeling. 'rhe words she heard were these "Come, come carry Me into the holes of the poor. Come be My light."

This was not a~ average day in her life. This was not a common or ordinary experience. She had been chosen.

She was being asked to give up her teaching . and instead to work in "the slums" of the city, helping the sick and the dying and the unwanted children on the street; "the poorest of the poor." Because of her "yes" to begin this ministry, she went on to help so many people, and to inspire countless others. She brought change to the world. But her "yes" also began a change and transformation. within herself.

When I first read the article in Time magazine, "Her Agony" by David Van Biema, I was, like many people, very surprised at this revelation into Mother Teresa's life, and also somewhat saddened. How could it be that she felt this way for so long? But as I read and reflected, I realized that what she experienced is not really surprising, nor is there reason to be saddened in any way.

For what Mother Teresa herself may not have realized is that when Jesus said, "Come, carry Me into the holes of the poor," he meant just that. For she. would in fact become him in a truly rare transformation of a human being. She became the living

Christ in this world. She'felt the suffering and the pain and the darkness of the world in the same way that he did.

In a letter to Jesus she wrote, "I am told God loves me - and yet the reality of darkness and coldness and emptiness is so great that nothing touches my soul. Did I make a mistake in surtender ing blindly to the caltohhe Sacred Heart? .

w

And in 1953, in a letter to Archbishop Perier who had given her permission to embark on her ministry, she wrote, "Please pray specially for me that I may not spoil His work and that Our Lord may show Himself ...:... for there is such terrible darkness within me, as if everything was dead. It has been like this more or less from the time I started 'the work.'''

Possibly she had to experience the feeling of death many times and more and more deeply as Christ continued to work through her.

It is not surprising then, that she began to experience "the darkness," just as she began "his" work. It is not surprising that she felt empty and without joy. She had been chosen. And she would never be the same.

There was no other. There was no Jesus to reach out to.

She had stepped into a different world of being. She had become his hands, his voice, his heart and her experience was not what she had expected, nor could she have been prepared for the change that overtook her. .

In response to her 1953 letter, Archbishop Perier wrote "God guides you, dear .

Mother. You are not so much in the dark as you think ...

You have exterior facts enough to see that God blesses your work ...."

Did God really abandon Mother Teresa all of those . years of her ministry?

I do not think so. I believe Christ was with her every step of the way. .

After many years of her ministry, she seemed to have found some peace as she shared in a letter to her advisor Father Joseph Neuner, " ...For the first time in ... years - I have come to love the darkness - for I believe now that it is part of a very, very small part of Jesus' darkness and pain on earth....

Today really I felt a deep joy that Jesus can't go anymore through the agony ~ but that He wants to go through it in me."

Although Mother Teresa may have felt alone and in agony much of the time, she was able to embrace "the darkness" and answer the call of our. Lord, "Come be My light," becoming a great light f01'=all to see.

Greta and her husband, George, with their children are members of Christ the King Parish in Mashpee.

9 to be always in our rooms or to leave the grounds at whim. To keep us all from going stir- . crazy during the long Canadian winters, the faculty pro~ided creative ways for lis to use our daily "mandatory recreation" period. The dean of men would sometimes assign a seminarian to "volunteer." I was called in and informed that, since the choir needed singers, I was "volunteering." I protested that I couldn't sing. "Nonsense," objected the dean. "Everyone can sing. I'll prove it. Sing 'Happy Birthday.'" I did.

Following my audition, the dean pronounced: "You're hereby ordered to the library stacks!"

Participation in stag~~ plays was another option. The rehearsals took up many happy hours of "mandatory recreation" and the production provided Saturday night live entertainment for all the men in the college. I chose to work on the scenery. Then I got the bright idea that I wanted to step out on stage and into the spotlight. A "star" was born, as they say. I had a part in just about every college play thereafter. I wasn't really a star because I was never very good, b~t I sure had fun. My ~chool颅 mates were amazed at the characters portrayed by "Timmy the Shy. I received more than one standing ovation. Ah, the smell of grease paint, the roar of the crowd. Those were the days.

Last year I appeared on stage at the Grand Ole Opry. (The theater was empty). Tonight, here I am appearing on Broadway. Well, not exactly on stage, but at least in Row A, center section, at the Gershwin Theater. Close enough.

No wonder "Wicked" is the talk of the town. There are sly jokes and clever puns to get everybody laughing. For the visually-oriented, the scenery

and especially the costuming (including the hats and wigs) are fantasti". The staging is terrific. The choreography is superb. Wicked isa "prequel" of the 1925 Wizard of Oz film.

It answers questions. What is the sisterly relationship between the Wicked Witch of the East and of the West? What's the scoop on the Wizard himself? What's up with those flying monkeys? What's the big deal about the ruby slippers?

Where does Olinda the Good fit in? (The "GA" is so silent, it's not even there.) Where are the Tin Man, the Scarecrow, and the Cowardly Lion coming from?

After the performance, Ray and I sit in a New York deli at midnight, eating overstuffed sandwiches and analyzing.

"Wicked" isn't just another fluffy Broadway show. It raises important philosophical and ethical questions. As always in a morality play, good triumphs over evil. But here's the rub: things may not be what they seem. Situations are not always black and white. Sometimes your presumptions about路 who is good and who is evil, what is beautiful and what is not, what is true and what is false, what is real and what is unreal - can turn out to be dead-wrong. Fact is, people can change for the better (or for the worse). As a parish priest, I have seen this over and over again.

The moral is: go slowly with the immutable declarations.

People aren't always what they seem at first glance. God alone knows the human heart and for the rest of us, it's alright to change our minds as we learn more of a person's life-story.

By 4 p.m. the next day, I'm back in the Dightons - only one day older but much wiser.

I'm feeling wicked good.

Father Goldrick is pastor of St. Joseph's Parish in North Dighton.

Travel to Italy .

ON SALE NOW October 15-23, 2007 Rome - Tuscany Florence - Venice $2,390 All-Included Anthony Nachef, PhD (Theology) 508-340-9370 email: ar'l@catholicteachings.org _ web: www.TourOfitaly.us

~ The Anchor ,

10

SEflTF.M8ER

14, 2007

Every Pitcher tells a story: This one':'-is about faith

By MATT McDotw..o, ANcHoR SrAi'F ','

lands do a baptism on the Cape?'"

A parting comment by his mother helped lead Don "She said, 'Hold on, we'll find out'" Pitcher to become a Catholic and the owner of a CathoAfter a call to the rectory, Don returned to the church . lic store. at 2:p..m.that same day, and the bishop baptized him As he was leaving her house one time she astre<t hUn aPdconfinned him. ifherealizedthatRomanCatholicsbelievethatth~little MeanwhUe, his wife had become attached to, Communion wafer distributed at Mass"is aetuany Jesus. Sullivan's. .

Pitcher, who hadbeen raised a Seventh DayAdventist, ''I liked being in here, and I said 'I would like to run had never heard such an outlandlsh claim. He asked his a store like this'," Nancy said. .A couple of years after Don's conversion the owner, Catholic wife Nancy if that was so.

Yes, she told him.

Jim DeaD, offered to sell it to the Pitchers, but Don deHow can you believe that? he asked. She replied:' It's cided he coWdn't handle the pharmacy he owned and operated iri Centerville plus Sullivan's. right in the Gospel of John, Chapter 6.

Then in September 1998 he made a deal with CVS "And I opened it up and I read it, and I instantly knew it was true," Don reto sell his pharmacy r-::?"....".~--::r--:-:------.-,.-.-.,~.--."....,--.-.,.,-,-:-:7'.~• ...,...~,- - .- - - - , and accepted a job called last week.

He had already been reading Catholic literature

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for a few years, trySaturday he went to ing to sift through c.. ;"C~~:'j'~~~:;' <.:~/~\ ...';'"'. c. early-morning his mother's occaMass at St Francis sional attacks on Xavier Church in Catholic teachings Hyannis and stayed and his wife's a little while after to staunch adherence offer a special plea to St. Joseph: to them.

Nancy Pitcher ''What do I doT' Afterward he was sure ofher faith but hOO trouble dewent back to his fending it. So she pharmacy to started going to clean out the Sullivan's,aCathoshelves, then lic store on Main called his home Street in Hyannis. in Cummaquid, . founded in 1962, to where his wife get books on Cathoanswered. licdoctrinc?, She got "She said, leads from EWTN, .I 'Guess who -. the Catholic te1evicalled?' I said, sion . network ANCHOR PERSONS OF THE WEEK - Nancy and Don 'Jim Dean.' I just founded by Mother Pitcher.. (Photo by Matt McDonald) had a feeling," he Angelica, which her said.

He was right Dean was anxious to sell. It was the father had recommended, "And I would come in here to buy all the materials to answer Don was looking for. refute all my in-laws," Nancy said during an interview The Pitchers made the deal, and took over January in the store last week. 'The owners would say 'We al- l, 1999. ways know what Mother Angelica is pushing, because Nancy, 50, a registered nurse by training, now works Nancy's in here buying it.''' at the store full time. It's open lOam. t05p.m.Monday Through books and tapes by Catholic apologists, in- through Saturday at 428 Main Street in Hyannis; and cluding Scott Hahn, Gerry Matatics, Steve Wood, and online at www.sullivanscatholicstore.com. Don, 51, Karl Keating, Don became convinced that most Catho- takes care of the paperwOlk lic teachings were correct; but Catholic devotion to Mary The store handles chun:h supplies like candles and was a stumbling block. altar bread for a handful of Catholic parishes. It also . On Sunday, Aug. 21, 1994, Don went to Our Lady carriesstatues,medals,rosari~,holycards,nativitysets, ofVictory Church in Centerville with his wife and chil- digital video discs, and, of course, books. erren Rachel, Joshua, and Rebecca The preacher that One of its regular customers is Father Thomas M. morning was Bishop Elliott Thomas of St. Thomas in Kocik, who served at St Francis Xavier Chun:h in the U.S. Vrrgin Islands.

Hyannis from 1998 to 2002 and is now parochial vicar The bishop, who was raised a Methodist, told about at Santo Christo Parish in Fall River. how he had gotten interested in CatholicisIl1 as a younger 'They're very devout and supportive ofthe Chun:h's man but had one problem: he couldn't accept transub- mission, and serious about living their faith," Father stantiation, where bread and wine become the actual Kocik said of the Pitchers. "'They're supportive of the body and blood of Jesus, because as a phannacist he priesthood and have shown me unbounded generosity knew that scientifically one thing cannot become an- over the years."

The store makes a profit but not a living; the money other. Finally, a priest had persuaded him that ifhe agreed with Catholicism on everything else, perhaps he could is a supplemenuo Don's full-time job as aphannacist just take this one doctrine on faith. for what is now Rite Aid (which bought Brooks PharTo Don Pitcher the sermon seemed aimed directly at macy). him. He, too, was a pharmacist. He, too, was a non''It is a business, but it is more than a business;' Don Catholic who had read a lot about the Church. And he, said of Sullivan's. ''It's an apostolate. It's an important too, had one sticking point, though by comparison it community resource for Catholics." was far less than the bishop's had been.

Which he knows from personal experience. ''Without Sullivan's I wouldn't be in the Chun:h toHe got to thinking on the drive home from chun:h.

"And I said, 'Hon, can a bishop from the Virgin Is- day;"he said. ~

ISLAND CELEBRATION - Father Thomas M. Kocik gives communion to Arlene Baker, 81, of Prospect, Conn., who visits Cuttyhunk twice a year by boat with her husband Mark. (Photo by Matt McDonald)

Mass

Continued from page one

160 homes and dozens of boats dock, moor, or anchor in the har·bor.

While Cuttyhunk has no Catholic church, for years it did have a regular Sunday Mass during the summer. About 1967 Florence Thomson, the shopkeeper's wife, pressed for a priest. She eventually got Father Philip Kelly, a member of the Congregation of the Holy Cross who lived in Dartmouth.

Kelly would be flown by seaplane on Sunday morning, celebrate Mass, and then fly back later that day.

Kelly, who has since died, left the area in 1994. Another priest succeeded him, but the island has been without a regular priest for about 10 years.

Instead some Catholics participate'in a prayer service on Sunday mornings.

The first such event occurred one Sunday morning when fog prevented Father Kelly fro~ flying in.

Summer resident Ann Conway recalled that Thomson led the people in prayer in lieu of Mass and Communion: "She got up in front of us and said, 'You can always have communion in your heart, and this is how you do it.

Imagine there's a room in your heart. The room has a door. Open the door, find a broom, and sweep out the room, to make it ready. And when'it's ready you can invite Jesus in to be with you.'''

By the time the last priest stopped coming Thomson had moved off the island. Another laywoman started leading a regular prayer service Sunday mornings.

Conway., 56, a clinical social "worker who lives in Hollis, N.H., during the off-season, took over in 2001.

The 40-minute service, based on the Scripture readings in the regular Sunday liturgy, typically draws between five and 30 people, she said, depending on who happens to be visiting.

"It's not Mass but it's as close as you can get to fulfilling your obligation," said John Doyle, 63, a Connecticut resident who has been coming to Cuttyhunk for about 10 years.

While attending Mass on Sundays and holy days of obligation is ordinarily a requirement for Roman Catholics, "The Catechism of the Catholic Church" teaches that Catholics can be "excused for a serious reason" (2181). Canon law encourages Catholics who can't get to Mass to take part in a Liturgy of the Word (Canon 1248).

On Cuttyhunk, after the readings Conway encourages what she calls a "communal homily," where anyone can offer reflections.. She said participants often say they get more out of the Bible readings than they normally do because they prepare beforehand. , "We have a really very rich sharing," Conway said. "It's incredible the liturgical sophisticatioh of a lot of the people there."

Mark and Arlene Baker of Prospect, Conn., who at 81 visit Cuttyhunk twice a summer via a 64-foot powerboat they pilot themselves, said they appreciate the prayer service.

"As a Catholic on a Sunday at least you've done something," she said.

Her husband added: "What did he say, 'Where two or more people gather in my name'? And so that's it."

A priest has come to the island to say Mass at least once each summer in recent times, but that didn't look likely this year until mid-August.

That's when Kelly Ratcliffe of Seekonk found out that she and her husband John and 13-year-old son Tighe would be spending Labor Day weekend on Cuttyhunk as part of the Barrington Yacht Club's annual Fleet Captain's Cruise. When she learned that the island doesn't have a regular Mass, she decided

Continued on page 11

SEPTEMBER

,

14,2007

Continued from page 10 to try to find a priest.

She and a friend prayed together on the telephone to Mary.

Subsequently. another friend suggested she call Father Thomas Kocik. parochial vicar at Santo Christo Parish in Fall River. He agreed to come. . On the appointed day Conway picked Father Kocikup at the dock for the ferry from New Bedford in a golf cart. which is the preferred mode of transportation for islanders. Ratcliffe called it "the popemobile."

At the Mass congregants sang from 1966 Methodist hymnals. At the consecration. the vast majority knelt on the hard wooden floor.

Doyle. after attending Mass in the rustic white wooden church with his black rescue dog Colton. reflected on his less flexible Catholic upbringing. which included a Jesuit prep school.

"Things were sort of formal.

This is sort of a combination of Yankee New England and my own faith," Doyle said. "The externals of Yankee New England. and of course holy Mass."

Ratcliffe said she was pleased by the reaction to the Mass she put in motion.

"It was a blessing and a privilege," Ratcliffe said. "And so many people came up to Father. and you could see that there was an awakening in them. They had a spirituallonging. and they were recognizing it themselves."

Father Kocik. who had never visited Cuttyhunk before. was taken by the sights - a hill above the church has a commanding view of the harbor. Martha's Vineyard.

Nashawena Island. and Buzzards Bay - and by the reception he got.

"I fell in love with the Island.

Love at first sight - unspoiled charm,"Father Kocik said later. "1 was impressed by how welcoming everyone was. including those who did not go to the Mass. including non-Catholics. Almost every. time I turned around there was somebody saying. 'It's so nice to have a priest on the island. It's so long since we've had a priest on the island to celebrate Mass...• That reflects an extraordinary cooperation on Cuttyhunk•. where the Methodist church is. use" by Methodists. Episcopalians. and Catholics. all of whom are s~pport­ ing a renovation project.

"If it weren't for their openness and their commitment to the ecumenical spirit on the island. we wouldn't have a church to use for the services that we have," Conway said of the Methodists.

The church paid for Father Kocik's fare on the ferry from New Bedford and back. The pastor. the Rev. Jim Todd. set up the altar and dressed it with a cloth before Father Kocik got there. and greeted him when he arrived.

A previous pastor. the Rev. John Ward. was fast friends with Father Kelly and often had him for dinner in his home. according to the Bakers. who have been coming to the island for more than 30 years.

Ward's wife played the organ for Kelly's Sunday morning Mass.

"It just broke all barriers."

Arlene Baker said.

The Anchor

I;

11

CART BLANCHE - Ann Conway, the lay Roman C(itholic religious leader of Cuttyhunk. picked up Father Thomas M. Kocik at ~heferry dock in her golf cart. which is how most island residents get around. Kelly Ratcliffe, a visitor who helped arrange for Father Kocik to come to the island say Mass, jokingly referred to the golf cart as ''the popemobile.'~ f3elow, ,nearly 30 people sang from a Methodist hymnal during Mass in the Methodist church on Cuttyhunk Island on September 2. The church allows Catholics to use the _space for. a Sunday moming prayer service and. when a priest is available. for Mass. (Photos by Matt McDonald)

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Cuttyhunk Catholics welcome visitors and especially visiting priests. For more information, contact Ann Conway by email at conw~y60@charter.net.

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DVD/video reviews NEW YORK (CNS) - The following are capsule reviews of new and recent DVD and video releases from the Office for Film & Broadcasting of the U.S. Conference of C~tholic Bishops. Theatrical movies on video have a USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification andMotion Picture Association of America rating. These classifications refer only to the theatrical version of the films below, and do not take into account DVD releases' extra content. ''Delta Farce" (2007) Stale, flat attempt at a military comedy starring Daniel Whitney in his guise of Larry the Cable Guy, supported by "Blue Collar TV" costar Bill Engvall and the twitchy DJ. Qualls, playing amiable dumb-guy Army reservists called up to Fallujah, Iraq, but landing instead in a remote Mexican village, where they take on local bandits. Director D.B. Harding, evidently assuming a short attention span for the audience, chops the comedic scenes into annoyingly tiny bits, but is more successful turning Larry into a goodhearted, Southern-fried teddy bear.

Some crude language, sexual innuendo, gay characters, a scatological sight gag and some ethnic slurs. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is A-III - adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 - parents strongly .cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13. (Lions Gate Home Entertainment) "Georgia Rule" (2007) Uneven drama (with some comic moments) about a San Francisco mother (Felicity Huffman) who leaves her deeply troubled 17-yearold daughter (an impressive Lindsay Lohan) in the care of a stern but loving, God-fearing grandmother (Jane Fonda) in small-town Idaho. Director Garry Marshall's glossy soap opera is well acted, and ultimately delivers a pro-family message, along with other positive themes of intergenerational bonding and forgiveness, but the formulaic plot, insufficiently defined characters and tawdry elements like the granddaughter's blatant sexuality and gutter language, a major sexual abuse theme and patronizing view of the pious Mormon townspeople are detriments. Strong sexual material, though no nudity, implied underage encounters, innuendo, rough and crude language and profanity, domestic violence, blackmail, heavy alcohol use and drug references. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is L - limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is R - restricted.

Under 17 requires accompanying

parent or adult guardian. (Universal Studios Home Video) "Reluctant Saint: Francis of . Assisi" (2003) Compelling, hourlong documentary about the wealthy playboy, prisoner of war, wandering preacher, radical visionary and pilgrim for peace. At various times during his short and dramatic life, St. Francis ofAssisi played all of these roles and more. Since his death, he has become one of the most beloved, though perhaps one of the least understood, figures in the history of Christianity. Drawing on Donald Spoto's 2002 biography of the saint, the film reassesses this holy yet complex man and the spiritual revolution he single-handedly began.

Filmed in the hilly countryside of central Italy, the program features reenactments of the central events of Francis' life, from his conversion through the stunningly rapid growth of his Franciscan order to his death, watched by only three remaining companions. It also employs images from medieval art to illustrate the true nature of Francis' legacy, both in that time and ours. Narrated by Liev Schreiber, with Robert Sean Leonard providing the voice of Francis, the film was produced and directed by Pamela Mason Wagner.

Spoto provides insightful commenI tary, as do a.number of other scholars, though their consistent bias against the miraculous (for example, the gift to Francis of the stigmata) is apparent. Among the added features on the DVD are a video reading of Francis' poem, "Canticle ofthe Sun" and an on-screen study guide.

There's some brief rear nudity in the scene where Francis renounces his worldly possessions. (Faith and Values MedialVision Video) ''The Wind That Shakes the Barley" (2007) Powerful war drama about two brothers (Cillian Murphy and Padraic Delaney) fighting against British forces in 1920s Ireland. Director Ken Loach, demonstrably on the side of the Irish, vividly illustrates the pitfalls of violence without casting the conflict in sectarian religious terms while espousing a socialist political philosophy that doesn't obscure the narrative's historical or moral complexity. Pervasive rough and crude language including one anti-Catholic slur, extensive wartime violence, including multiple shootings and executions, a torture scene, and an unmarried man and woman kissing briefly prior to an implied encounter. The DVD includes interesting feature commentary by Loach and historical adviser Donal O'Driscoll, and a good 50-minute feature on the director's work. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classifica-. tion is A-ill -adults. Not rated by the Motion Picture Association of America. (Genius Entertainment)

GOOD YUMA MEN - Ben Foster and Russell Crowe star in a scene from the movie "3:10 to Yuma."

For a brief review of this film, see CNS Movie Capsules below. (CNS photo/Lionsgate)

'New releases offer little family film fun

IC~S ~'l()viile

ICallVSUlllles NEW YORK (CNS) - The following are capsule reviews of movies recently reviewed by the Office for Film & Broadcasting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. ''Death Sentence" (Fox) Mild-mannered financier (Kevin Bacon) commits capital murder against gang members to avenge the death of his son. For the first hour, director James Wan (best known for "Saw") and screenwriter Ian Jeffers follow the nuances of novelist Brian Garfield's 1975 sequel to "Death Wish" and sprinkle in mordant humor, but the last half-hour descends into splatter and heavy-handed symbolism. Rough, crude and crass language, profanity and extended scenes ofbloody gun violence. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is 0 - morally offensive.

The Motion Picture Association of America rating is R - restricted.

Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.

"Halloween" (Dimension) This egregiously sadistic remake of John Carpenter's 1978 cult horror film recounts the repeated rampages of Michael Myers who, as a boy (Daeg Faerch), murders among a few others - his stripper mother's (Sheri Moon Zombie) deadbeat boyfriend (William Forsythe) and his wayward older sister (Hanna Hall) and, as a man (Tyler Mane), terrorizes - among many others - his psychiatrist (Malcolm McDowell) and his younger sister (Scout Taylor Compton). Writer-director Rob Zombie's film is both an aesthetic crime and a mistake, wallowing in

blood, gore, screams and the dying - morally offensive. The Motion desperation of its victims. Scenes Picture Association of America of prolonged, gruesome and bloody rating is R - restricted. Under 17 violence with gore; sexual activity; requires accompanying parent or rear and upper female nudity; ob- adult guardian. scene gestures; pervasive rough, "3:10 to Yuma" (Lionsgate) crude and crass language; and Generally absorbing remake of scatological humor. The USCCB the 1957 film, based on an Elmore Office for Film & Broadcasting Leonard story, about an impoverclassification is 0 - morally offen- ished 1880s rancher (Christian sive. The Motion Picture Associa- Bale) who, for $200, agrees to estion of America rating is R - re- cort a notorious Bible-quoting banstricted. Under 17 requires accom- dit (Russell Crowe) to the train that panying parent or adult guardian. will transport him to prison and justice before the outlaw's gang can "Shoot 'Em Up" (New Line) U1traviolent action film about a rescue him. The narrative - diffuse mysterious sharpshooter (Clive at first - becomes more cohesive Owen) and a prostitute (Monica and gripping as director James Bellucci) with a baby in tow, on Mangold's Western throwback the run from a deadly assassin builds to its climax, and the perfor(Paul Giamatti). Writer-director mances, including Ben Foster as the Michael Davis' film is played outlaw's wild-eyed henchman and tongue-in-cheek and with flashes Peter Fonda as a corrupt bounty of genuine wit, the two leads make hunter, are fine. There are also incharismatic adversaries with teresting moral issues at play, as the Giamatti relishing his villain's charming villain offers to bribe the role, and there's even an anti-gun rancher who's hoping for personal subtext, but the film is fast-paced redemption, particularly in the eyes to the point of exhaustion, and the of his 14-year-old son (Logan intensity of the violence and Lerman) impressed by the criminal. myriad sordid elements preclude . Pervasive but not graphic violence and endorsement. Intense visceral vio- torture, killings, profanity, rough lanlence with numberless killings, guage, a grisly bullet removal, brief torture, a graphic sexual encoun- rear.~udity and some light sexual talk. ter and others less explicit, partial The. ySCCB Office for Hlm & Broadnudity, pervasive rough language casting classification is A-ill - adults. and profanity, crude expressions, The Motion Picture Association of innuendo and an irreverent sight America rating is R - restricted. Ungag. The USCCB Office for Film der 17 requires accompanying parent & Broadcasting classification is 0 or adult guardian.

Diocese of Fall River TV Mass on WLNE Channel 6 Sunday, September 16 at 11:00 a.m.

Catechetical Sunday Scheduled celebrant is Msgr. Stephen 1. Avila, pastor ()f St. Mary's Parish in Mansfield

SEPTEMBER

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Richmond Diocese sets new marriage preparation process

By MISTY MEALEY CATliOUC NEWS SERVICE

RICHMOND, Va. - Bishop Francis X. DiLorenzo of Richmond has approved a new diocesanwide marriagepreparationprocessthatwill require engaged couples to take a premarital inventory, a full course in natural family planning and an educational program on Pope John Paul II's "theology of the body."

The changes came at the urging of a committee formed to review and recommend enhancements to the diocese's existing marriage preparation process. Engaged couples still will begin their marriage preparation process by meeting with their parish" priest or deacon.

Under the new structure, however, that meeting will be followed by a premarital inventory to assess the couple'sstrengthsandareasthatneed further exploration. Additional components of the marriage preparation process will include a new eateehetical program on marriage and sexuality called "God's Plan for a Joy-Filled Marriage" and instruction in one of the many natural family planning methods taught in the diocese.

"Marriage preparation was an area in our diocese that needed to be strengthened and updated, and this program does that," Bishop DiLorenzo said in announcing the program this summer.

The bishop convened a committee of marriage preparation l~rs, laityandclergyinJanuary2006,asking the group to create a demographic, psychological and sociological portrait of modern engaged couples and develop a standardized but flexible marriage preparation curriculum appropriate for that group.

He also charged the committee with recruiting and training competent marriage preparation facilitators and implementing the program across the diocese.

Committee members found that modem engaged couples seeking marriage in the Church are more U likely to describe themselves as "spiritual" rather than "religious."

"Young people today have no problem cutting out the 'middleman' when it comes to faith, and we're the middle man," said Bishop DiLorenzo. As a result, many ofthem feel liti:Ie connection to the institutional Church and pay little attention to the sacraments.

In addition, an alarmingly high number of engaged couples are living at odds with the faith before they approach the altar. Premarital sexual activity, cohabitation and contraception are normative for many couples.

After studying this portrait of engaged couples, committee members decided to take a multidisciplinary approach and include theological, interpersonal and practical training.

Jim and Sandy Dyk, a Richmond couple involved with Catholic Engaged Encounter, saidthe commit~ tee "wanted to prepare couples not just for marriage, but for a sacramental, Catholic marriage."

Committee' member Jamie Walker, an instructor in natural family planning, said he was pleased that marriage preparation leaders from across the diocese recognized the value of making the instruction normative for engaged couples. ''When couples see that NFP is not the rllythm method, but is healthy and effective, I'm certain more of them will choose to use NFP over contraception," he said. "I wanted other couples to experience the benefits of NFPthatmywifeandlhave,suchas drawing closer to the Lord, experiencing increased comm~cation and cooperation, and enjoying an increased awareness of our children as God's gift to us."

The new marriage preparation structure will obviously require more time on the part of couples, but committee members said preparation for any sacrament requires a significant investment of time and resources.

'1t may be a challenge for some couples to fit marriage prep into their schedule, but once they've completed this program they will beUer understand the value of being so well-prepared for their lives together," Sandy Dyk said.

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Musicians send pope iPod nano packed with Church .music LONDON (CNS) - British musicians recorded the classic Irish hymn, "Sweet Heart of Jesus," in a calypso, disco style and sent it to Pope Benedict XVI on an iPod nano.

Pope Benedict might like it, or he might become the first pontiff in history to throw an iPod into the trash.

The musicians' intention, however, was to soften the pope's attitude toward modern Church music, The gift is from contemporary Catholic songwriters Jo Boyce and Mike Stanley, and it features a new album of classic hymns reworked in modern forms of music. The duo has used instruments such as pianos, saxophones, guitars, drums and synthesizers to recreate centuries-old works in laid-back gospel, folk, funk, soul and lounge-music styles.

The album, "Age to Age," was downloaded onto an iPod and sent to Pope Benedict in the hope of gaining a "papal seal ofapproval," said a press release by the Catholic Communications Network of the Bishops' Conference 9f England and Wales.

The move is something ofa gamble given that Pope Benedict, an aficionado of classical music, said in 1996 that rock music was not very uplifting for the soul and certainly did not belong in Church.

Last year, Pope Benedict said that "an authentic updating of sacred mu-

sic cannot occur except in line with the great tradition of the past."

But the artists see the new album as a chance to demonstrate to Pope Benedict just how good modem Church music can be. ''We wanted Pope Benedict to hear how some of the more traditional songs can be interpreted in a contemporary way without doing an injustice to the truth they contain," said Stanley.

Boyce added: 'There is much talk in Church circles at the moment about the inappropriateness ofcontemporary instruments like drums and guitars in favor of the more traditional sounds of organ and choir.

"However, ourexperience over the last 11 years suggests it need not be an either/or situation, but rather both! and - what really matters is the standard of musicianship and the ageless truth it seeks to express;' she said.

Stanley and Boyce, based in Birmingham, England, also have contactedApple Inc., the manufacturer of iPods and the controller ofa large percentage of the international digital music download market, in the hope that it may offer Pope Benedict some free downloads from its online iThnes store.

Stanley said: ''We'd be delighted to know that the pope enjoyed our versions of classic hymns. But it got us wondering what he listens to him-

self. My guess would be classical or choral mUSic, but it would be fascinating to find out what other tunes he would add" The album, which will be released tomorrow, features "Soul of Savior;' written by Pope John XXII some seven centuries ago, and "Make Me A Channel;' based on the prayer of St Francis ofAssisi, recreated as soul ballads. ''How Great Thou Art," written by a Swedish pastor after he was awestruck by a walk in a thunderstorm, is reproduced as a rousing folk duet, along with "Be Not Afraid," written by the Jesuit Father Robert Dufford and billed by Boyce and Stanley as one of the best-loved hymns in the United States.

RAINY DAY RECEPTION - Pope Benedict XVI arrives in his popemobile for an opening ceremony in Am Hof Square in Vienna, Austria, September 7. The pontiff was on a three-day pilgrimage to Austria. (eNS photo/Herbert Neubauer, Reuters)

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SEPTEMBER

14, 2007

Holy Cross founder to be beatified said to offer lessons for today

....

PORTLAND, Ore. (CNS) - The every crisis and disappointment, only known portrait of Father Basil Father Moreau saw it all as part of Anthony Moreau shows a stem, im- divine providence. passioned face. And by some acThe men and women of Holy counts, the 19th-century French Cross, with separate governance, cleric lived and thought intensely. have worked together closely nevBut those from the religious con- ertheless, creating highly respected gregation he established know him schools all over the world and innoas much more - an enterprising and vating in parish and social ministry. adaptive man in many ways ahead In the U.S., those schools include the of his time.

University of Notre Dame in IndiFather Moreau, founder of the ana, Stonehill College ofMassachuCongregation of Holy Cross, was to setts, St. Edward University in Texas be beatified tomorrow in LeMans, and the University of Portland in OrFrance. The beatification rite offi- egon.

"No two schools operated by cially recognizes Father Moreau's holiness and is one step in the pro- Holy Cross are the same," Father cess of naming a saint.

Dorwart said. ''That comes from his "He was a great entrepreneur," spirituality and philosophy." said Holy Cross Father Bill Dorwart, Father Moreau must have been campus minister at the University of charismatic and even good-huPortland. "He was a diocesan priest mored, despite the impression given and a teacher who pulled a whole by the painting, said Father Dorwart, group of people together to give en- who served as superior of Holy ergy to a mission."

Cross' large western U.S. province Born to a peasant farnily, Father from 1997 to 2003. Otherwise, how Moreau hit his' prime as the sheen could he have held his wide-rang- FLOWER POWER - Pope Benedict XVI receives roses trom pilgrims during the opening ceremony had substantially worn off the ing community together? in Am Hot Square in Vienna, Austria, September 7. (eNS photoNatican Pool via Reuters) .

French Revolution. He envisioned "He was flexible and· read the laity, religious and clergy working signs of the times very well. He together to re-evangelize the French could adapt his sense ofmission and countryside. He advised his follow- spirituality to given circumstances," ers to cultivate a preference for the he added.

By JOHN THAVIS poor.

"From the very beginning, Father the liturgy with a procession along today may be as low as 10 perEventually, he would seek per-:~ ,.~qre<lu\talk~~1?<>ut ~~ signifi~c~ '_ CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE a street in front of the famed cent. ~ssion to ~nifyacommuniiy ~~t : of edl!.~!l,t~~g~e.np~<:l\ap~the he!lf? .

VIENRl"A, Abstna·....:... C~lebrat- , gothIC c'athedral. Rain that had . The pope also examined the mcluded pnests, Brothers'and SIS- and that IS 'part of what we are as ing Mass in Vienna's St. fallen steadily throughout the radical nature of Christ's call to tersall with~~esuperiorgeneral.He ed~c.ators in the faith," sai~ Father Stephen's Cathedral, Pope morning stopped as the pontiff, his disciples and, in a sense, to all ?ased th.at VISIon on the Holy Fam- WI1hm;n B~auchamp, pres~,d~nt of Benedict XVI urged Austrian dressed in lime-green vestments, his followers: the injunction to ily, con~ced such a s~~ture would , the 1!mv~rsIty of P~rtland. His d~- Catholics to protect Sunday as a waved to well-wishers who "leave everything behind" in or~ct as a ~owerfulleve~ that would terrmnatIon and holiness and zeal IS day of spiritual focus in an in- crowded the sidewalks and waved der to be totally available for him mov~" direct and sanctify the whole very much a model for us. As an creasingly busy world. yellow bandanas. and for others. .. ex.amp~e, lo~k at the presence of Modem Christians need an apworld. .

The aim, the pope said, is to Inside the packed cathedral, But m the 1830s, VatIc~ OffiCIalS ~ne~ts m reSIdence halls. We are not pointment with the Lord to give the pope was treated to the choral "create oases of selfless love in a could not embrace the notIon of one Just m classrooms and offices; we are them a sense of direction and help and orchestral music of the world where so often only power religious community co~bini~g very present to the students." them move beyond "the bustle of "Missa Cellensis," the Mass Jo- and wealth seem to count for anymen and women. As he dId WIth Tum to page 18 - Founder everyday life," the pope thing."

Pope, in Austria, says Sunday must be protected as a day of worship

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said.

The pope acknowledged And in an innovative For the early Church, he said, that the idea of leaving betouch that seemed to reflect Sunday gradually assimilated the hind family, friends and the the pope's recent attention traditional meaning of the seventh good things of life strikes to "green" issues, he sug- day, the Sabbath, the day God many people as strange. gested that Sunday be cel- rested. But Sunday is also ''the feast: Not every.~ne can m~e ebrated not only as a day of of thanksgiving and joy over God's such a com",»poent, he SaId, r~st but as "the Church's • 11' • " but everyone should recogcreatIon, he saId. . nize the truth i~ Christ's call weekly feast of creation."

Referring to the biblical - that "whoever wants to account of creation, the pope said seph Haydn composed in honor of keep his life just for himself will that Sunday, as the first day of the Mary in 1782. lose it." Love demands going out week, saw the dawning of the creIn his sermon, the pope said of oneself, and leaving oneself, he ated world, the day on which God Sunday has been transformed by said. said: "Let there be light."

Afterward, the pope stood on Western society into leisure time.

For the early Church, he said, Leisure is important in "the mad a platform outside the cathedral Sunday gradually assimilated the rush of the modern world," but, and blessed a crowd of several traditional meaning of the seventh unlike worship, it often lacks di- thousand, his red cloak flipped up day, the Sabbath, the day God rection, he said. occasionally by a brisk wind. rested. But Sunday is also "the He noted that for early Chris- Many had stood in the wet feast of thanksgiving and joy over tians, Sunday Mass was not a weather for hours to get a glimpse God's creation," h~ said. commandment but an inner neces- of the German pontiff, and they "At a time when creation sity - a time to meet Christ. cheered as the sun finally broke seems to be endangered in so "Without him who sustains our through. many ways through human activ- lives with his love, life itself is The pope spoke about Mary's ity, we should consciously accept empty," he said. unconditional "yes" to God dethis dimension of Sunday, too," he In Austria, according to polls, spite inner hesitation, and said said. regular weekly church attendance her cooperation in the divine plan The pope, on the final day of a among Catholics has declined remains a model for all Christhree-day trip to Austria, began ~teadily over the last 30 years and tians.

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Hunger, development key to foreign aid, says joint letter to Senate WASHINGTON (CNS) - In ajoint letter to members of the Senate, the head of the U.S. bishops' Committee on International Policy and the president of Catholic Relief Services called increased funding for hunger relief and development grants key in an upcoming foreign aid bill. "The persistence of abject hunger, poverty and disease in God's world is a significant moral challenge," said the letter from Bishop Thomas G. Wenski of Orlando, Fla., and Ken Hackett, CRS president. "Reliable programs that have proven results in combating or reducing poverty and disease deserve the full support of the U.S. Congress." The Senate, back in session after a four-week August recess, was to consider the 2008 foreign aid bill, formally known as the StatelForeign Operations Appropriations Bill. Bishop Wenski and Hackett argued for the upgrade of Millennium Challenge Corporation funding to at least $1.8 billion, the level approved by the House. The Senate version as written calls for a cut in funding to $1.2 billion. Last year's foreign aid bill had appropriated $1.9 billion. President George W. Bush had asked for $3 billion.

Notre Dame teaching program is in its second generation WASHINGTON (CNS) - The University of Notre Dame's Alliance for Catholic Education program has been placing college graduates as volunteer teachers in Catholic schools since 1994. That means the current participants were in elementary school when the program started and could have been taught by ACE teachers. Colleen Knight Santoni was a sophomore at Notre Dame in Indiana, studying Spanish and getting ready for medical school when she decided in 1994 to be a volunteer teacher through the ACE program. Whensbe gradu~ ated from Notre Dame in 1996, she joined ACE and taught at All Saints Catholic School in Fort Worth, Texas. During a visit to Notre Dame, she ended up bringing one of her students, Patricia Salazar, along with her. The trip obviously made an impression on Salazar who joined ACE last year after graduating from The Catholic University of America in Washington. This spring, she finished her first year in the program, teaching religion, social studies, science and language arts to the third- and fourth-grade classes at Sacred Heart, a dual-language Catholic school in Washington. ACE trains young Catholic adults as teachers and places them in Catholic schools. Participants receive a small stipend from the schools wher~ they teach and also earn master's degrees in education after two years of teaching and intensive summer training.

New email scam targets Catholics, Church institutions CAPE TOWN, South Africa (CNS) - A new spam scam targeting Catholics and Church institutions promises recipients that they are among 100 people worldwide chosen at random to receive $650,000 from the Catholic Church in Italy ''for your own personal, educational and business development." The grants are supposedly designed "to make a notable change in the standard of living of people all around the universe." Recipients are urged to contact "the Church executive secretary"- sometimes named as Sister Abrielle Gallo, at other times a Miss Mary Pepe - to receive ''your donation pin number, which you will use in collecting the funds." No such grant program exists, and the Church does not allocate donations randomly or by lottery, as the email suggests. An almost identical email purports to be from the "eglise catholique en France," the Catholic Church in France. According to the Website www.hoax-slayer.com. such communications are ''bait used by scammers to trick victims into replying to the email."

Hong Kong Diocese asks itstlock to vote on worst rights abuses ~ HONG KONG (CNS) - The Diocese of Hong Kong has asked parishioners to vote on the 10 worst human rights abuses since Hong Kong was transferred from Britain to China 10 years ago.

"There has (been) no improvement in human rights after 1997.

Many people (have) suffered," said Jackie Hung, an official of the diocese's Catholic Justice and Peace Commission. "We should review the past to encourage people to care for the society," Hung told Catholic News Service. She expressed hope that the campaign would raise awareness among parishioners and let them view human rights issues in light of Catholic social teaching. The commission listed 50 human rights abuses occurring in the last 10 years, as well as the relevant Catholic social teachings and international conventions that safeguard corresponding rights. The commission invited parishioners to vote for the 10 most serious cases. The deadline is October 15.

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National Pro-Life leaders' visits to bripg hope

By GAIL BESSE ANCHOR CORRESPONDENT

ers !nd Children.

Money raised from this 21st annual MCFL event For every three Massachusetts youngsters start- will benefit 47 organizations, including all four Masing first grade this fall, there's one who is not. That sachusetts Catholic diocesan Pro-Life offices, Birthrighi, A Woman's Concern, and other groups that路 child was aborted six years ago.

In 2001, the state recorded 82,000 births and offet shelter, education, pregnancy and adoption help 26,000 abortions.

- and like Project Rachel - post-abortion counSince then, abortion has killed an estimated seling.

140,000 more unborn Bay State children - a numBereit recently resigned as executive director for ber equal to the combined populations of Fitchburg the fo.merican Life League to work full-time on the and New Bedford.

40 Days Campaign. He's appeared on numerous naI But soon two national Pro-Life leaders will visit tionwide news shows, including Fox News, as has to re-energize those defending women and children Father Euteneuer, who heads HLI, the international here, where nearly 30 clinics and hospitals still ply Pro-Life missionary group. the lethal procedure and politicians are poised to Based in Front Royal, Va., HLI reaches associspend tax dollars to clone and kill human embryos atesllin 75 countries. It, too, has endorsed the 40 Days for research.

Campaign.

Father Thomas Euteneuer, president of Human Father Euteneuer will receive the Framingham Knights of Columbus ProLife International, will be honored today by the Life Priest of the Year Framingham Knights of award, and appear on the In 2001, the sta,te recorded cable television show "Life Columbus. He will also join personally in a 82,000 births and26,000 abortions. Matters."

Framingham Union HospiSince then, abortion has killed an He may join in prayer tal prayer vigil tomorrow. estimated 140,000 more unborn outsideaBostonclinic,and And David Bereit, Bay State children a number definitely plans to particifounder of a national lnterI pate in a monthly rosary cessory prayer campaign, equal to the combined populations vigil today at 9 a.m. to end abortions at Framingham will speak October 7 at of Fitchburg and New Bedford.

But soon two national Pro-Life Union Hospital. Father Massachusetts Citizens for Life's annual fund-raising leaders will visit to re-l!!nergize those Euteneuer was invited to walk. His rapidly growing defending women anq children here, celebrate the 8 a.m. M~s 40 Days for Life Campaign where nearly 30 clinics and hospi- . at St.. Stephen ~hurch 10 t." . . . '.. . '. FramlOgham pnor to the will run in 89 cities from September 26 to November ta/~ ~ti!' ply the let~al procedure and vigil. polItICIans are pOIsed to spend tax Christians have for de4.

Campaign participants dollars to clone and ~iII human em- cades been a compassionplan round-the-clock bryos for research. ate presence "at the foot of the cross" outside many of prayer vigils outside abor- _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _-+! the state's abortion providtion facilities in 33 states plus the District of Columbia. When the first vigil ers" Bill Cotter of Boston Operation Rescue reports took place in College Station, Texas, in 2004, abor- at least 60 babies have been saved by sidewalk countions decreased there by 28 percent, according to selqrs so far this year.

Shawn Carney of the Texas-based Coalition for Life.

In Worcester, more than 30 people joined in That vigil mobilized a new wave of volunteers; pra~er August 15 outside a proposed new Planned six more vigils in four states occurred. During the Parenthood location. . second week of a Houston vigil, one abortion busiJay Guillette, president of Life Action League of ness unexpectedly closed after operating there for Ma~sachusetts, said people wanted to raise aware20 years. nes~ of how unregulated, how casual and how damEWTN lias twice aired the coalition's documen- agirtg to women abortion really is. tary "Being Human" to publicize the campaign, When a couple of opponents appeared with "right which is endorsed by Father Frank Pavone of Priests to choose" signs, two female veteran sidewalk counfor Life, among others. selqrs talked with them at length.

Bereit said in an interview, "Unfortunately no 'liThe kids actually may have had a light go on," locations signed up in Massachusetts, although I'm' Gu~llette said. "One was a biology major, and he already hearing reports of Massachusetts folks plug- seemed to get what our point was - that these aren't ging into Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New York abstract concepts that are being aborted. They're delocations." veloping human beings."

The movement grew from the "prayer and frusMore than half the abortions reported in Massatration" of people discouraged by.the apathetic si- chusetts are done at three Planned Parenthood clinlence of their locill churches, he explained. ics,1 although two dozen other clinics and hospitals So a small group called out to God to allow the also offer them, according to the state public health nation to repent. They modeled their effort on the reports. biblical 40-day periods in which God. worked There are 17 locations in the Archdiocese of Bosmiracles through Noah, Moses, David, Jesus and ton; three in the Fall River Diocese, two in the Worcester Diocese and five in the Springfield Diocese. the Disciples.

For 960 hours, people prayed outside an aborIn the Diocese of Fall River, the facilities include tion provider, "unleashed incredible spiritual power" the Four Women Clinic and Sturdy Memorial Hosby fasting, and did community outreach. They saw pit~ in Attleboro, and A Women's Health Center in the movement as a "wake-up call" to restore urgency Hyannis. to the fight against an industry that kills 4,000 unFor more information on the Pro-Life groups born babies daily in the U.S. me~tioned here, contact: MCFL at Bereit will speak at the 1 p.m. rally on the Bos- www.masscitizensforlife.org, 617-242-4199; the naton Common (Tremont and Boylston streets), pre- tionwide vigil at www.40daysforlife.com. 979-846ceding the 2 p.m. Respect Life Walk to Aid Moth- 2825; and HU at www.hli.org, 1-800-549-L1FE. II

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SEPTEMBER

14, 2007

Pope urges megagathering of youths to 'go against the current' balance of nature," the pope said.

He said water in particular w~ a resource in danger of becoming a motive of conflict around the world unless it is shared in an equal way.

The papal event took place on the day the Italian church h~ dedicated to ecological awareness. Organizers of the Loreto gathering sought to minimize its en~nmental impact by using biodegradable and recyclable materials. ~@S~temberlandmaM~sthe The Loreto shrine holds what is following day, on a hillside next to the revered ~ the house where Mary w~ Marian shrine of Loreto. The week- born, raised and ~sited by the angel end ~sembly also featured music and Gabriel. Tradition holds thm the house skits, but the highlight w~ clearly the was transported to Loreto from Nazareth by angels in 1294. pope's presence.

The pope said Mary's purity still '''The (Christian) message is this: Do not follow the way ofpride but the points the way to young people today. way of humility;' the pope said mthe And he lamented the number of divorces today.

M~s. ''How many failures of love there ''Go against the current: Don't listen to the persuasive and self-seeking are around us! How many couples voices thm today promote lifestyles hang their heads, give in and separate! marked by arrogance and ~olence, by How many families go to pieces!" he self-importance and success at any said He told the youths that he w~ praycost, by appearances and possession ing thm "the crisis facing the family to the detriment of being;' he said.

This does not mean the Christian today does not become an irreversible must renounce all pl~ure or success failure." in life, he said On the contrary, faith During the weekend, the pope also gives deeper satisfaction, he said. "Our briefly referred to a new book that faith does not propose a package of collects dramatic letters of Blessed moral prohibitions, but ajoytW P;.th;' Mot;h~r Tâ&#x201A;Ź1re.sa of C;:alcu~ India, .in he said. ., . which she reveals her inner spiritual The pope told the young people suffering overa period ofdecades. The that the key to finding the right path pope noted thm Mother Teresa's letwas in a personal encounter with ters, which have prompted a wave of Christ He said it w~ also essential that new media interest, were already they participate in the life of the known to Church officials "All believers know about the siChurch.

"One cannot call oneselfa disciple lence ofGod;' he said. "Even Mother of Jesus if one doesn't love and fol- Teresa, with all her charity and her low his Church. The Church is our strength offaith, suffered from the sifamily;' he said. lence of God." The pope said one reason even In a talk, he raised the theme of environmental protection in the Chris- Christians sometimes have to endure tian context. Following Christ means this "silence of God" is to better un- . being aware that the created world derstand those who do not know God belongs to all and must be protected, and who seeka ~sible sign ofhis preshe said. ence.

"To the new generations is enBut by keeping an open and mrentrusted the future of the planet, where tive heart, he said, ''we can find great it is clear thm development ~ not al- moments in which truly the presence ways been able to protect the delicate of God becomes perceptible for us."

LORETO, Italy (CNS) - Pope Benedict XVI urged a megagathering of Italian young people to embrace Christ and "go against the current" of a culture marked by violence, arr0gance and selfishness.

The pope also struck a strong ecological theme, saying young people need to press for courageous changes to save the planet "before it's too late."

An estimated 500,000 youths applauded the pope's words at a prayer

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LOCKS OF LOVE -

Caitlyn Bettencourt, age nine, a thirdgrader at Espirito Santo School in Fall River, recently donated 10 inches of her hair to the charity organization, Locks of Love. Above, Maria, from Pleasant Hair Salon donates her time and skill helping Bettencourt with her kind gesture. Sarah Benevides, a sixthgrader at Espirito Santo School was diagnosed with leukemia this year. Inspired by Benevides' positive attitude, Bettencourt, at right displaying the locks, donated her hair to encourage her schoolmate to remain strong.

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Ace highlights successful Bishop Stang golf tourney DARTMOUTH - The cheers on the course at Allendale Country Club in Dartmouth could be heard back at the Pro Shop when Gary Crowell scored a hole-in-one on the 14th hole, one designated ~ a prizewinning hole at the John C. 0' Brien Memorial Golf Tournament, this summer. Crowell won a trip to Nashville for his achievement thanks to the sponsorship ofAshley Ford Sales, Inc. of New Bedford.

This year's John C. O'Brien Golf Tournament, coordinated by

the Alumni Association contributed $11,500 to the John C. O'Brien Scholarship Fund at Bishop Stang High School in North Dartmouth.

The tournament was an overwhelming success, with a complete field ofplayers, cooperative weather and the highest proceeds ever.

Major sponsors for the event include Ashley Ford Sales, Iceland Air, Iceland Explorer (Bob Murray '63), Sullivan, Williams & Quintin, Moran Shipping Agencies, Inc. (Jim Black '69), Sylvia Group of

Insurance Agencies (Maureen SyIvia Armstrong. '82 and Beth Sylvia Caldwell '92), and Sovereign Bank (Matthew Payette '85).

In addition to the scholarship fund at Stang, the day's winners included: Top foursome at 13 under - Bob McMillan, Milton Rebello, Don Whalley and Roy Piera; Longest Drive - Alan Lord and Nancy Wilson; Closest to the Pin (four separate holes) - Paul Galvin, Paul Heywood '67, Gary Crowell, and Don Clements.

.--------------------------------. : ATTENTION! ATTENTION! : BEST SEAT IN THE HOUSE - Pope Benedict XVI arrives to celebrate Mass during a youth meeting at the Marian shrine in Loreto, Italy. The pope urged a megagathering of young people to embrace Christ and "go against the currenf' of a culture marked by violence, arrogance and selfishness. (CNS photo/Daniele La Monaca, Reuters) -e'

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Please note that The Anchor now has a separate email I address for school and Religious Education news. : Send photos and copy for consideration to: I schools@anchomews.org

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SEPTEMBER

14, 2007

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YOUTH

Priest sees rise in 'spiritual enthusiasm' at Boy Scout summer encampments WASHINGIDN - As a priest for 52 years and a Boy Scout for 65, Msgr. John B. Brady says he has never experienced the "youthful spiritual enthusiasm" he witnessed this summer as a chaplain at the Goshen Scout Reservation in Goshen,Va. "Scouts of every faith attended religious services in record numbers," Msgr. Brady said in a report on his experiences with the more than 7,000 Scouts and leaders who attended the six camps at Goshen this summer.

"Jewish and Islamic services, Buddhist meditations, all-faith Scouts' own services, nondenominational Christian services and daily Catholic Masses reported significant increases in attendance," he added.

The summer of2007 marked the 100th camping season for the Scouts since Lord Robert Baden-Powell, founder ofthe world Scouting movement, oversaw the raising ofthe flags at the world's first Scout encampment at Brown Sea Island off the coast of Southampton, England, Aug. 1, 1907.

A retired priest of the Archdiocese of Washington, Msgr. Brady said the 10- and ll-year-old Scouts he met were "excited and enthusiastic" about attending Mass. Among the questions he said he received were: "Father, will you bless our Scout uniforms? ... Can you come to our troop site, hearourconfessions and offer Mass? Will you come and teach us how to meditate? We want to have our own troop prayer. (Will you) teach us how towriteaprayer?"

Ifthat enthusiasm "sticks through

PAGEs Take charge of ~our feelings

By CHARLIE MARTIN -

LIFE'S WHAT YOU MAKE IT Don't let no smallfrustration Ever bring you down No, no, no, no Just take a situiltion And tum it around With a new attitude everything can change Make it how you want it to be Staying mad Why do that Give yourselfa break Laugh about it and you'll see Refrain: Life's what you make it So let's make it rock Life's what you make it So come on come on (everybody now) Why be so brokenhearted There's so much to do Life is hard or it's a party The choice is up to you With a new attitude, everytfzing can change Make it how you want it to be Staying mad What do that Give yourselfa break Ilaww you wanna party with me (R~peat refrain.)

Everybody now Let's celebrate it, join in everyone You decide Cause life's what you make it Things are lookin' up Any time you want All you gotta do is realize that It's under your control So let the good time rock and roll (Repeat refrain.) . Let~s celebrate it Ir Join in everyone You decide cause life's what you make it Life is what you make it

their teen-age, college and adult life, we are going to have a more utopian world as these 11-year-Olds take their turn at leadership," he said.

Another group ofScouts told him they had given up their swim period to come to Mass and said they were "glad we did." They also thanked the priest for celebrating an "awesome" Mass for them. ''This degree of courtesy and gratitude (is) not characteristicof 11year-olds, who are normally selfcentered," he said in his report.

Msgr. Bradyexperienced the first U.S. national jamboree in 1937, when he was eight years old and visited the encampmenton the National Mall in Washington. He joined the Boy Scouts in seventh grade and went on to become an Eagle Scout.

He attributed much of "this new burst of Scout spirituality" to a new program launched in 2006, called the Duty to God summercamp program.

Scout campers can earn a series of patches over a four-year period if they fulfill three requirements.

They must attend a religious service during their week at camp, meditate at least three times on one of the points of the Scout law ("A Scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent") and leading a prayer or grace before or after at least one camp meal. ''When many ofthe 7,000 campers attend religious services, meditate daily (and) offer prayers before or after theirthree daily meals, something good happens," Msgr. Brady said.

Sung by Hannah Montana

Copyright 2007 by Disney

CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

I'm not a frequent ~isitor to the Disney Channel. Conseq~ently, I didn't recognize the name "Hanriah Montana" as her latest release "Life's What You Make It" climbed Billbokd's Top 100: Montana, in real life, is Miley Cyrus, the daughter of country mu*'s renowned Billy Ray Cyrus. "life'sWhatYou Make It" is off her latest disc ''Hannah Montana 2: Meet -Miley Cyrus." Given Montana's popularity, either the pre-teen Disney audience is spending a lot of money on her music or she has fans of many ages.

I' The song reflects the perspective of who Cyrus is, that is, a 14-year-old freshman. The character in the song encourages us to avoid letting a "small frustration ever bring you downl" In her view, "with a new attitude, e~erything can change." For her, either ';Jife is hard or it's a party." She thinks tpat life is just "what you make it," an4 thus she exelaims: "Let's get this party started!"

Most of us over the age of 14 might find life a bit more complex than Montana/Cyrus describes. Ye~ one point in the song is worthy of diScussion. It is importantto understand tfurtone's mood is a choice, and indeed, a :'new attitude" can affect circumstances in positive ways.

I[ Feelings arise spontaneously. Something occurs and we have' an immediate emotional response. We have no control over what feelings emerge, but we can choose how we will respond to ouremotions.

For example, a friend',treats you in a way that makes you angrf. Your anger is likely to be immediate, mtense and unpleasant However, what you do with this anger is up to you. You have several choices: Ii (1) Bury it deep within and turn the anger into a resentment that eventually erodes the friendship.

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(2) Or you could notice this feeling but also decide that most ofthe time you have no problems with this friend. You decide that your current feeling does not need your attention. You choose to let it go.

(3) Still a further option is to pretend that everything is OK but then go home and dwell on what the person has done.

This is sure to allow an irritable, hurtful mood to grow.

These arejust three of many choices available to you as you consider how your friend !}as acted. How you respond to your feelings will detennine what kind of mood emerges. .

How do you change a mood that is ruining your day or hurting your life?

Here are a few ideas on how to take charge of your moods: Acknowledge the feeling that is behind your mood. Never judge yourself.

No matter how discouraged, sad, angry or hurting you are, ask yourself: Does focusing on this feeling help my life at this point?

If you choose to alter what you are currently feeling, do something very physical - go running, work: out intensely or throw yourself into demanding manual labor. Such effort helps to use up the biochemicals in your body which feed the mood.

Decide that you will reach out to someone who you know who is hurting too. Do something that brightens this person's day.

Pray. Ask God to help you get past this mood and into an emotional space that helps you feel how much God values your life.

There's little chance of me becomingaHannahMontanafan,butIdoagree with this song's message. Much can be attempted to make our lives better, ineluding making constructive choices on how moods affect us. .

Humble heroes This past week is one that brings - they have incredible physical sad memories as we recalled the and/or mental strength; sixth anniversary of September 11.

- they often go through a It is also a week that brings to my transformation; .- and they often risk or sacrifice mind the thought of all of the heroes that perished that day and those their own life for a bigger purpose. heroes who have given of themWhat I would like to share with selves in the service of our country you today, however, are some and of our people since that terrible thoughts on those less obvious day. As I write this column, I am in heroes, those that I would like to call California at coast Guard Island...", the humble heroes of our world. I I've spent the weekend attendingl~C' think if we spend a moment thinking school training for the Coast GW!1'd of the people in our lives, we will Auxiliary. It is easy to think about soon discover these humble heroes when I'm in the midst of our heroes.

For me, my humble brave servicemen and women who are serving our country today. And hero is my wife, Kris. She of course, when we speak of heroes, is a hero because she I also think about the obvious heroes possesses that noble character路 that allows her to such as those that serve as police or fuefighters. perform extraordinary, What is a hero, exactly? beneficial deeds, not only American professor of myth and for me and our two religion, Joseph Campbell, defines a daughters, but for people hero as ."someone who has given his she is in contact with each and every or her life to something bigger than day. oneself."

Several years ago, my mother-inThere are common themes that law had a stroke that left her unable come up when we examine heroes: to care for herself. With no altema. tive but around the clock care, Kris - they have the courage to embark: on an adventure for the sake struck out to find the best facility of others; care. She researched and studied, visited and questioned and settled on ....:.... they often possess a noble character or ability allowing them to a facility in Fall River. She spent perform extraordinary, beneficial countless hours finding the best possible placement. deeds;

Over the last two years, she has visited that nursing home each and every day except for the few days we've been away. I most often go with her to support her but I do so grudgingly. In fact, my presence is only in support of her and I would rather be somewhere else. She goes out of her way to bring snacks, or wash clothes Or perform a multitude of good acts for her mother. I don't see many other children visiting their parent each and every day.

for doing all of this. Yet she persists and says that no matter!lwhat happened in her past, she can only do what is right today. To me that is the epitome of being a hero.

Ordinary people doing extraordinary things. i A hero's story should point the way for all of us in how we live our lives. There are countl~~s people in the world who are living as a humble hero. We just don't always know who they are lJe9use they go about their livJs in a simple way that doestft attract attention.'

I feel it is irhportant to share a story like this, as a humble hero'sllstory may inspire us and give us hope during our own difficult times. Heroes1lcreate an ideal for the rest of us to live up to, if we sOllchoose.

This may not seem heroic, except We are all called to be heroes. Do , when one leams that she does all of you see yourself as a hero? Yes, I this on behalf of a mother who never know that we need to be humble and really showed her the love that most not to think too highly bf ourselves parents would have for their so we may not want to consider children. Most of my wife's acts of ourselves as a hero. You might think, kindness are rebuffed and ridiculed. ''I'm kind of ordinary, hothing .

Never once has her kindness been special, no one would consider me a rewarded by a cheerful thank you or . hero." However, if you think about II any acknowledgment or appreciathose heroes that you tiave known, tion. In fact most people, if they you most likely realize. that they too knew, would consider my wife crazy are Ofdinary peop1e. 'I II

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Too often we gravitate toward heroes who the world would have us admire and all too often let us down.

People like the football player Michael Vick who is now accused of sponsoring dog fighting and cruelty to defenseless animals, or singing star Britney Spears or Lindsay Loban who seem to self-destruct in front of us, or others that seem to disappoint us eventually. We need to move away from admiring those that are not truly the heroes who dedicate themselves to some greater purpose.

A hero has to step out of his or her comfort zone to embrace the extraordinary possibilities.

Thke the challenge to be a hero to others. Look out for those that are most in need of assistance and let's each reach deep within ourselves to serve them. Humble heroes can offer us a lesson on how we each should lead our lives. Look for the humble heroes in your life and then try to emulate them. I've got some work to do, but my wife's daily example of heroic actions has caused me to write this and now as a result, I need to challenge myself to become a humble hero to my wife's mother, too.

Frank Lucca is a youJh minister at St Dominic's Parish in Swansea, chair and a direc~rofthe YES! Retreat and the director ofthe CU.

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Red Mass diocese, he was from 2001 to 2003 president and CEO of Catholic Charities USA, the national network of Catholic Charities agencies and institutions in the United States.

From 1973 to 1992, he served on the staff of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, addressing issues

Founder

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of foreign and domestic policy for the Church in this country.

Throughout the years, his re- . search and writing has .focused on issues of ethics and foreign policy, Catholic social ethics, and the role of religion in world politics and in American society.

Indiana province, in a letter to supporters.

The work of the Congregation of Holy Cross today - parish, mission and education - is in keeping with the founder's ideas, Father Tyson said. Father Moreau valued communal living, hospitality, reli" ance on providence, partnership with the poor and a focus on the cross of Christ, which the congregation's motto says is "our only hope.:'

New Weekend: For Women in Recovery

September 21 - 23, 2007 Presenter: Fr. Terrence Dougherty,OCD For information for to register:

The Passionists Calvary Retreat Center 59 South Street Shrewsbury, MA 01545 www.calvaryretreat.org 508路842-8821

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FALL RIVER, MA 02722

THANK YOU

NATIONAL LEAGUE - Members of the Fall River Diocese's Council of Catholic Women attending the National Council of Catholic Women's annual convention underway in Columbus, Ohio. include: seated, Moderator Sister Eugenia Brady SJC and Past President Joanne Quirk; and standing, District I President Laura Cousineau, Fourth Vice President Mary Andrews, President Claudette Armstrong, Past President Claire McMahon, and Past President lynette Ouellette, soon to become Boston Province director. (Photo courtesy of Maddy Lavoie)

Seminarian

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Early on, Father Moreau sent his men from Europe to be missionaries in places like North America and India. Missions extended to Africa and South America. From the start, Holy Cross religious across the world were to be open to all cultures and live lives of hospitality.

"For Father Moreau, vision was combined with a complete trust in God's will, and a passion to serve God's people in holiness," wrote Father David Tyson, superior of the

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ing his parents, Ronald W. Floyd who are such good people," he said. Md., in the fall of 2003. In 2004 I and Teresa (Cherubim) Floyd and He will perform deacon's du- was sent as a seminarian of the Diobrothers Mariusc and Michael, and ties, which include assisting at cese of Fall River to the North foster sisters Patricia and Susan, at Mass, proclaiming the Gospel, American College in Rome," he his mac6nal ordination in the Eter- preaching, preparing parents for said. their child's baptism and baptizing, Although he attended daily noon nal City next month. .

"My parents, who have been presiding at weddings when del-:- Mass while working in the Senate members of St. Patrick's Parish in egated, as well as giving Religious and while discerning his vocation, Wareham since 2003, will be part Education.

Floyd said signs of a religious voThe latter he's well versed in. cation had appeared earlier in his of the U.S. contingent - among 20 family members attending the orSince the second week of June life. "But it was not just one thing. dination - the others from Poland when he returned from the U.S. And it was not a straight path." and Germany," from where he Seminary in Rome, Floyd assisted "At age five I remember 'playtraces his ancestry, he reported.

Father Michael P. Nagle, pastor of ing saying Mass' while with my Although Archbishop Michael the Island parishes, at Good Shep- grandmother. I had thoughts about Miller, secretary to the Congrega- herd Parish in Martha's Vmeyard. the priesthood when I was about 12 tion of Catholic Education was "I taught a great deal ... a course years old, but put them off. I admit scheduled to ordain the I!ew dea- on the Psalms, which are a passion I was struggling with my faith until cons, it will be Archbishop John P. with me, especially those used in I got to the Catholic University.

Foley, grandmaster of the Knights the Liturgy of the Hours; an intro- There it became more vibrant. I ofthe Holy Sepulcher ofJerusalem, ductory course on the Mass for chil- became more involved in cultural who will administer holy orders. dren, and a course on St. Paul in Catholic activity with other people "Archbishop Miller recently left this proclaimed Year of St. Paul," and it made me ask questions. I read to become Archbishop ofthe Arch- Floyd said.

Pope John Paul D's 'The Splendor diocese of Vancouver," said Floyd.

Other summers' field assign- ofTruth.' Then some friends invited "It's funny because I would regu- ments took him to St. Julie's in me to their prayer group and I met larly see him on the street in Rome North Dartmouth, Our Lady of a spiritual director. Again it made and finally got up the courage to Guadalupe at St. James Parish in me ask questions about what was stop and introduce myself and tell New Bedford, and after his first true in toy lifestyle and things like him he was to ordain me. Now he's year in Rome as a teacher of En- that. That's when my call to the not ... but it was a nice chat any- glish in Cologne, Germany. priesthood prevailed." way."

Born in Wmchester and baptized Among the young men from the In the interim three weeks prior at St. Mary's Parish there, Floyd North American College who along to ordination, the candidate will grew up in Saugus and attended with Floyd will process to the study the sacraments commonly public schools. He graduated from Bernini altar in St. Peter's next administered by a deacon as well Malden Catholic High School. As month are seminarians Mark D. as how to instruct those to be mar- a pre-law student at the Catholic Glover and Jonathan L. Reardon ried and take a short course on , University ofAmerican in Washing- from the Diocese of Springfield, counseling given by a psycholo- ton, D.C., he graduated in 2003 and Jeremy J. Rodrigues and David gist. with a bachelor's degree in politi- G. Thurber Jr., of the nearby DioFollowing ordination, Floyd will cal theory and a minor in philoso- cese of Providence, R.I. be assigned a weekend a month to phy.

"Ordination is on the feast ofSt. minister as a deacon at the U.S. "I worked as a political staffper- .Francis ofAssisi, so we should pray Naval Base in Naples. son in the U.S. Senate, and after for his intercession," said Floyd, ''That will be enjoyable, work- some discernment, entered Mt. St. adding "And you, deacon, don't ing with American Navy families, Mary's Seminary in Emmitsburg, you forget to pray for all of us."路

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ATTLEBORO - A Divine Mercy holy hour is held after the 6:30 p.m. Mass every Wednesday at the National Shrine of Our Lady of La Salette, during which the Blessed Sacrament is exposed. The shrine is at 947 Park Street.

FALL RIVER- Exposition and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament takes place at Sacred Heart Church at 160 Seabury Street after the 8 a.m. Mass to 2:30 p.m. every Monday.

NEW BEDFORD - Eucharistic adoration takes place 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesdays at Our Lady of Guadalupe at St. James Church, with night prayer and benediction at 8:45 p.m. and confessions during the evening. The church is at 233 County Street WAREHAM - St. Patrick's Church has eucharistic adoration on first Fridays of the month following the 8 a.m. Mass until 6 p.m., when evening prayer including the Uturgy of the Hours is offered. The church is at 82 High Street. ,.-.... _ ....- - -..- -..-.-..- - '-'1

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ATTLEBORO - Area residents are invited to annual services commemorating the feast of Our Lady of La Salette at the national shrine dedicated to her. The Blessed Sacrament is scheduled to be exposed today from 1 to 6 p.m. in the shrine church, with Mass at 6:30 p.m., followed at 7:30 p.m. by' a litany in honor of Our Lady of La Salette. A IMng rosary will take place tomorrow around the Rosary Pond (or inside the church in case of bad weather), followed by 4:30 p.m. Mass. A Haitian pilgrimage Mass will be celebrated Sunday at2 p.rn. followed by a multiethnic .

Eucharistic procession with the rosary. The shrine is at 947 Park Street.

CHATHAM - A Tridentine Mass celebrated according to the 1962 missal is celebrated 1 p.m. every Sunday at Our Lady of Grace Chapel on Route 137 in Chatham.

DARTMOUTH - Bibles in Portuguese and white plastic rosaries are being sought by the Bristol County Sheriffs Office to help inmates at the county house of correction build a closer relationship to God. Donations can be sent to James Rioux, Volunteer Coordinator, Bristol County Sheriff's Office, 400 Faunce Comer Road, North Dartmouth, MA 02747.

FAU RIVER - The Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption will hold a Holy Silence at 4 p.m. September 17 at Our Lady's Chapel. The event will offer time for prayer, meditation, or reading, and will be followed by fellowship over a simple meal. The cathedral is at 327 Second Street.

FAU RIVER - A Bible study of the Book of Genesis is scheduled for 7 p.m.

Tuesdays at the Shrine of St. Anne Church at 780 South Main Street. The meetings run until December 18 and then start again January 15.

NEW BEDFORD - There will be Mass in Latin· according' to the'1962 Missal promulgated by Pope Blessed John XXIII today at 5:15 p.m. at St. Anthony of Padua Church. It will be preceded by a holy hour at 4:15 p.m. and followed by confessions. All are invited. The church is at 1359 Acushnet Avenue.

NORTH DARTMOUTH - St. Julie Billiart Church hosts a Bible study twice a week, organized by the parish's Adult Faith Formation office. The lectionarybased Bible study takes place 10 a.m. Tuesdays in the parish conference room at 494 Slocum Road, with a repeat session at 7 p.m. Wednesdays.

IPro-Life Activities

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Please pray for these priests during the coming weeks

ATTLEBORO - The 4:30 p.m. Mass on September 22 at the National Shrine of Our Lady of La Salette will be for the unborn. The shrine is at 947 Park Street.

EAST SANDWICH - The Respect ute Committee at Corpus Christi Church has a morning group that meets at 10 o'clock and an evening group that meets at 7, both on the third Tuesday of the month. For more information, contact Heather Wasp by email at HeatherWesp@comcast.net or Pat Stebbins by calling 508-833-8432.

ISocial Events

Communion onto the· floor and church, according to the Bristol puter and attachments, Ch'ief walls, left profane messages, and County District Attorney's Of- Ferreira said.

Father David A. Pignato, secstole several chalices, altar wine, fice. an Acer computer and a camera "We have recovered more than retary to Bishop George W.Cole~ among other items.

30 items, what is reported to have man, was one of the first to view All of the stolen articles were been taken - some from the the damages. subsequently recovered by police hOl1)e of the defendant Botelho "I arrived at St. Patrick's at and returned to the parish.

- and others from the backpack about 3:30 p.m. on September "I was away at the time, but worn by the defendant Bedard at I to preach at a parish mission when I learned of what occurred the scene," Somerset Police Chief appeal on behalf of the needy I was deeply saddened," Father Joseph Ferreira told The Anchor. Church in the Ukraine, where I Tuptynski, the pastor, told The According to the reports, had recently visite.d with two Anchor. "We are all shaken and Chief Ferreira and. Officer classmates," ·Father Pignato parishioners were deeply af- Labreche responded to a com- .said. fected by all of this, especially plaint of a break-in at the church "There were obscenities writthe mistreatment, the profanation and found Botelho's Massachu- ten on a chalkboard in the parish to the Eucharist," he added. setts drivers license in the sac- center, alongside the words 'I "The rite and the ritual prayers risty. love Anthony,'" he reported. said in cases such as these hopeLater, Botelho and Bedard. "The sacred hosts used in holy fully will bring some healing and were stopped by Officer Communion had been taken from light - and yes, some closure," Labreche as they were walking a c1borium in the tabernacle. he added. by the church. Allegedly, Bedard Most were apparently consumed, Police reported that at least threw a bag of altar breads to the but others were on the floors and one of the intruders allegedly put ground. They were later identi- walls. What is saddest and bothers me is the intent of those who on vestments. Other liturgical fied as unconsecrated hosts. robes were tossed around and a Found in Bedard's backpack did this. Because the ciborium section of a carpet was' damaged were a baptism garment for an in- was not taken, one might confrom a lighted candle. fant, altar wine, a porcelain chal- clude those who did this clearly The teens arrested outside the ice and bag" waterproof ink, a intended to destroy and desecrate church at 306 South Street on the lighter, markers, a camera and a the Eucharist," Father Pignato. afternoon of September 1 by Of- computer mouse. stated.

Bedard, who police said was While there is no evidence of ficers David Labreche and Todd Costa were identified as Anthony barefooted, asked for her shoes satanic or devil worship, Father Botelho, 19, of 197 Main Street, back. A pair of flip-flops were Pignato said drugs are thought to and Mallory Bedard, 17. a fe- found behind the altar. have played a role in the actions male,.of 198 Ver.m<;>nt {\venue.. 1 ' A- subsequent '(search ' 'of "':of those involved. They were charged with Botelho's room at his home by He said reconciliation prayers breaking and entering a building OfficerJared Linhares uncovered following a profanation of a in the nighttime, larceny more .a bag with four gold chalices, a church or sacred space could be than $250 and vandalizing a green and purple chalice, a com- performed by a bishop or a priest.

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ASSONET The second annual.St. Bernard's Discover Assonet Road Race is scheduled for.. nf!.Qn Sunday, duril)g the parish's annual Harvest Festival. The race begins aYl~ ends at the chuf6h, 30 South Main Street in Assonet Village. . ~ Jl lqC'.

ATTLEBORO'l7 St. John's Church;is holding its annual parish picnic from 5 to 8 p.m. September 22, after the 4 ·p.m. Mass. Folk music, jazz music, storytelling, games, and food are among the draws of the event which is billed as "More than a Picnic - Less than a Carnival!" The church is at One St. John's Place.

MANSFIELD - St. Mary's Church will celebrate its 25th Septemberfest from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m, Sunday. Features include pony rides, train rides, games, prizes, food, crafts, baked good tables, raffles, a silent auction, and entertainment. The church is at 130 Pratt Street (Route 106).

NORTH DARTMOUTH - Septemberfest at St. Julie Billiart Church is tomorrow, followed by a parish fair on Sunday. The church is at 494 Slocum Road.

Support Groups BREWSTER - The Lazarus Ministry at Our Lady of the Cape Parish will hold a six-session program to help people grieving the death of a loved one. The second session is scheduled for tonight from 7 to 8:30, and the program continues every Friday night until October 12. The parish is at 468 Stony Brook Road. For more information, call Happy Whitman in the parish office at 508·385·3252 or Eileen Miller at 508-896-4218.

NEW BEDFORD - Courage, a group that helps people who are attracted to members of the same sex live chastely, meets regularly at the rectory of St James's Church at 233 County Street in New Bedford. For more information, call Father Richard Wilson at 508-992-9498.

NORTH DARTMOUTH - "Down to Earth Spirituality for Married Couples," a light-hearted look at finding the sacred in the ordinary experiences of marriage will be presented by Dr. David Thomas September 23 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Family Ufe Center, 500 Slocum Road. To register, call 508-999-6420.

Sept. 17 Rev. Thomas F. McNulty, Pastor, SI. Kilian, New Bedford, 1954 Cardinal Humberto Sousa Medeiros, Archbishop of Boston, 1970-83, Pastor of SI. Michael. Fall River 1960 1966. 1983 .

Rev. Felix Lesnek. SS.Ce., Fonner Associate Pastor, SI. Joseph, Fairltaven, 1991

Sept. 18

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Pope: True Christian,dialogue must include listening as well VATICAN CITY (CNS) - True Christian dialogue includes "listening as well as speaking:' Pope Benedict XVI said in a message to a recent ecumenical meeting of European church leaders.

When people listen to each other, these encounters lead to good relationships that are then based on understanding, which involves a "deepening and transfonnation of our lives as Christians:' he told participants ofthe third European Ecumenical Assembly meeting in Sibiu, Romania.

The September4-9 ecumenical assembly brought together representatives of the Conference of European C'trehes and the Council ofEuropean Bi, !10pS' Conferences. The delegates, \\'. represented European Catholic bi. lOPS' conferences and representatives of the Orthodox, Protestant and Anglican confessions, considered is-

sues ofunity, spirituality, paying common witness, interreligious dialogue, migration, respect for creation, and justice and peace.

In his message, Pope Benedict said, "We Christians must be aware of the task entrusted to us, that of bringing to Europe and the world" the voice of Christ, who said in the Gospel of St. John, "I am the light of the world.

Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but ~ill have the light oflife:' Evangelization is about promoting Christ, not oneself, he said.

"It is our duty to let the light of Christ shine before the men and women of today; not our own light, but the light of Christ," he said.

He urged Christians to work for full and visible Christian unity "and peace for people in Europe," as well as band together to foster "true development" in European communities.

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INTO THE CLEAR - The Basilica of the Shrine of Mariazell in Austria is seen in the early morning as fog hangs in the mountains September 4. The pope visited the famous Marian shrine during his September 7-9.visit to Austria. (CNS photo/Giancarlo Giuliani, Catholic Press Photo) .

ROME (CNS) - The sanctuary at Mariazell may lack the dazzle of more famous Marian shrines, but its simplicity has helped make itAustria's most popular pilgrimage site.

"Mariazell is not a 'spectacular' sanctuary. There are no apparitions or miracles that fill the pages ofnewspapers," said Benedictine Father Karl Schauer, superior of the sanctuary.

'There is no particular fonn of religiosity here, and no particular group has taken over this place for itself," he told the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano.

Perhaps because Mariazell is "so normal," as Father Schauer put it, the place attracts about one million pilgrims each year. They make their way to a mountain valley that is off the beaten track, far from major transportation centers.

Among past pilgrims was Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who last visited Mariazell in 2004, a few months before his election as Pope Benedict XVI. He returned last week to help mark the sanctuary's 850th anniversary.

Tradition holds that a Benedictine monk named Magnus was sent by his monastery to this remote area in 1157 to minister to local Christians. He brought with him a small statue carved from linden wood, depicting Mary with Jesus, who holds an apple while sitting on her lap.

According to legend, near the end of his journey Magnus prayed before the statue at a place where a boulder blocked his path. The boulder split and he continued on his way.

When the monk arrived, local residents helped him build a monastic cell with achapel, where the statue ofMary was kept. The name Mariazell refers to "Mary's cell:' Over the years, as people came to

pray, the statue was credited with and has recently undergone a major miracles and answered prayers, and restoration. It sits atop the site of the church had to be expanded sev- Magnus' original cell, and incorpoeral times to accommodate the ever- rates some parts of the 14th-century increasing crowds.

Gothic church.

By the BOOs, the sanctuary was Mariazell continued as a regional drawing pilgrims from regions that devotional center even under Eurotoday are part of Austria, Hungary, pean communism, when pilgrimages France, Italy, Croatia, Czech Repub- from neighboring Eastern European lic, Switzerland, Gennany and Poland. countries were restricted.

Our Lady of Mariazell has been honIn 1983, Polish-born Pope John ored as Austria's Great Mother, the Paul IT became the first pope to, visit Mother of the Slavic Peoples and the Mariazell. Pope Benedict will follow patroness of Hungary. in his footsteps, celebrating Mass and In 1377, King Louis of Hungary 'presiding over vespers with priests, built a Gothic church at the site, in . religious and seminarians. thanks for an earlier military victory Austrian Church leaders describe over Thrkjsh forces.

Mariazell as "a place for everyone," Under the House of Habsburg, a and note that ithas hosted important leading defender of the Counter-Ref- ecumenical encounters in recent years. ormation, Mariazell was made a naFather Schauer said Mariazell also tional shrine in the 17th century, fur- appeals to fallen-away Catholics who ther stimulating pilgrimages. come in pilgrimage.

The modem Basilica ofthe Shrine 'They are better able to find a home of Mariazell dates to the mid-l600s; here than elsewhere:' he said.

LEGENDARY ARTWORK - The statue of Our Lady of Mariazell is seen at the Marian shrine in Mariazell, Austria. (CNS photo/courtesy of Papstbesuch 2007)