Feb. 25, 2005

February 25, 2005

The Catholic News & Herald 1

www.charlottediocese.org

Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte

Year of the Eucharist

Understanding the Mystery of the Mass, Part 9; eucharistic adoration list

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Established Jan. 12, 1972

by Pope Paul VI February 25, 2005

Serving Catholics in Western North Carolina in the Diocese of Charlotte

Secrets, superstitions, sainthood

Charlotte Diocese in compliance with charter to protect children New audit finds near-total compliance of dioceses with sex-abuse policies

Sister Lucia dos Santos dies Feb. 13

by

by CINDY WOODEN catholic news service

See FATIMA, page 5

no. 21

Protecting God’s Children

Pope, cardinal talk of last Fatima visionary

VATICAN CITY — When Carmelite Sister Lucia dos Santos — the last of three Fatima visionaries — was buried in mid-February, a surprising number of people believed still-secret secrets of Fatima were buried with her.

Her Feb. 13 death also led to widespread discussion in Italy about the number 13, given the fact that the Blessed Virgin Mary promised to appear to Lucia and her two cousins on the 13th of the month. The apparitions took place from May 13 to Oct. 13, 1917.

And, of course, discussion began almost immediately about when the process to canonize her would begin. Her

vOLUME 14

KEVIN E. MURRAY editor

CHARLOTTE — The Diocese of Charlotte is among the 96 percent of the 195 U.S. dioceses and Eastern-rite eparchies in implementing every applicable article of the U.S. bishops’ policies to prevent clergy sex abuse of minors as of Dec. 31, 2004, according to an independent audit released Feb. 18.

The statistics are contained in the 2004 annual report on the implementation of the “Charter See CHARTER, page 8

CNS photo from Reuters

Worshippers surround the casket of Carmelite Sister Lucia dos Santos as it leaves the Coimbra cathedral following her funeral in central Portugal Feb. 15. Sister Lucia, the last of three children who claimed to have seen the Virgin Mary at Fatima, died Feb. 13 at age 97.

Welcoming the elect

Bishop Jugis celebrates rite of election by

KAREN A. EVANS staff writer

Photo by Karen A. Evans

Bishop Peter J. Jugis presides over the rite of election and call to contin-uing conversion at St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Charlotte Feb 19.

CHARLOTTE — Each year, the Catholic Church welcomes tens of thousands of adult converts into full communion through the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA). Nearly 700 of these neophytes, or new Catholics, join the church in the Diocese of Charlotte annually.

Real ID decried as excessive

National, local critics say House bill will hurt people, nation

by PATRICIA ZAPOR catholic news service

RCIA is the rite in which adults are baptized, confirmed and receive the Eucharist. RCIA was restored by the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s as the suitable way adults prepare to receive these sacraments.

Bishop Peter J. Jugis welcomed hundreds of these soonto-be Catholics from the diocese

WASHINGTON — Despite opposition from faith groups, governors, state motor vehicle departments, unions and organizations representing Hispanics, Native Americans, refugees and immigrants, the House voted 261-161 Feb. 10 to limit drivers licenses to people who can prove they are citizens or legal immigrants.

The U.S. bishops’ migration committee chairman had been among those encouraging the

See RCIA, page 9

See REAL ID, page 13

Around the Diocese

Perspectives

Parish Profile

St. Pat’s parade coming to Charlotte; Knights raise funds for needy

Healing for those in need; communal anointing of the sick

A spirit of Christian love: St. Paul the Apostle Church touches lives of many in Guilford County

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2 The Catholic News & Herald

InBrief

February 25, 2005

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

Supreme Court rejects request to reconsider Roe vs. Wade WASHINGTON (CNS) — The Supreme Court Feb. 22 turned down a request that it reconsider its 1973 Roe vs.

Wade ruling that legalized abortion.

Norma McCorvey, who was identified as “Jane Roe” in the 1973 case, and Sandra Cano, the “Mary Doe” of the companion Doe vs. Bolton ruling, petitioned the court to set aside the decisions, or at least order a new trial on the merits for reversal.

Neither Cano nor McCorvey ever had the abortions at issue in their cases.

Both women now oppose abortion. Their effort to see the Roe and Doe decisions overturned is backed by 33 women from 19 states who say they regret having had abortions.

Without comment, the court rejected the appeal.

Americans United for Life said the problem is the court’s current makeup.

“The justices’ refusal to consider this case shows that they won’t consider the growing evidence that abortion hurts

Mission of faith

Diocesan planner CNS photo from Agencia O Globo, Ailton de Freitas

The coffin of U.S. missionary Sister Dorothy Stang is carried by members of the Landless Movement during funeral services Feb. 15 in Anapu, Brazil. Sister Stang, a member of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, lived in Brazil’s Amazon region for nearly four decades, working to protect the land rights of peasants and speaking out concerning the ecological dangers of deforestation.

Murdered nun spoke of ‘great struggle’ in one of her last BALTIMORE (CNS) — In what might have been her last letter before she was murdered Feb. 12, U.S. missionary Sister Dorothy Stang spoke of the “great struggle” in Brazil, where she had spent nearly 40 years.

The letter was to her fellow Sister of Notre Dame de Namur and longtime close friend, Sister Barbara Ann English, director of Baltimore’s Julie Community Center. The two had spent nearly 20 years together in Brazil before Sister English returned to the United States in 1985.

In the card,” Sister Stang wrote: “Yes, we are in a great struggle, and the sense of solidarity is our source of life.”

Sister English received the note Feb. 11. The next day she learned that “Dot,” her 73-year-old “sister, colleague, friend and co-madre” had been shot four times in the chest and head by a pair of gunmen while she was visiting a remote rural encampment near Anapu, on the outskirts of the Amazon jungle.

Sister Stang had been a missionary in Brazil for almost 40 years, and for the past 22 years she worked in the Amazon with the poor and landless as she joined in the struggle to preserve the rain forest.

Sister English, 71, had just returned from the funeral of another nun when she got a phone call about Sister Stang’s death. Sister English was shocked and grief-stricken, but not surprised.

“It wasn’t that this could happen, because it could have happened to any one of us at any time,” she said.

She knew that her friend had been on a hit list, and she remembered how the danger of being killed had been almost ever-present when she worked in Brazil during the years of the military dictatorship of the 1960s and ’70s.

“We lived with landowners and people that were hired by big companies who terrorized with guns and machine guns,” she said. But, the people for whom she and Sister Stang and other Sisters provided pastoral care “are the people you work with and love, and so you go on about your business. You can’t allow yourself to be terrorized.”

Sister English said her heart is full of memories of the woman who had wanted to be a missionary since she was a child, the woman she calls a pioneer and martyr.

After a 2004 visit, Sister English said Sister Stang told her: “I have learned that faith sustains you, and I have also learned that three things are difficult: One, as a woman to be taken seriously in the struggle for land reform; two, to stay faithful to believing that these small groups of poor farmers will prevail in organizing and carrying their own agenda forward; and three, to have the courage to give your life in the struggle for change.”

ASHEVILLE VICARIATE ASHEVILLE — Father Frank Cancro, pastor of St. Eugene Church, will share his wisdom from leading pilgrimages all over the world as part of “In the Footsteps of Pilgrims: Historic Travels of Faith,” a gallery exhibit and lecture series on religious pilgrimages hosted by UNC Asheville. The lunchtime lecture will take place March 1, 12:15-1 p.m. in the Highsmith University Union Gallery, 1 University Heights.

For more information, call UNC Asheville’s Center for Diversity Education at (828) 2325024.

ASHEVILLE — St. Joan of Arc Church, 919 Haywood Rd., will hold a Lenten Mission March 6, 7 and 8 at 7 p.m. Msgr. Michael Flanagan of Cross International will present the mission, “Living in the Peace of God’s Love and Healing.”

Cross International was founded to forge a meaningful link between parishes in America and the bishops, priests, nuns and lay leaders working overseas in places like Africa, Belize, Trinidad, Haiti and the Philippines. For more information, call the church office at (828) 252-3151 CHARLOTTE VICARIATE CHARLOTTE — Msgr. John McSweeney will be giving presentations on what Vatican II was and its importance to the Church. All sessions will meet in the New Life Center, room 102, of St. Matthew Church, 8015 Ballantyne Commons Pkwy. The program meets Mondays, March 7 and 21; and April 4 from 7-8:15 p.m. or Tuesdays, March 1, 8 and 22; and April 5, 6:307:45 p.m. Childcare is available by reservation at (704) 543-7677 ext. 1011.

CHARLOTTE — St. Thomas Aquinas Catho-

women physically, emotionally and psychologically,” said Dorinda Bordlee, senior legislative counsel for Americans United for Life.

“While unfortunate, the decision from this court was expected. This proves the need for justices who will respect selfgovernment,” said Bordlee. “In a matter as weighty as this, the people should decide, not unelected judges.”

The Roe decision threw out most state restrictions on abortion, while the Doe decision permitted abortions through all nine months of pregnancy.

Chief Justice William Rehnquist and Justices Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia have said Roe was wrongly decided and should be overturned.

However, it is rare for the court to reopen a case based on changed circumstances. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in September threw out the lawsuit, saying McCorvey’s claims were no longer relevant because the Texas abortion ban of that era had long ago been repealed.

lic Church, 1400 Suther Rd., will host “Weaving One Heart: Welcoming the Stranger” March 6, 12:30- 4:30 p.m. This educational forum will provide an overview on the plight of refugees and offer suggestions on how parishes can welcome and foster relationships with refugees resettling in the Charlotte region. The speaker will be Mary Morton from the Office of Migration and Refugee Services, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

The event is sponsored by the Office of Justice and Peace and the Refugee Resettlement Office of Catholic Social Services. Visit www.cssnc.org/ justicepeace for further information and to register, or call Terri Jarina at (704) 370-3234.

CHARLOTTE — Bishop Peter J. Jugis will be the celebrant at a Mass celebrating the gifts of those with mental retardation March 6 at 5:30 p.m. at St. Gabriel Church, 3016 Providence Rd. Parishioners and visitors with varying degrees of mental retardation will serve as musicians, lectors, greeters and ushers. For more information, contact Mary Kennedy, St. Gabriel disABILITY Ministry, at (704) 364-6964.

GASTONIA VICARIATE BELMONT — Queen of the Apostles Church, 503 N. Main St., will host the monthly meeting of the Gaston Coalition for a Moratorium Now (GCMN) March 3, 7-8 p.m. in the Msgr. Anthony Kovacic Center. GCMN is a grassroots organization calling for the reform of North Carolina’s capital punishment system, through educational forums, contacting state legislators and execution vigils.

Contact George Burazer for more information at (704) 822-6350.

BELMONT — A Lenten Supper-Study Series will take place in the Msgr. Anthony Kovacic Center at Queen of the Apostles Church, 503 N. Main St., Wednesdays, March 2 and 9. A shared meal begins at 6 p.m., and catechesis begins at 6:45 p.m. The theme this season is “The Eucharist as Sacrament, as Devotion, as Uniter/Divider and

FEBRUARY 25, 2 0 0 5 Volume 14 • Number 21 Publisher: Most Reverend Peter J. Jugis Editor: Kevin E. Murray Staff Writer: Karen A. Evans Graphic Designer: Tim Faragher Advertising Representative: Cindi Feerick Secretary: Deborah Hiles 1123 South Church St., Charlotte, NC 28203 Mail: P.O. Box 37267, Charlotte, NC 28237 Phone: (704) 370-3333 FAX: (704) 370-3382 E-mail: catholicnews@charlottediocese.org

The Catholic News & Herald, USPC 007-393, is published by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte, 1123 South Church St., Charlotte, NC 28203, 44 times a year, weekly except for Christmas week and Easter week and every two weeks during June, July and August for $15 per year for enrollees in parishes of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte and $23 per year for all other subscribers. The Catholic News & Herald reserves the right to reject or cancel advertising for any reason deemed appropriate. We do not recommend or guarantee any product, service or benefit claimed by our advertisers.

Second-class postage paid at Charlotte NC and other cities. POSTMASTER: Send address corrections to The Catholic News & Herald, P.O. Box 37267, Charlotte, NC 28237.

The Catholic News & Herald 3

February 25, 2005

FROM THE VATICAN

Pope to issue letter on recent trends in media, communications president of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, addressed the press conference, along with other officials of the pontifical council.

Last year, the pope met with pontifical council members as they marked the 40th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council’s Decree on the Instruments of Social Communication (“Inter Mirifica”).

That decree called on members of the church, especially laity, to instill a “human and Christian spirit” into newspapers, magazines, books, films, radio and television.

For many years, the pope has issued an annual message to mark the World Day of Social Communications. In recent years, the pontifical council has issued a document on media ethics and two documents on the Internet.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — In an as Way of Life.” Free and open to all — no fees or pre-registration necessary. Please call Dennis Teall-Fleming at (704) 825-9600, ext. 26 or e-mail teallfleming@yahoo.com if you have any questions.

GREENSBORO VICARIATE GREENSBORO — Anyone currently unemployed or concerned about their present employment situation is invited to attend the Re-employment Support Group held in the Parish Life Center, Room 8, of St. Paul the Apostle Church, 2715 Horse Pen Creek Rd. The group will meet March 3, 17 and 31, April 14 and 28 and May 12 and 26, 7:30-9 p.m. For more information, call Colleen Assal, (294) 4696, ext. 226. Anyone with knowledge of job opportunities is asked to call Colleen to share them with the group.

GREENSBORO — The Ladies Ancient Order of Hibernians, Guilford County Division, will hold its monthly meeting March 3 in the St. Pius Church Kloster Center meeting room, 2210 North Elm St., at 7:30 p.m. The division is having an “Irish Cream Tea” March 16 at 3 p.m. at the O. Henry Hotel, 624 Green Valley Rd. For more information, contact Mary Giff at (336) 855-7014 or Marilyn Conte at (336) 632-1340.

GREENSBORO — The Greensboro Council of Catholic Women will present its annual Lenten Mini Retreat at the Franciscan Center, 233 N. Greene St. Mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m. followed by coffee and light refreshments. The retreat dates are Thursdays, March 3, 10 and 17.

This is an opportunity for all of us to do something extra during Lent. For more information, please contact Carmen Wood (336) 545-9266.

HICKORY VICARIATE

contact Carole Marmorato at (828) 256-8956.

SALISBURY VICARIATE SALISBURY — Michael Matthews, Catholic evangelist and former Baptist minister, will be joining Sacred Heart Catholic Church, 128 North Fulton St., March 6-8 at 7 p.m. for the Sacred Heart Lenten Mission. Matthews will share his journey to the Catholic faith, including things every Catholic should know.

The topic for the following nights will be “Bread from Heaven: the Eucharist in Scripture.” Childcare provided. Contact the church office (704) 633-0591 for more information.

ongoing attempt to negotiate agreements called for by a 1993 treaty, Vatican and Israeli representatives met Feb. 17 in Jerusalem and agreed to hold further meetings in March and April.

A source close to the Vatican negotiators told Catholic News Service the meeting lasted less than three hours, but after a December meeting was canceled and a January meeting was postponed the fact that the two sides met was positive.

The 1993 Fundamental Agreement between the Vatican and Israel, which led the way to full diplomatic relations, specified that further negotiations were to be held to develop treaties on legal and fiscal issues.

The current talks are focused on the church’s long-standing exemption from local property taxes — an exemption the government unilaterally revoked in 2002 — and on the Vatican’s insistence that property disputes involving the church be resolved in a court of law, not by politicians.

On the Israeli side, the Vatican source said, “there were promises and assurances of good faith. We are awaiting further developments.”

“There is openness on the Israeli side, but we are waiting for that to be translated into a text,” which would be

legally binding on both sides, he said.

“The problems are not technically difficult,” he said, but the Israeli government must decide whether concrete relations with the Catholic Church will continue to be a matter handled politically by the government or will be normalized and recognized in Israeli law.

The choice, he said, is that issues involving the Catholic Church and church property in Israel would continue to be “determined by executive order or begin to be determined by rule of law. Will they move from a situation of control to mutually agreed rights and duties?”

The source said he is convinced that the Feb. 17 meeting would not have taken place at all if the U.S. government had not put pressure on the Israeli government to return to the negotiations.

Israeli Franciscan Father David Jaeger, an expert on Vatican-Israeli relations, told Vatican Radio: “There was a good atmosphere. The people involved have known each other for some time” and are committed to concrete results.

The Israeli ambassador to the Vatican, Oded Ben-Hur, told Vatican Radio: “Obviously, I share this sense of optimism. The serious intention and the good will on the part of Israel to arrive, finally, at the conclusion of these negotiations have been understood.”

Buzzing at the spelling bee

SMOKY MOUNTAIN VICARIATE SYLVA — In lieu of adoration of the Blessed Sacrament on the first Saturday of March, St. Mary Church, 28 Bartlett St., will be having a 24-hour uninterrupted Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament following the 9 a.m. Mass on March 4. For details, call the church office at (828) 586-9496.

MURPHY — Rev. Arnaldo Lugo will preach the third in a series of Community Lenten Worship Services March 2, 12-12:30 p.m. at St. William Church, 765 Andrews Rd. The series is designed to strengthen ecumenical bonds within the community. For more information, call Joan Kennedy at (828) 837-8519.

WINSTON-SALEM VICARIATE CLEMMONS — A Healing Mass will be celebrated at Holy Family Church, 4820 Kinnamon Rd., March 7 at 7:30 p.m. A priest will be available to hear confessions at 7 p.m. For more information call Jim Passero (336) 998-7503.

Courtesy Photo by Pam Gendoes

HICKORY — The annual World Day of Prayer ecumenical worship service will be held at First Presbyterian Church March 4 at 7 p.m. This bilingual service was written by Christian Women of Panama. The theme is “Let Our Light Shine.” The guest speaker will be Emmanuel Gitlin. A native of Poland, he is professor emeritus of religion at Lenoir-Rhyne College. For more information,

Episcopal

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope John Paul II has written an apostolic letter on recent trends in media and communications, the Vatican said.

The letter, titled “The Rapid Development,” was released at a Vatican press conference Feb. 21. The letter was relatively brief — under 20 pages — and addressed primarily to those responsible for social communications.

In addition to looking at the way Catholics can and must use the media and interact with them, the pope called for greater public involvement with the running of newspapers, television and radio stations.

“If the communications media are a good destined for all humanity, then ever-new means must be found ... to make possible a true participation in thei management by all,” the pope said.

U.S. Archbishop John P. Foley,

Vatican, Israeli representatives meet in Jerusalem, set more meetings

calendar

Is your parish or school sponsoring a free event open to the general public? Please submit notices for the Diocesan Planner at least 15 days prior to the event date in writing to Karen A. Evans at kaevans@ charlottediocese.org or fax to (704) 370-3382.

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

Belmont Abbey, Belmont March 5 —11 a.m. Mass Institution to Ministry of Lector Permanent Diaconate Candidates and Rite of Recommitment St. Patrick Cathedral, Charlotte

Students from various Mecklenburg Area Catholic Schools participated in the MACS spelling bee, hosted by St. Matthew School Jan. 20. The winner was Patrick O’Brien from St. Gabriel School; the runner-up was Kacie Watson from Our Lady of the Assumption School. For more school news, see page 6.

Galveston-Houston now an archdiocese HOUSTON (CNS) — With the reading of the papal decree during a special Mass Feb. 16 at St. Michael the Archangel Church in Houston, the establishment of Galveston-Houston as an archdiocese became official.

The decree was read by Archbishop Gabriel Montalvo, apostolic nuncio to the United States.

Pope John Paul II divided the state of Texas into two ecclesiastical provinc-

es Dec. 29, making Galveston-Houston an archdiocese and the metropolitan see for six other eastern Texas dioceses — Austin, Tyler, Beaumont, Victoria, Corpus Christi and Brownsville.

The other archdiocese in the state, San Antonio, remains the metropolitan see for seven other dioceses — Dallas, Fort Worth, Amarillo, Lubbock, San Angelo, Laredo and El Paso.

4 The Catholic News & Herald

around the diocese

Ninth annual St. Pat’s parade coming to

For the least among us

CHARLOTTE — The Ninth Annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade and Festival will take place in uptown Charlotte on Saturday, March 12.

James Babb, president of Babb Communications, will serve as grand marshal and Moira Quinn, interim president and senior vice president for communications for Charlotte Center City Partners, will be deputy grand marshal.

Catholic schools and other local Catholic organizations, including the Knights of Columbus and Ancient Order of Hibernians, were among the 80 groups marching in last year’s parade.

This year’s parade, which runs along Tryon Steet past St. Peter Church, is expected to be the largest yet.

The festival, which is free and open to the public, will feature live Irish music, food, activities for children and an “Irish Marketplace,” which will feature Irish arts and crafts.

The headline band will be The Wolfe Tones’ Derek Warfield on tour direct from Ireland. The Federal Brothers Band also will perform throughout the day, as well as performances by Mulligan’s Banned and Rince na H’Eireann School of Irish Dance and Walsh Kelley School of Irish Dance.

KERNERSVILLE — On behalf of the The Lamb Foundation of North Carolina, Inc., the Knights of Columbus Council 8509 at Holy Cross Church in Kernersville reported Feb. 16 that it had raised almost $22,000 in 2004 to benefit mentally handicapped adults and children in North Carolina.

“Eighty five percent of this amount will be distributed to requesting organizations in Forsyth County and will be combined with funds raised by three other Knights of Columbus councils in Forsyth County,” said David Thomas, the council’s 2004 local coordinator.

The funds will be distributed to the organizations during a private dinner at St. Leo the Great Church in Winston-Salem March 10.

“The North Carolina State Knights of Columbus will distribute the remaining 15 percent,” said Thomas.

The councils in Forsyth County have raised more than $92,000 the past three years to support both local and state organizations for schools with mentally handicapped programs. One hundred percent of all funds raised is used for charitable purposes as designated.

“We enjoyed an extremely fine campaign along with the dedicated time and effort of so many workers,” said Fred Hogan, council publicity chairman. “Many of them came from

February 25, 2005

Kernersville Knights raise funds for local organizations

Photo by Kevin E. Murray

An unidentified “leprechaun” marches in last year’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade in uptown Charlotte. This year’s parade is scheduled for March 12.

WANT TO GO The free parade begins 11 a.m. on Saturday, March 12, at Tryon and Stonewall Streets and runs north up Tryon Street. The free festival, which runs 10 a.m.-10 p.m., will be at the corner of Tryon and 3rd Streets. For more info, call Linda Dyer Hart at (704) 542-6846 or go online at www. charlottesstpatsday.com.

HAVE A STORY TO SHARE? Are you Catholic, but your spouse is not? Were you married in a Catholic church?

If you have an “interfaith family” and would like to share your story in an upcoming issue of The Catholic News & Herald, please contact Staff Writer Karen A. Evans at (704) 370-3354 or e-mail kaevans@charlottediocese.org.

‘We enjoyed an extremely fine campaign along with the dedicated time and effort of so many workers.’ outside our parish limits, willing to assist as they knew of the good and generous outcome of this particular charitable program.”

The Knights of Columbus, an international service organization founded in 1882 in New Haven, Conn., has more than 1.5 million members worldwide. The Knights emphasize charity in each council’s local community.

The services the Knights provide are entirely volunteer and range from fund-raising for the underprivileged to highway cleanup efforts. In December 2004, Council 8509 collected 17 bags of garbage and a large bag of aluminum cans along Hastings Hill Road in Kernersville.

February 25, 2005

The Catholic News & Herald 5

from the cover

‘May the Lord repay her abundantly for the great and hidden service she gave the church.’ — Pope John Paul II

Pope, cardinal talk of last Fatima FATIMA, from page 1

cousins, Francisco and Jacinta Marto, were beatified — a step toward sainthood — in 2000.

Italian Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone of Genoa, who celebrated Sister Lucia’s funeral in the pope’s name, discussed all three issues with the press.

In 2000, when Pope John Paul II, who met Sister Lucia three times, ordered the publication of the so-called “third secret” of Fatima — a description of a vision the Blessed Virgin Mary showed the children — groups such as the Canadian-based Fatima Center immediately began claiming that the publication was incomplete and the Vatican was hiding something.

And when Sister Lucia died, the Fatima Center posted a message on its Web site saying it would continue a “campaign for the release of the full third secret.”

But Cardinal Bertone, who had spent hours with Sister Lucia discussing the third secret and the Vatican’s interpretation of it before it was published, categorically denied anything remains a secret.

“I can say, without any doubt, that it is absolutely certain that everything having to do with the secret of Fatima has been revealed and that the third part of the secret is contained in the four pages that we published in their entirety and which correspond exactly to the letter written personally by Sister Lucia,” Cardinal Bertone said Feb. 14 before flying to Portugal for the funeral.

The cardinal said he was aware that people, despite the affirmations of Pope John Paul, continue to claim there is more to the secret, but he insists the Vatican published everything in its possession.

“I explicitly asked Sister Lucia if she had written something before or after what has been published of the third secret. She herself confirmed that she had

CNS file photo from KNA

Sister Lucia dos Santos meets with Pope John Paul II May 13, 1982, in Fatima, Portugal. The pope credited the Virgin Mary with helping him to survive the assassination attempt in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican one year earlier, on the feast of Our Lady of Fatima. written nothing either before or after,” Cardinal Bertone said.

‘Great and hidden service’ Pope John Paul II said he was deeply moved when he heard that Sister Lucia “was called by the heavenly Father to his eternal dwelling place.”

Sister Lucia died in the Carmelite cloister in Coimbra, Portugal, at 97.

“I remember with emotion the various meetings I had with her and the bonds of spiritual friendship that intensified with the passing of time,” Pope John Paul said.

“May the Lord repay her abundantly for the great and hidden service she gave the church,” the pope wrote to Bishop Albino Mamede Cleto of Coimbra.

The Portuguese girl was only 10 years old when she and her two younger cousins claimed they saw the Blessed Virgin Mary at Fatima in 1917. The Catholic Church has ruled that the apparitions and the messages from Our Lady of Fatima were worthy of belief.

In 2000, Pope John Paul ordered the publication of the so-called “third secret” of Fatima, which he believed referred to the 20th-century persecution of the church under Nazism and communism and spoke of the 1981 attempt to assassinate him.

The pope was shot May 13, 1981, the anniversary of the first of the Fatima apparitions.

Pope John Paul has said he believes Mary saved his life that day; he sent one of the bullets removed from his abdomen to Fatima, where it is part of the crown on the statue of Our Lady.

Cardinal Bertone was asked by reporters to comment on the number 13.

“The fact that the number 13 connects almost all the apparitions and was the date of the attempted assassination of the pope is something more than simple coincidence, I think,” the cardinal said.

“In the same way, I think it is a heavenly sign that the Madonna called Sister

Lucia to herself precisely on the 13th of February,” the cardinal said.

The cardinal said people should remember the 13th of each month, “not out of superstition,” but simply because God and the Blessed Virgin Mary had done extraordinary things on that date in the past.

Cardinal Bertone said he last visited Sister Lucia in November 2003 and told her that he would come visit her again.

“She told me that I would not see her alive again, but that I would come only to bless her casket. She knew even this,” the cardinal told reporters.

“I am not saying this was a prophecy, but it was the simple truth,” he said.

Beatifying the visionary After the funeral, Cardinal Bertone confirmed that Sister Lucia’s computer and all the letters, diaries and other written material found in her cell at the cloister had been collected and sealed.

“They will be examined one by one in the process for her beatification, which will begin soon,” the cardinal said.

However, Cardinal Bertone did not give any timeline for the official opening of her cause, nor did he indicate whether he thought Pope John Paul would waive church rules requiring a five-year waiting period before the process could begin.

Jesuit Father Paolo Molinari, postulator of the cause for Blesseds Francisco and Jacinta, said he personally believes it is important to wait.

“We must avoid the danger of people thinking that she is being beatified or canonized just because of the visions,” he said Feb. 16.

“The apparitions of Our Lady and what Our Lady said certainly had an impact on Sister Lucia’s life,” he said, but they did not make her holy.

“She accepted the message and she lived according to the message for more than 80 years, offering her life for the sake of sinners. This is holiness, not just receiving the grace of a vision,” the Jesuit said.

The five-year wait allows the church to confirm that a large number of the faithful around the world recognize in a prospective saint a special way of living the Christian faith and helping “bring God’s love, mercy and goodness into the world because she modeled her life on the life of Jesus Christ,” Father Molinari said.

In his message to Bishop Cleto, the pope said that with her death Sister Lucia “reached the goal she always aspired to in prayer and in the silence of the convent.”

“Sister Lucia leaves us an example of great fidelity to the Lord and of joyfully

6 The Catholic News & Herald

in our schools

February 25, 2005

Catholic student band members honored, perform in local events

Photo by Carole McGrotty

Seventh-graders at Asheville Catholic School learn to read and write Japanese during part of a two-day workshop in February.

Asheville Catholic students learn art of Japanese writing by

CAROLE McGROTTY correspondent

ASHEVILLE — In conjunction with their ongoing studies of Japan, seventh-graders at Asheville Catholic School were recently treated to a two-day workshop on the art of Japanese writing and language taught by a World War II veteran.

Bryan Battey, who learned Japanese in the U.S. Navy and served as a translator for captured Japanese soldiers, showed the students the history of the written Japanese language as an art form of symbols and characters dating back to 700 A.D. School librarian Pamela Budd, who spent three weeks in Japan in November as part of a Fulbright Memorial Fund Teaching Program, saw Battey’s demonstration at an Asheville Arts Council showcase and invited him to enrich the seventh-graders’ study of Japan.

Battey taught the students how to write many of the Japanese characters and form basic radicals, or root words, from which other words are formed.

By the second session, students were asking about “stroke order” and “key strokes” of characters, and how to form different words.

In addition to how to write Japanese words, Battey also taught the students the cultural significance of many words

in the language.

The Chinese originally carried the first written language to Japan to teach about Buddhism, Battey explained.

“They kept the pictures simple so the uneducated could learn the language quickly,” he said.

For example, said Battey, to express a loud noise, a symbol of three women talking was used. For louder noises, the characters representing four dragons were used.

The seventh-graders were familiar with the Japanese word “samurai,” so Battey explained that samurai began as a group of men to defend against bandits who were stealing grain from wealthy farmers. But in time, some samurai began taking advantage of the poor, forcing them to pay for protection; thus, the symbol for samurai eventually became one for an unsavory person.

Students also learned the symbol for nine with round trip (“maru”) is, according to Battey, included in “all seagoing cargo vessels in Japan, because they believe the ship will go off and never be seen again without it.”

Teacher Sue Banks said the students were very interested in the workshop.

“They really got into this,” she said.

CHARLOTTE — As a result of recent auditions, students from Charlotte Catholic High School and Holy Trinity Catholic Middle School in Charlotte gained membership in area honors band and orchestra programs.

Several Charlotte Catholic students were selected for the South Central All District Concert Band Festival, which took place Jan. 29-31 in Mooresville. The top students from instrumental music programs across a six-county area are picked annually for the band.

Charlotte Catholic students selected were Kris Bahar, Deanna Becker, Mark Binetti, Jenna Harper, Megan Hermance, Alexandra Reinhart and Emily Sharp, with Emily Freeman and Kaitlin Gilbride picked as alternates.

In addition, Charlotte Catholic’s Chelsey Conrad, Andrew Randazzo and Andrew Mack were selected for the All District Jazz Band Festival, a new event planned this year for Feb. 28 at Lenoir-Rhyne College in Hickory.

A number of students from Holy Trinity Catholic Middle School also were selected for the All District Concert Band Festival. They were Alexan-

dra Boss, Ryan Brennan, Eric Gleeson, John Luttrell, Becca Mack, Keagan Maryman, Evan Peleaux, Carianne Schlie and Hilary Sharp. Maggie Luttrell was selected as an alternate.

Charlotte Catholic High School Band plans to participate in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Charlotte March 12, the South Central District Band Festival in Shelby and the North American Music Festival in New York in April.

Holy Trinity’s sixth-grade band will perform the home opening game of the Charlotte Knights baseball season this spring, while the eighth-grade band will participate in the Smoky Mountain Music Festival in Gatlinburg, Tenn., in May.

February 25, 2005

year of the eucharist

Spiritual foundation for the Liturgy of the Word

Understanding the Mystery of the Mass, Part For the last several weeks, we have been considering the Introductory Rites of the Mass. We discovered that as the highest form of prayer, the Mass teaches us how to pray.

The Mass begins with the Penitential Rite, which allows us the opportunity to confess our need for God’s abundant mercy. Likewise, prayer begins with the humble recognition of one’s inadequacy in the presence of God. After recognizing our sinfulness and God’s abundant mercy, we are moved to praise and adore the Blessed Trinity in the ancient hymn known as the Gloria.

Likewise, prayer moves from humility and repentance to praise and adoration.

Finally, the Introductory Rites of the Mass reach their culmination and fulfillment in the Opening Collect or Prayer.

The celebrant collects the petitions and intercessions of the sacrifice and implores the Father through the Son in the Holy Spirit. Prayer, as in the Mass, then moves from praise and adoration to petition and intercession.

So far, the Introductory Rites of the Mass teach us that prayer has the following form: humility, praise and petition.

But there is still a further component to prayer, beyond the scope of what we have already accomplished. We must listen to the voice of the Lord. We must be receptive to the Word of God. Prayer, too, becomes more receptive and meditative as we listen to the voice of God. And so, the Mass moves from the Introductory Rites to the Liturgy of the Word. The congregation is seated to listen attentively as God instructs his people.

Perhaps the most beautiful papal teaching on the holy sacrifice of the Mass, “Mediator Dei,” written by Pope Pius XII in 1947, explains the encounter with Christ in the Liturgy of the Word: “In the sacred liturgy, the whole Christ is proposed to us in all the circumstances of his life, as the Word of the eternal Father, as born of the Virgin Mother of God, as he who teaches us truth, heals the sick, consoles the afflicted, who endures suffering and who dies; finally, as he who rose triumphantly from the dead, and who, reigning in the glory of Heaven, sends us the Holy Paraclete, and who abides in his Church forever....

“The liturgy shows us Christ not only as a model to be imitated but as a

Guest Column Father Matthew Buettner guest columnist

master to whom we should listen readily, a shepherd whom we should follow, as author of our salvation, the source of our holiness and the head of the mystical body whose members we are, living by his very life....

“Hence, the liturgical year, devotedly fostered and accompanied by the Church, is not a cold and lifeless representation of the events of the past, or a simple and bare record of a former age. It is rather Christ himself, who is ever living in his Church (No. 151-153; 163-165).”

In other words, Pope Pius XII teaches that the Liturgy of the Word is not a simple recounting of historical events; it is not merely the formal reading of sacred texts; it is not a quaint reminder of our past; but rather the recapitulation of the saving work of our Lord.

Through the faithful proclamation of salvation history found in sacred Scripture, we gain access to the saving mysteries of our faith. The events of the past are brought into the present. The mysteries of the life of Our Lord are brought into light today to continue and to fulfill the work of salvation in each generation.

Christ continues his redemptive activity, his mission of teaching the truth that sets us free. As his present day disciples, we have a privileged place of honor sitting at the feet of the master, listening to him, listening to the voice of the good shepherd who leads us to eternal life.

St. John Eudes wrote, “We must continue to accomplish in ourselves the stages of Jesus’ life and his mysteries and often to beg him to perfect and realize them in us and in his whole Church....”

(Liturgy of the Hours, Friday, week 33).

Next week we will examine how the divine mysteries are unfolded as we look at the structure of the Liturgy of the Word.

Father Buettner is parochial vicar of St. Dorothy Church in Lincolnton.

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Rates: $.70/word per issue ($14 minimum per issue) Deadline: 12 noon Wednesday, 9 days before publication How to order: Ads may be E-mailed to ckfeerick@charlottediocese.org, faxed to (704) 370-3382 or mailed to: Cindi Feerick, The Catholic News & Herald, 1123 S. Church St., Charlotte, NC 28203.

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

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Adoration of the Eucharist is offered at the following churches: Andrews Holy Redeemer Church Fridays, 9-10 a.m., with confessions ending

with Benediction Arden St. Barnabas Church Sundays, 1-10 p.m.; weekdays, 6 a.m.-10 p.m., Saturdays, 6 a.m.-4 p.m.

Asheboro St. Joseph Church first Fridays following 8:15 a.m. Mass until 1 p.m.

Asheville Basilica of St. Lawrence daily, 6 a.m.-9 p.m.

Belmont Abbey Mary, Help of Christians Church daily, 5 a.m.-10 p.m.

Boone St. Elizabeth Church first Fridays following the 12:15 p.m.

Mass for one hour Bryson City St. Joseph Church first Fridays following 5:15 p.m. Mass (unless o therwise posted) until 6:30 p.m.

Charlotte Our Lady of the Assumption Church first Fridays, following 7 p.m. Mass for one hour St. Gabriel Church perpetual adoration St. Matthew Church Fridays following 9 a.m. Mass until 9 a.m.

Saturday, in chapel St. Peter Church first Fridays following the 12:10 p.m. Mass with Benediction at 1:30 p.m.

St. Thomas Aquinas Church Friday evenings, 7:30-8:30 p.m.; first Fridays following 12:15 p.m. Mass until 9 a.m. Saturday St. Vincent de Paul Church first Fridays following 9 a.m. Mass

until 10:30 a.m.

Clemmons Holy Family Church Thursdays, 9:30-10:30 a.m. except holidays Concord St. James the Greater Church first Fridays, 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Mass at 11 a.m.

Denver Holy Spirit Church first Fridays, 7 p.m.-1 p.m. Saturday Forest City Immaculate Conception Church Thursdays, 7-8 p.m.; Fridays, 12:30-1:30 p.m.; Sundays, 8-9 a.m.

Franklin St. Francis of Assisi Church first Fridays 9 a.m. until 9 a.m. Saturday; other Fridays, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.

Gastonia St. Michael Church eve of first Friday, 10 p.m. until 8 a.m.

Friday Greensboro St. Paul the Apostle Church first Fridays, 9:30 a.m.-6 p.m.

Hendersonville Immaculate Conception Church first Fridays, 9-11:30 a.m.

Hickory St. Aloysius Church first Fridays, 9 a.m.-9 p.m.

High Point Christ the King Church first Fridays: call church for time Maryfield Chapel perpetual adoration Huntersville St. Mark Church Fridays, 8 a.m.-7 p.m.

Jefferson St. Francis of Assisi Church Fridays, 9:30-10:30 a.m.

Kannapolis St. Joseph Church Thursdays, 4-7 p.m. ending with Benediction and followed by a Spanish charismatic prayer group; Fridays, 10 a.m.-7:45 p.m., ending with Benediction and followed by bilingual Mass Kernersville Holy Cross Church Fridays following 9 a.m. Mass until 7 p.m.

Lenoir St. Francis of Assisi Church Saturdays, 4:15-5:15 p.m.

Lexington Our Lady of the Rosary Church Fridays following morning Mass until 5 p.m.; Benediction following 11 a.m. Mass Sundays Lincolnton St. Dorothy Church Fridays, 6-7 p.m.

Linville St. Bernadette Church Fridays following 11 a.m. Mass Marion Our Lady of the Angels Church first Fridays, 8:30-11:30 a.m. followed by Benediction and Mass. For Spanishspeaking parishioners, 6-8 p.m.

Mocksville St. Francis of Assisi Church first Fridays at 11 a.m.; Wednesdays at 6 p.m.

Monroe Our Lady of Lourdes Church Saturdays, 6:30 p.m.-12 a.m.

Mooresville St. Therese Church first Fridays following 9 a.m. Mass until Benediction at 4:45 p.m.

Mt. Airy Holy Angels Church Wednesdays, 6:30-7:30 p.m.; Thursdays,

10-11 a.m.

Newton St. Joseph Church first Fridays following 12:10 p.m. Mass

until 6 p.m.

Salisbury Sacred Heart Church Thursdays, 7-8 p.m.; Sundays 10:30-11:30 a.m.

Spruce Pine St. Lucien Church first Fridays, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.

Statesville St. Philip the Apostle Church first Fridays, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.

Swannanoa St. Margaret Mary Church first Fridays following 12 p.m. Mass until 5 To include your church in this list, please call (704) 370-3354. p.m.

8 The Catholic News & Herald

February 25, 2005

from the cover

Diocese in compliance with CHARTER, from page 1

for the Protection of Children and Young People.” The bishops’ Office of Child and Youth Protection prepared the report for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the National Review Board, appointed by the bishops to monitor compliance with the charter. The all-lay review board approved the report before it was sent to the USCCB. The charter was approved by the bishops in 2002 and calls for an annual compliance report.

This was the second year in a row that on-site audits were done in dioceses, with much of the data based on selfreporting by church officials. While the charter requires the child protection office to issue annual compliance reports, it does not stipulate how to gather the data for the report.

The 46-county Diocese of Charlotte was audited for compliance during Aug. 16-20, 2004. It also was found in compliance during the first national audit report, released in January 2004.

“It is gratifying to continue to be in compliance with the charter,” said Bishop Peter J. Jugis. “I will continue my daily prayers for all victims of abuse in our society.”

Local statistics During 2004, the Diocese of Charlotte spent $48,172 on programs aimed at protecting children, including training and background checks of staff and volunteers — 4,502 staff and volunteers received the training and/or were subjected to background checks.

The diocese also provided $15,385 in assistance to victims of abuse, all of which was used for counseling services. No money was paid for settlements or attorneys’ fees. No funds from parish collections or the Diocesan Support Appeal were used for the assistance.

Also during the year, the diocesan Review Board investigated one complaint, which was made regarding an incident alleged to have happened in the 1970s. The board found the complaint not credible. Bishop Jugis concurred and no further action was taken.

One priest was removed from active ministry in February 2004, when information about his service in another diocese was reported to officials of the Diocese of Charlotte.

“Here in the Diocese of Charlotte, we have policies, programs, people and, most importantly, prayer to address this problem,” said Bishop Jugis.

“Prayer is the primary response for the people of God when confronted with something as evil as sex abuse.”

National perspective The 50-page audit report said that in 2004 there were 1,092 new allegations nationally of child sex abuse made against 756 diocesan and religious priests and deacons, with most of the alleged abuse taking place between 1965-74. It said 73 percent

of the accused, prior to the allegation, had been removed from ministry or were dead or missing. No breakdown of priests and deacons was given.

Half of the new allegations were against clergy who had been previously accused. Males accounted for 78 percent of the 1,083 accusers.

During 2004, the U.S. church spent $158 million for sex abuse-related activities, with more than $106 million paid in settlements to victims, the report said. The figures include money spent by religious orders. When added to other published figures, the U.S. church has now spent about $1 billion in child sex abuse-related costs since the beginning of 1950.

The data on new allegations and spending came from a separately commissioned study done by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA), based at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., and incorporated into the final report by the bishops’ child protection office.

The report also includes recommendations for improving policies. These include developing a mediation system for the resolution of allegations and an annual report by each diocese and eparchy with information about new allegations and costs.

“There is undoubtedly progress still to be made,” said Bishop William S. Skylstad of Spokane, Wash., USCCB president, in a cover letter to the report.

“Much of what dioceses face today is the result of past abusive behavior — often long past — and procedures are in place to deal with and put a stop to new instances of abuse that may be reported,” he said.

Despite the almost-total compliance of dioceses and eparchies with the charter, “continued external oversight and evaluation (are) essential” since compliance “may improve or diminish over time,” said the audit report.

An audit “does not ensure that all offenders or potential offenders have been appropriately removed from ministry,” it added.

Breaking down the audit The report is based on audits of 194 of the 195 U.S. dioceses and eparchies conducted by the Gavin Group Inc. of Boston and on data collected by CARA from dioceses, eparchies and religious orders.

Only the Diocese of Lincoln, Neb., did not participate in the compliance audits.

No reason was given in the report.

Of the 194 dioceses and eparchies audited, only seven were not compliant with one or more of the charter’s 17 articles on Dec. 31.

This is a significant advance from the 2003 report, when 19 of the 191 dioceses and eparchies audited were not compliant with aspects of the charter.

Compliance was judged in two steps.

First was the on-site audit, which judged the situation since the 2003 audit. Dioceses not in compliance with aspects of the charter were given “required actions” to remedy the situation and had until the end of the year to take the actions.

Initially, 50 dioceses received “required actions” with 43 taking the necessary actions by the end of 2004.

Regarding allegations and spending, CARA received responses from 181

Protecting God’s Children

CNS photo by Bob Roller

Church officials answer reporters’ questions on clergy sex abuse Feb. 18 to release the second report on implementation of the “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People” in Washington. dioceses and eparchies, representing 93 percent of the total, and from 158 religious communities representing 71 percent of the total U.S. male religious population.

Spending figures showed that 32 percent of the $140 million spent by dioceses and eparchies was covered by insurance and 12 percent of the $18 million spent by religious orders was covered by insurance.

The report said that the new allegations generally parallel the patterns of gender and age reported in the massive “nature and scope” study of clergy child sex abuse from 1950 to 2002 released last year by the National Review Board.

The “nature and scope” study conducted by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York reported that 81 percent of the accusers were males while the 2004 audit showed that 78 percent were males. The John Jay study reported that 59 percent of the accusers were between 10 and 14 years old when the abuse began while the 2004 figures reported that 55 percent were in the same age group.

Other stats and recommendations Other figures from the 2004 report include: — 3,277 victims and some of their relatives received outreach services from dioceses.

— 43 priests were laicized.

— 56 allegations received before 2004 were judged false in 2004.

— 57 of the allegations made in 2004 were judged false.

The audit also reported major inroads in conducting background checks of clergy, lay employees and lay volunteers coming into regular contact with children. Important strides were also made in implementing “safe environment” education programs to prevent abuse. The background checks and education programs are considered crucial to long-term efforts to prevent child sex abuse.

Background checks have been conducted on 92 percent of the 34,874 di-

CHARLOTTE — In the Diocese of Charlotte, policies, procedures, programs and people are in place to combat the sin of sexual abuse of minors. They are: — A written policy to deal with the sin of sexual abuse that was put in place in 1994. The “Policy of the Diocese of Charlotte Concerning Ministry-Related Sexual Misconduct by Church Personnel” has been updated to reflect the values expressed in 2002 in the U.S. bishops’ “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People.”

— The policy included the establishment of a review board, a group of volunteers not employed by the diocese, with the exception of one priest. The group includes a psychological counselor. Their role is to review allegations of abuse and to make recommendations to the bishop.

— Procedures that encourage people to come forward if they have witnessed or experienced sexual abuse. The procedures can be found on the diocesan Web site, www.charlottediocese.org. The diocese also encourages anyone who has been a victim to report the incident to civil authorities. The diocese will cooperate with any investigation.

— Lay people who serve as victims’ assistance coordinators. Three coordinators are located in diocesan offices in Charlotte, Winston-Salem and Asheville.

— Training for clergy, staff and volunteers. Since June 2002, more than 9,000 diocesan employees and volunteers have completed the Protecting God’s Children Training Program to help them recognize and prevent the sexual abuse of children. The diocese has also implemented a version of Protecting God’s Children for minors.

— Background investigations for clergy, volunteers, teachers and contractors who have contact with minors. ocesan priests needing them. All 13,559 deacons subject to background checks have been screened.

More than 97 percent of the 185,924 Catholic school educators have had background checks. More than 85 percent of the 207,817 other church lay employees have been screened. And almost 79 percent of the 978,172 church volunteers have had background checks.

The report said that background screenings and evaluations also take place for priesthood candidates in the 112 seminaries run by the dioceses and eparchies audited.

Recommendations in the 2004 report for improving sex abuse prevention programs include: — Special outreach to clergy and religious who have been victims of sexual abuse.

— Developing practices for monitoring priests and deacons at risk as offenders.

The report notes that the church needs to continually develop new prevention initiatives because full implementation of current policies “will not ensure that no child will ever be abused again in a church environment.”

It asks Catholics to be “unwavering in our commitment to ensuring the accountability of all Catholic bishops of the United States to their people in the future and to the safety of all our children.”

February 25, 2005

from the cover

The Catholic News & Herald 9

Bishop celebrates rite of election in diocese RCIA, from page 1

during the rite of election and call to continuing conversion at St. Thomas Aquinas Church Feb. 19. This was one of three such events that took place in the diocese.

During his homily, the bishop addressed the catechumens and candidates, saying, “Your presence at this rite this afternoon is evidence that Christ, our good shepherd, the risen savior, is indeed working in his church.”

“He has spoken, saying, ‘Come, follow me,’ and you have responded to his call,” Bishop Jugis said. “You would not be here if our Lord were not working in your life through his Holy Spirit.”

The rite of election consists of the official enrollment of the names of those unbaptized adults, or catechumens, who seek baptism at the Easter Vigil Mass.

Adults who were baptized in other Christian faiths, or candidates, are also introduced to the bishop at this time.

On Feb. 13, catechumens and candidates from the eastern counties of the diocese participated in the rite at Holy Family Church in Clemmons. Parishes from the western counties gathered for the rite Feb. 20 at St. Barnabas Church in Arden. The diocesan commission on the RCIA designed the liturgical celebrations for the Diocese of Charlotte.

A journey of faith The rite of election and call to continuing conversion is one of several steps along

the journey, following a period of discernment and study of the Catholic faith.

Before formally beginning the RCIA process, a person considers his or her relationship with Jesus Christ and their interest in joining the Catholic Church.

This period is known as the period of evangelization and precatechumenate.

After discerning their desire to join the Catholic Church, the inquirers may decide to continue the process and enter the period of the catechumenate, when they study the history and practice of Catholicism. This stage can last for a few months or for as long as several years.

The third formal stage is the celebration of the sacraments of initiation, which occurs during the Easter Vigil Mass on Holy Saturday. During the Mass, catechumens receive the sacraments of baptism, confirmation and Eucharist, and candidates are confirmed and receive the Eucharist. At this time, they become fully initiated members of the Catholic Church.

Following initiation at the vigil Mass, a final period of formation and education continues in the stage known as mystagogy. During this period, which lasts until Pentecost or later, the neophytes reflect on the events of the Easter Vigil and continue to learn more about the Scriptures, the sacraments and the teachings of the Catholic Church.

Celebrating the call In a continuing effort to reach out to the increasing Spanish-speaking population of the diocese, the rite of election and call to continuing

Photo by Karen A. Evans

Catechumens gather on the altar during the rite of election and call to continuing conversion at St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Charlotte Feb 19. conversion was celebrated in both English and Spanish. The readings alternated between the two languages, and hymns were sung in both as well.

Bishop Jugis completed his homily with a special welcome to the Hispanic participants in Spanish.

Bishop Jugis said the rites of election were joyful celebrations and the joy of all the participants was apparent.

“I was delighted as bishop to see such evidence of the work of the Holy Spirit throughout the diocese,” said Bishop Jugis. “It was inspiring to see so many individuals wanting to celebrate the sacraments of initiation.”

In the Diocese of Charlotte, the RCIA ministry is currently under-

taken by the Office of Faith Formation in lieu of an office of liturgy. The faith formation office is supported by funding from the annual Diocesan Support Appeal.

“Given the 683 elect we received last year and probably about the same number this year, it is quite evident that Pentecost continues in our diocese and the Holy Spirit never ceases to call people to become disciples of Jesus,” said Cris Villapando, diocesan director of faith formation programs.

The Office of Faith Formation is one

1 0 The Catholic News & Herald

February 25, 2005

Culture Watch

A roundup of Scripture, readings, films and more

Bishops’ committee sets up Web site where people can vote on WASHINGTON (CNS) — The U.S. bishops’ communications committee is urging people to cast their own vote for the Academy Awards by visiting their Web site.

Results will be posted on the site Feb. 28.

Visitors to the Web site can vote on Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director and Best Movie of the Year and on awards in a handful of other categories.

The chance to vote continues through Feb. 27, the date of the annual presentation of the Oscars, which are voted on by members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Office of Film & Broadcasting reviewed all of the movies nominated.

Reviews include a description of the film, the USCCB classification of each movie’s

suitability by age group, along with the rating given by the Motion Picture Association of America. In 2004, the office reviewed 225 movies.

New reviews are posted each week on the Web site (www.usccb.org/movies/index.htm), which receives more than 20,000 visits each month. A total of 297,484 visits was logged in 2004. The reviews are also carried by Catholic News Service.

Reviews also can be accessed through the movie review line, (800) 311-4222.

The movie line, supported by the Catholic Communication Campaign, received more than 76,000 calls in 2004 WANT TO VOTE? To cast your vote for the Academy Awards, visit http://www.usccb.org/ movies/oscarvote2005.htm online.

Video Review

Intriguing message found in ‘Dust

by DAVID DiCERTO catholic news service

NEW YORK — In “The Dust Factory,” a life-affirming family fantasy, a young boy (Ryan Kelley) — mute since witnessing his father’s tragic death — falls from a bridge into the titular dream realm somewhere between this world and the next.

There he must confront his fears of mortality, guided by his grandfather (Armin Mueller-Stahl) and the friendship of a mercurial girl (Hayden Panettiere).

Written and directed by Eric Small, the intriguing film wrestles with heavy issues — death, loss and grief — in an imaginative way, but

its opaque narrative, freighted with surreal imagery, fogs the movie’s underlying message: that despite its transience and unavoidable pain, life is ultimately worth embracing.

The home video release date of “The Dust Factory” is March 22.

Due to mature themes and some frightening images, the USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is A-II — adults and adolescents. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG — parental guidance suggested.

DiCerto is on the staff of the Office for Film & Broadcasting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

WORD TO LIFE

Sunday Scripture Readings: MAR. 6, 2005

March 6, Fourth Sunday of Lent Cycle A Readings: 1) 1 Samuel 16:1b, 6-7,10-13a Psalm 23:1-6 2) Ephesians 5:8-14 3) Gospel: John 9:1-41

Faith allows us to see the divine

by JEAN DENTON catholic news service

I am an illustrator. That’s amazing, since I can’t draw very well.

I didn’t study art, but somewhere in adulthood, when my faith life assumed central importance, I discovered that I was blessed to be able to express spiritual ideas through pen-and-ink drawings.

Still, I steered away from anything that called for rendering the human figure, because my “people” tended to have Picassoesque forms.

Nevertheless, I persevered, and a breakthrough came when I read “Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain” by Betty Edwards. The author noted that whether a person engages the brain’s left or right hemisphere determines one’s mental perception.

A right-handed person drawing with the left hand perceives an object differently than when drawing with the right hand and is particularly able to recognize “negative space,” she said. For instance, when

drawing a hand, one would see the spaces between the fingers more prominently than the fingers themselves.

I tried it, and although my lefthanded lines were shaky, the drawing was more accurate than anything I’d done with the right hand. I was amazed that simply holding the pencil in my left hand enabled me to “see” negative space.

This weekend’s readings are about appearance and seeing. The blind man in the Gospel is given sight by Jesus; figuratively, he receives divine sight. Jesus explained that the man was blind “so that the works of God might be made visible through him.”

In the first reading, the Lord tells Samuel that human judgment is inadequate; one must seek God’s perception and trust its truth.

In drawing, I realize that seeing the positive space of fingers carries all my preconceived notions of what fingers ought to look like. But when I see them differently — in the context of the negative space around them — those notions disappear and the fingers are allowed to take on their true appearance.

Jesus told the Pharisees that as long as they “see” only with human experience and expectation, they will be blind to God’s divine ways, and their sin will remain. But if they will have faith enough to open themselves to a new way of seeing — put the pencil in the other hand, as it were — they will discover divine vision.

WEEKLY SCRIPTURE Scripture for the week of February 27 - March 5 Sunday (Third Sunday of Lent), Exodus 17:3-7, Romans 5:1-2, 5-8, John 4:5-42; Monday (Lenten Weekday), 2 Kings 5:1-15, Luke 4:24-30; Tuesday (Lenten Weekday), Daniel 3:25, 34-43, Matthew 18:21-35; Wednesday (Lenten Weekday), Deuteronomy 4:1, 5-9, Matthew 5:17-19; Thursday (St. Katharine Drexel), Jeremiah 7:23-28, Luke 11:14-23; Friday (St. Casimir), Hosea 14:2-10, Mark 12:28-34; Saturday (Lenten Weekday), Hosea 6:1-6, Luke 18:9-141.

Scripture for the week of March 6-12 Sunday (Fourth Sunday of Lent), 1 Samuel 16:1, 6-7, 10-13, Ephesians 5:8-14, John 9:1-41; Monday (Sts. Perpetua and Felicity), Isaiah 65:17-21, John 4:43-54;Tuesday (St. John of God), Ezekiel 47:1-9,12, John 5:1-3,5-16; Wednesday (St. Frances of Rome), Isaiah 49:8-15, John 5:17-30; Thursday (Lenten Weekday), Exodus 32:7-14, John 5:31-47; Friday (Lenten Weekday), Wisdom 2:1, 12-22, John 7:1-2,25-30; Saturday (Lenten Weekday), Jeremiah 11:18-20, John 7:40-53.

February 25, 2005

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February 25, 2005

February 25, 2005

from the cover

Real ID decried as REAL ID, from page 1

House to reject the Real ID Act, H.R. 418, saying its provisions would weaken asylum protections, undermine national security and promote unsound public policy.

The bill would set nationwide standards for state-issued drivers licenses, prohibiting federal agencies from accepting licenses as identification for access to government buildings or air travel unless they meet the new requirements.

It also would raise the burden of proof of persecution for political asylum applicants and waive all laws that might affect plans to build new

barriers on the southern border of the United States.

The bill was passed on a fast track over the objections of House Democratic leaders who pushed for it to be sent back through the usual process of public hearings and review by one or more House committees. Those steps were bypassed.

Persecuting innocence In a Feb. 9 letter to members of Congress, Bishop Gerald R. Barnes of San Bernardino, Calif., chairman of the bishops’ migration committee, said the bill’s provisions would do little to prevent use of drivers licenses by terrorists, as its supporters claim. He said a homeland security bill

passed two months earlier included an adequate provision to prevent use of licenses for fraudulent purposes.

As the National Council of State Legislatures said, according to Bishop Barnes, denying licenses to all people who are not legal residents would make the roads less safe, “because the number of unlicensed, untrained and uninsured drivers would increase dramatically and deny police officers the tools they need in investigating crime” or assisting people in distress.

Several states, such as North Carolina, have begun issuing drivers licenses without regard for the applicant’s legal residency status as a way of helping ensure that all drivers have insurance and can be held accountable in case of accidents.

Bishop Barnes also criticized the bill’s asylum provisions, which require applicants to prove they fled persecution

The Catholic News & Herald 13

on the basis of religion, nationality, race, social group or political opinion.

Bishop Barnes said the provisions ignore the reality that those who flee persecution may not readily relate the horrors they faced and may not have brought corroborating evidence as they fled their home countries. He noted that terrorists are already barred from obtaining asylum, so the new provisions are unnecessary.

An exchange of hope “A study of the economic policies between the United States and our southern neighbors would give many U.S. citizens a change of heart toward our brothers and sisters from south of the border,” said Franciscan Sister Andrea Inkrott, director of Hispanic Ministry in the Diocese of Charlotte.

Sister Inkrott agreed with Bishop Barnes’ assessment that denying licenses to non-legal residents would make the roads less safe and would do little to decrease people coming into the country.

“People come to the United States looking for what the majority of our own ancestors also came looking for — a way to overcome the unbearable economic situations that do not allow them to provide for their families,” said Sister Inkrott.

“Unless the economic situations are improved in the countries of origin, there is no way that people will stay home and watch their families suffer,” she said.

“They will risk even death in the desert or attacks by robbers on their way to the promise of a better life for themselves and their families.

Bishop Barnes’ letter also said the bill’s provision to expedite construction of fences on the U.S.-Mexico border “would be a dangerously broad mandate that is almost without precedent.”

“While the threat of terrorism to our country is a real one that requires our government to implement appropriate measures to be vigilant, we must make sure we address real threats and consider carefully unexpected negative outcomes,” said Joseph Purello, director of Justice and Peace Office for the Diocese of Charlotte.

“Expediting the building of more fences will likely make border crossings more treacherous as people seek relatively isolated, more lightly guarded crossing zones in wilderness areas,” said Purello.

“We must ask who will be harmed the most by increased exposure to the elements, long treks through isolated regions and the evil actions of smugglers and robbers who prey on migrants seeking a better life in the United States.”

“Disturbingly, the bill would require waiving all laws, including, for example, laws against murder; laws protecting civil rights; laws protecting the health and safety of workers; laws providing for a minimum wage or prevailing wage; environmental laws and laws respecting sacred burial grounds,” said Bishop Barnes.

It would also prohibit judicial review of any decision or action related to a section of the 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Responsibility Act, and bar courts from ordering compensatory relief for problems arising from border construction.

“Catholic social teaching calls us to weigh carefully the impact of any policy decision, such as one that would create a more extensive border fence network, on the poor and vulnerable,” said Purello.

1 4 The Catholic News & Herald

Perspectives

February 25, 2005

A collection of columns, editorials and viewpoints

A generous response to ‘God’s family’

My Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, As you are aware, the people of South Asia are still suffering from the devastating effects of the earthquake and tsunamis that struck that region on Dec. 26, 2004. The tragic loss of life, the great threats to health and safety, and the enormous ongoing and long-term rebuilding efforts have led to a tremendous outpouring of prayers, material assistance and financial support from around the world.

The people of the Diocese of Charlotte have joined millions of others in answering the appeal for prayers and assistance to our brothers and sisters in South Asia. It is with great joy that I share with the people of the Diocese of Charlotte that a total of $421,905 has been raised to date, primarily on behalf of the work of Catholic Relief Services (CRS), to assist in the South Asia earthquake and tsunami disaster recovery effort.

The response of generous donors from dioceses throughout our nation has enabled CRS to commit more than $80 million to relief and recovery programs in the tsunamiimpacted communities in South Asia. Life-saving assistance and urgently needed supplies have brought immediate relief, while plans for long-term rebuilding are being implemented.

The relationship of our diocese to CRS is a long and strong one. Previously responses to CRS disaster appeals and ongoing yearly support of the Operation Rice Bowl Lenten program have brought the people of the Diocese of Charlotte into deeper solidarity with the global community, especially our brothers and sisters in this world who are poor and suffering. I am pleased that once again so many families, parishes and schools of our diocese are participating in this 30th anniversary year of CRS Operation Rice Bowl.

His Holiness Pope John Paul II, in his World Day of Peace message of Jan. 1, 2005 prays that the “sons and daughters of the Church find in the supreme sacrament of love [the Eucharist] the wellspring of all communion: communion with Jesus the Redeemer and, in him, with every human being.”

The generous response of the Catholic community to the millions of suffering people in South Asia is an incredible witness to the Holy Father’s closing words, “by sharing in the one bread and the one cup, we come to realize that we are ‘God’s family’ and that together we can make our own effective contribution to building a world based on the values of justice, freedom and peace.”

I am very grateful for this outpouring of generosity from our diocese. Please join with me in thanking our Lord for the generous response of our diocese to the recent disaster in South Asia. We call upon the mercy of Jesus Christ for the souls of the departed and we continue to pray for the healing of those who suffer.

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Most Rev. Peter J. Jugis

Communal anointing of the sick Determining who should receive this sacrament also has changed over the years. For centuries, any seriously ill person was considered eligible for anointing. Later on, as most older Catholics still remember, it was thought of more as the “last rites,” only for people actually dying. In fact, reception of this sacrament usually was delayed until the sick person reached as close as possible to the moment of death.

Today the church again acknowledges more explicitly that the true sacrament for the dying is not anointing of the sick but the Eucharist. Christian tradition, in fact, gives a special name to holy Communion when it is received by the dying. We call it “viaticum,” literally something to be with us and help us “on the journey” through death into eternity.

The anointing of the sick, therefore, may and should be received by anyone whose health is seriously impaired from sickness or old age. This includes those who have been anointed but are now suffering from a different illness, those who are to undergo surgery because of a serious sickness, sick children if they have sufficient use of reason to be comforted by this sacrament and old people who are weak from age, even if there is no dangerous illness present (Ritual for Care of the Sick, Nos. 8-12).

The ritual notes that no one should become overly demanding in determining how sick an individual must be. “A prudent or reasonably sure judgment, without scruple, is sufficient for deciding on the seriousness of an illness.”

Communal anointings are ceremonies at which a number of people receive the sacrament within one celebration.

These anointings may be either within the celebration of Mass or in a separate liturgy.

A free brochure in English or Spanish answering questions Catholics ask about baptism practices and sponsors is available by sending a stamped, self-addressed envelope to Father John Dietzen, Box 325, Peoria, IL 61651.

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

Question Corner FATHER JOHN DIETZEN cns columnist

Q. Please explain communal anointing of the sick and when it may be received. My husband understands that the sacrament of anointing will take away all your sins. Is that what we believe? (Iowa) A. In Catholic belief, forgiveness of sin always has been one effect of the sacrament of anointing of the sick. The primary biblical text about prayer and anointing of the sick (Jas 5) says that “if he (the sick person) has committed sins, he will be forgiven.”

Exactly what this means, however, or how it happens is not spelled out. The Council of Trent, in its classic text on the sacraments, says the anointing “cleanses all sins yet to be expiated (forgiven or absolved), as well as any remainders of sin.” This is the first effect of the anointing mentioned by the council (Session XIX).

Our present Catholic ritual for pastoral care of the sick teaches that, if necessary, the sacrament of anointing “also provides the sick person with the forgiveness of sins and the completion of Christian penance” (No. 6).

In all its major documents about this sacrament, the church professes that the sacrament also arouses trust in God’s help to bear one’s suffering in a holy way and may return the sick person to health if that would be helpful for salvation.

However one might explain these Catholic teachings, they fit with the words of the Catechism of the Catholic Church that “the anointing of the sick completes our conformity to the death and resurrection of Christ, just as baptism began it. It completes the holy anointings that mark the whole Christian life,” baptism and confirmation. This last anointing, it continues, “fortifies the end of our earthly life like a solid rampart for the final struggles before entering the Father’s house” (No. 1523).

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The Catholic News & Herald 15

February 25, 2005

Arthur Miller and the oxygen of Fictional characters have ties to reality The death in February of Arthur Miller, at age 89, triggered an outpouring of praise for one of America’s greatest playwrights. His 1949 classic “Death of a Salesman” is the only work I’ll mention here.

His creation of Willy Lowman, the salesman who needed the oxygen of affirmation, and Willy’s wife Linda, whose words provided it so movingly but unsuccessfully, was Miller’s great contribution to our national treasury of dramatic memory.

We need great plays to help us better understand ourselves, to see our failures and regrets, and to learn how we might change.

Linda, aware of Willy’s downward spiral of discouragement and eroding self-confidence, pleads with their two sons, Happy and Biff, to show their father more respect. “He’s the dearest man in the world to me,” she says, “and I won’t have anyone making him feel unwanted and low and blue.”

Biff tells her to “stop making excuses for him,” and cruelly adds that Willy never respected her.

Linda replies: “Biff, I don’t say he’s a great man. Willy Lowman never made a lot of money. His name was never in the paper. He’s not the finest character that ever lived. But he’s a human being, and a terrible thing is happening to him. So attention must be paid. He’s not to be allowed to fall

into his grave like an old dog. Attention, attention must be finally paid to such a person.”

Linda then urges her son to “be sweet to him tonight, dear. Be loving to him. Because he’s only a little boat looking for a harbor.”

Miller was 33 when “Death of a Salesman” opened on Broadway. At age 68 he said in an interview with the New York Times that he could see himself in the character of Willy Lowman, although when the play opened he tended to identify more with Willy’s son Biff.

But now, “when Biff ’s yelling at Willy, he’s yelling at me. I understand Willy. And I understand his longing for immortality — I think that’s inevitable when you get older. ... Willy’s writing his name on a cake of ice on a hot day, but he wishes he were writing in stone. He wants to live on through something. ... I think all of us want that, and it gets more poignant as we get more anonymous in the world.”

Willy believed “a man has got to add up to something.” He couldn’t face living the rest of his life “ringing up a zero.” Early in the play he says, “You’re my foundation and support, Linda.”

But eventually Willy takes his own life.

At Willy’s graveside, neighbor Charley says to Biff: “Willy was a salesman. And for a salesman, there is no rock bottom to the life. He don’t put

Healing for those in need Anointing of the sick brings God’s grace to than an hour.

The sick in body, mind and spirit lined up three and four deep across the front of the sanctuary. Many were accompanied by a companion.

As I came to each person, I leaned down to be told why a healing was wanted. Some had chronic conditions.

Some had cancer or heart disease.

Many mentioned things like depression. A few young people who were there came forward and said, “I want to be anointed for my uncle” or some other person.

I anointed the people with holy oil on the head and the hands. Then I laid my hands on each one’s head. The deacons followed, laying hands on each head and praying over people for a while as I moved on to the next person.

After more than an hour I was exhausted. Sweat was pouring down my brow. Someone brought me a towel and a glass of water. I had to sit down.

One woman came up to me afterward and said, “Who will anoint the anointer?” Good question.

It was a wonderful experience.

Over the following weeks, people would stop me and say, “My back is better,” “My depression is lifted.” Their healing had nothing to do with me, of course. It was the power of grace.

In one case, a young man came

Sickness is one of the major worries in any life. Over the years I have seen what a comfort the sacrament of the anointing of the sick is to people.

On occasion I have seen people healed either spiritually or physically.

In early December, we scheduled a “healing Mass” in our parish. We announced that anyone who wanted healing could come forward to be anointed. We had hoped to have an outside priest with a ministry of healing come, but no one was available.

So it was just me to do the anointing and our two deacons to lay on hands in prayer.

When the night came for the healing Mass, the church was jammed — not just with our parishioners, but with people from other parishes and even some non-Catholics.

I preached on healing. I talked about various kinds of healing: the healing of memories; healing that comes with forgiveness; healing that comes with reconciliation; the healing of the troubled spirit as well and the infirm body.

I expected about a dozen or so people to come forward to be anointed and prayed over. We were overwhelmed when more than 250 people pressed forward. What we thought would take only a few minutes consumed more

Looking Around FATHER WILLIAM J. BYRON, SJ

Lent time for sincere, profound conversion, says

The Pope Speaks POPE JOHN PAUL II

cns columnist

a bolt to a nut, he don’t tell you the law or give you medicine. He’s a man way out there in the blue, riding on a smile and a shoeshine.

“And when they start not smiling back — that’s an earthquake. And then you get yourself a couple of spots on your hat, and you’re finished. Nobody dast blame this man. A salesman is got to dream, boy. It comes with the territory.”

Our world is full of Willys, writing their names on cakes of ice. They need the gently heroic Lindas for support and encouragement. And all of us Willys and Lindas can be grateful to Arthur Miller for the spirit-sustaining insights that his genius left behind.

E-mail: wbyron@loyola.edu.

Parish Diary FATHER PETER J. DALY cns columnist

forward to be anointed for his uncle who was suffering from heart disease.

A few days later the uncle agreed to be anointed in the hospital. The man had been away from the church for many years. He received absolution and Communion as well as anointing.

Since then he has come back to the sacraments. Sometimes the healing God gives is not what we intend but is what God knows we need.

When I was a young priest, I was skeptical about what good the anointing of the sick really did. It seemed so fruitless because it often was administered just moments before death.

But now, I see things differently. I have seen various kinds of healing: spiritual, physical and emotional. I have seen families healed by the experience.

God’s grace is raining down on us all the time. Healing grace is always there. The anointing of the sick is just a way of taking down our umbrellas and letting that grace soak in to give us what we really want, healing.

by CINDY WOODEN catholic news service

VATICAN CITY — Sitting with two aides in his private library, Pope John Paul II used closed-circuit television to greet hundreds of pilgrims who had come for his weekly general audience.

The Vatican initially said the pope would come to the window of his apartment Feb. 23 to bless the pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square. However, bad weather led officials to herd the pilgrims into the Vatican audience hall, where they saw and heard the pope on big television screens.

Except for the fact that the pope was not in the audience hall and did not spend half an hour shaking hands and blessing individual pilgrims, the Feb. 23 gathering had most of the ingredients of a normal weekly general audience.

After the pope made brief remarks in Italian about the Lenten season, Vatican aides introduced the pilgrim groups present. Then the pope offered them greetings in English, French, German, Spanish, Italian and Polish.

In English, he said: “I greet all the English-speaking pilgrims here today and thank you for your prayers. May your time in Rome be filled with joy and deepen your love for the universal church. God bless you all.”

It was the first general audience following Pope John Paul’s Feb. 10 release from the hospital for breathing difficulties. No audience was scheduled for Feb. 16 because of the annual Lenten retreat for the pope and his top aides.

While he was wheezing a bit, the pope read his introductory remarks with strength, even adding several phrases to the prepared text published by the Vatican press office.

“We are following the Lenten journey, which began Ash Wednesday, helped and stimulated by the liturgy which calls us to a particular commitment to prayer, fasting and penance and to a greater solidarity with our neighbors, especially the poor and needy,” the pope said.

“The austere itinerary of Lent will lead us to the solemn celebration of Easter,” he said. “Let us open our hearts to a sincere and profound conversion. May selfishness give way to love so that we can experience the joy of forgiveness and of intimate reconciliation with God and with our brothers and sisters.”

February 25, 2005

The Catholic News & Herald 16

PARISH PROFILE

A spirit of Christian love: St. Paul the Apostle touches many lives in Guilford The parish council has developed a vision statement that stresses St. Paul the Apostle Church’s commitment to the Eucharist as the center of each parishioner’s life. “Our Vision 2000” encompasses individual spirituality and community outreach as the model by which the St. Paul the Apostle Church family will continue to move through the new millennium.

An ecumenical outreach, which developed during the Paulist presence in Greensboro, continues today. The Catholic parish signed a covenant of cooperation with Cross of Christ Lutheran and St. Barnabas Episcopal churches, which were utilized by St. Paul parishioners in the early years for parish functions.

Emphasis on community — among the congregation and beyond — has been an important facet of parish life. In the mid-1970s, Father Scott brought a ministry to the parish for divorced and remarried Catholics. In 1978, the parish made local news when it “adopted” a family of Vietnamese refugees.

St. Paul the Apostle parishioners are known in the Greensboro community for their extensive involvement in outreach opportunities. The church is one of a small number of churches that participate in the Guilford Interfaith Hospitality Network, a joint venture of area churches that unite to provide shelter, meals and compassionate assistance to homeless families. Four weeks each year, the parish transforms meeting rooms into bedrooms and provides housing for the families currently in the network.

Other outreach activities include volunteering at a soup kitchen, maintaining a food pantry and providing Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter food baskets to about 150 families referred by the Hispanic Ministry, the Native American Association and local social service groups.

St. Paul the Apostle parishioners also work to alleviate hunger and housing crises through participation in CROP Walks and Habitat for Humanity.

St. Paul the Apostle has formed a relationship with a parish in Manta, Ecuador, and through the Sister Parish program they have helped finance a soup kitchen, provide wheelchairs for four parishioners and hearing aides to a young child.

Dozens of other ministries and proj-

St. Paul the Apostle Church 2715 Horse Pen Creek Road Greensboro, N.C. 27410 Vicariate: Greensboro Pastor: Oblate Father William J. Ruhl Parochial Vicar: Oblate Father Charles M. Chamberlain Permanent Deacon: Deacon Gordon L. Forester

Photo by George Cobb

St. Paul the Apostle Church in Greensboro has served Catholic in the Guilford County seat for more than 30 years. ects enhance an active faith life at the parish. From youth ministry to Mobile Meals for the needy, small faith communities to Respect Life ministry, the people of St. Paul the Apostle Church reach out far beyond the church walls to touch the lives of many in their community.

Staff Writer Karen A. Evans contributed to this story.

GREENSBORO — The Catholic community of St. Paul the Apostle Church was founded in July 1974, when then-Bishop Michael J. Begley of Charlotte invited the Paulist Fathers to create the fifth parish in the Guilford County seat.

The first pastor, Paulist Father Robert T. Scott, celebrated St. Paul the Apostle Church’s first Mass at Cross of Christ Lutheran Church. While a long-term, three-phase building plan was drawn up in those early days, the congregation first gathered at a number of Protestant churches and a funeral home for liturgies and parish celebrations.

As the number of families continued to grow from its original 90 to more than 350, the parish set its sights on constructing a church. Ground was broken in August 1975 for a multipurpose facility,

and the parish gathered for its first Mass in the new 450-seat church in April 1976.

In addition to the central worship space, the new building also provided a chapel, kitchen and rooms for a nursery, classrooms, religious education offices and meeting rooms.

Bishop Begley served as celebrant at the dedication Mass in May 1976. Concelebrating was Paulist Father Thomas F. Stransky, then president of the Paulist Fathers, who delivered the homily, and Father Scott.

While the Paulists ministered to the ever-growing parish of St. Paul the Apostle Church, they also served in campus ministry to Catholic students attending Guilford College, Greensboro College and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. This ministry developed into the Catholic Student Fellowship.

Parish growth continued through the 1980s, both in the number of ministerial efforts and the size of the congregation.

The Paulist Fathers continued their pastoral at St. Paul the Apostle Church until 1991. That year, the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales assumed pastoral leadership, and Oblate Father James O’Neill was appointed pastor.

The parish at that time was composed of almost 1,000 families, and Father O’Neill immediately began plans to enlarge the church facilities. The expansion, which yielded additional worship space, was dedicated by then-Bishop John F. Donoghue in March 1993.

By 1998, the parish had grown to about 1,900 households with more than 5,500 people. On Oct. 21, 2001, thenBishop William G. Curlin joined the parish family to celebrate the dedication of a new Parish Life Center, a facility providing a multipurpose room/gymnasium, additional meeting space and classrooms.

Father O’Neill continued to serve the Greensboro parish until April 2002. Oblate Father Tom Murphy, who came with Father O’Neill in 1991 as parochial vicar, returned in April 2002 as pastor.

Oblate Father William J. Ruhl assumed the pastorate of St. Paul the Apostle Church in July 2004.