Sept. 24, 2004

September 24, 2004

The Catholic News & Herald 1

www.charlottediocese.org

Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte

Parish Profile Our Lady of Consolation Church serves spiritual needs in Charlotte | Page 16

Established Jan. 12, 1972

by Pope Paul VI SEPTEMBER 24, 2004

Serving Catholics in Western North Carolina in the Diocese of Charlotte

Canonist says bishops must deny Communion to dissident politicians

by JOHN THAVIS catholic news service

Seminar examines merits of topics, church law

by JERRY FILTEAU catholic news service

See ABORTION, page 8

More Coverage page 9 I Memo on politicians touches nerve in U.S. campaign page 9 I Believing unborn

are of less value bears ‘false witness’ at altar

no. 44

Back to basics: Pope begins renewed focus on Eucharist

Standing Firm

WASHINGTON — According to a canonist and other theologians, Bishop Peter J. Jugis’ recent statement on Communion is in line with church law.

Franciscan Father John J. Coughlin, a civil and canon lawyer, said church law obliges bishops to deny Communion to politicians who obstinately refuse to budge from a public position upholding legal abortion despite warnings and efforts to educate them on why their view is contrary to church teaching.

Bishop Jugis, along with Archbishop John F. Donoghue of Atlanta and Bishop Robert J. Baker of Charles-

vOLUME 13

Courtesy Photo

A member of the Montagnard community carves a totem pole in preparation for Dega Days on Sept. 18, the Montagnard’s cultural memorial day.

A hand up, not a handout

VATICAN CITY — After an intense quarter-century of teaching, writing and traveling, Pope John Paul II is going back to the basics with a renewed focus on the Eucharist.

He has convened a special eucharistic year that begins in October. Last year he wrote an encyclical extolling the Eucharist as the source and culmination of the church’s life. He has convened a Synod of Bishops on the same topic for the fall of 2005.

And more frequently he speaks of the importance of the Eucharist in the life of each Catholic.

The Eucharist has a “transforming power” that provides the courage to live the faith and to spread the Gospel, the pope said in June before leading a eucharistic procession through downtown Rome.

See EUCHARIST, page 7

CCHD-funded projects empower the poor, by

KAREN A. EVANS staff writer

CHARLOTTE — According to the Gospel of John, Jesus said, “You always have the poor with you.”

“That doesn’t mean that is what God wants or Jesus wants,” said Father Robert Vitillo. “It’s due to our own sinfulness.”

“It’s not until we all look deep into our own behavior and

see how we benefit by keeping other people poor that we will make changes,” he said.

Father Vitillo, executive director of the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD), recently spent four days in the Diocese of Charlotte visiting projects funded in part

by CCHD and speaking to various groups.

CCHD is the domestic anti-poverty, social justice pro-

gram of the U.S. Catholic bishops. Its mission is to address the root causes of poverty in the United States through promotion and support of communitycontrolled, self-help organizations and education.

While Father Vitillo does not believe CCHD alone can or will make significant changes in eliminating poverty altogether, See CCHD, page 5

CNS photo from Catholic Press Photo

Pope John Paul II celebrates the feast of the Body and Blood of Christ at the Rome Basilica of St. John Lateran June 10.

Around the Diocese

Culture Watch

Perspectives

‘Musical Ambassadors,’ pet blessings coming to diocese

‘Da Vinci Code’ banned; film portrays Dachau struggle

Icons and plagiarism; being stewards of God’s gifts

| Page 6

| Pages 10-11

| Pages 14-15

2 The Catholic News & Herald

InBrief

September 24, 2004

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

Appeals court judges reject attempt to reopen Roe vs. Wade decision NEW ORLEANS (CNS) — A federal appeals court has rejected an attempt to reopen Roe vs. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion.

The case was brought before a threejudge panel in the 5th U.S Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans Sept. 14 by Norma McCorvey, the woman known as Jane Roe in the Supreme Court case 31 years ago, who now publicly speaks out against abortion.

A law firm representing McCorvey filed a motion last year asking the federal courts to overturn the Roe decision, saying it was not “fair or just” and submitting evidence claiming that abortions harm a woman’s mental and physical health, including nearly 1,000 affidavits from women who had abortions and claim they’ve suffered emotional damage and impaired relationships as a result of their decision.

In its ruling, the court said McCorvey’s appeal was moot because it was

Regulating religion

Diocesan planner CNS photo from Reuters

U.S. Muslim pilgrims pray at Mount Arafat, Saudi Arabia, in this March 15, 2000, file photo. The U.S. State Department’s International Religious Freedom Report cited Saudi Arabia for severe abuses of religious freedom.

Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, Eritrea cited for religious freedom WASHINGTON (CNS) — Saudi Arabia, Vietnam and Eritrea were among the countries singled out for the first time by a U.S. State Department report for severe abuses of religious freedom.

Myanmar, China, Iran, North Korea and Sudan again were designated as “countries of particular concern” in the State Department’s sixth International Religious Freedom Report, issued Sept.

15.

Under the International Religious Freedom Act, a “country of particular concern” designation can lead potentially to sanctions or other penalties.

“Millions of people around the world live under totalitarian regimes where religious belief and practice are tightly controlled,” the report said.

It said states use varying methods of restricting religious freedom, from enforcing discriminatory laws and policies or by forcing religious adherents to join “state-approved” churches.

The report said that Saudi Arabia denies religious freedom “to all but those who adhere to the state-sanctioned version of Sunni Islam.”

“Freedom of religion does not exist” in Saudi Arabia, with the government prohibiting all public nonMuslim religious activities, the report said. Mosque preachers, whose salaries were paid by the government, were cited for frequently using violent antiJewish and anti-Christian language in

their sermons.

Preeta D. Bansal, chairwoman of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, said that since 1999 the commission has recommended that the State Department cite Saudi Arabia for its abuse of religious freedom.

“This has been based not only on the Saudi government’s violations of religious freedom within its own borders, but also on reports of its propagation and export of an ideology of religious hate and intolerance throughout the world,” Bansal said in a statement.

Walt Grazer, the U.S. bishops’ policy adviser for religious liberty and human rights, said the report focuses needed attention on religious liberty.

“It’s helpful to have these types of reports because it keeps the issue of religious liberty in the forefront and holds it up as a foundation for human rights,” he said.

Grazer said that, although the United States has never acted against countries cited in its own report for violations of religious liberty, he believed that the U.S. report influences offending nations to improve their record on religious rights.

“The report moves religious liberty to an international norm,” he said.

“Countries don’t want to be labeled ‘countries of particular concern’ or seen that they don’t respect human rights, even as they’re violating those

ASHEVILLE VICARIATE SWANNANOA — St. Margaret Mary Church, 102 Andrew Place, offers Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament on the first Friday of each month following the 12 p.m. Mass with Benediction at 5 p.m. For information call (828) 686-8833.

BOONE VICARIATE NORTH WILKESBORO — If you have a special need for prayers, or would like to offer your time in prayer for others’ needs, please call the Rosary Chain at St. John Baptist de La Salle Church. The Rosary Chain is a sizable group and all requests and volunteers are welcome. For details, call Marianna de Lachica at (336) 667-9044.

CHARLOTTE VICARIATE HUNTERSVILLE — The Living Creed, a fourweek series about the Catholic faith, will begin Sept 29, 7:15-8:30 p.m. Registration is free but required. For details, call the church office at (704) 948-0231.

MINT HILL — “Protecting God’s Children” workshops will be presented Oct. 2, 12-3 p.m. and Oct. 19. 6:30-9 p.m., at St. Luke Church, 17300 Lawyers Rd. “Protecting God’s Children” is a program designed to heighten awareness of the issue of child sexual abuse.

Participants will be informed of potentially dangerous situations with specific suggestions to reduce the risk of children becoming victims of such abuse. To register for this free workshop, visit www.charlottediocese.org and click on “Protecting God’s Children.”

CHARLOTTE — New Creation Monastery will

based on the case challenging Texas law that made abortions illegal, but that law no longer exists.

Judge Edith Jones, one of the panel judges, concurred with the ruling, but acknowledged that McCorvey’s appeal brought up some legitimate issues and she noted that the U.S. Supreme Court may one day re-evaluate its Roe decision.

Jones said that if the courts were to “delve into the facts underlying Roe’s balancing scheme with present-day knowledge, they might conclude that the woman’s ‘choice’ is far more risky and less beneficial, and the child’s sentience far more advanced, than the Roe court knew.”

She concluded that the “perverse result of the (Supreme) Court’s having determined through constitutional adjudication of this fundamental social policy, which affects over a million women and unborn babies each year, is that the facts no longer matter.”

host a four-session Spiritual Growth Seminar this fall. The sessions will meet Sept. 30, Oct. 7 and 28 and Nov. 4, 7-8 p.m. For more information, call Father John Vianney Hoover at (704) 541-5026.

CHARLOTTE — The St. Maximilian Kolbe Fraternity of the Secular Franciscan Order invite all to join them in the transitus, the passing of St. Francis of Assisi, Oct. 3 at 7 p.m. at St. Thomas Aquinas Church, 1400 Suther Rd. For more information, call Jenny Taylor Johnson, SFO, at (704) 319-5343.

CHARLOTTE — The Life Chain will form in front of St. Ann Church, 3635 Park Rd., Oct. 3. English and Spanish signs will announce the Catholic Church’s stand against abortion. For details, call the church office at (704) 523-4641.

CHARLOTTE — St. Matthew Church, 8015 Ballantyne Commons Pkwy., is offering Catholicism 101, a free yearlong course for adults covering the basics of the Catholic faith, including the sacraments, scripture, tradition, prayer and morality.

Classes meet Mondays at 7 p.m. and Tuesdays at 6:30 p.m. in the New Life Center. For details, call the church office at (704) 543-7677.

CHARLOTTE — The Cancer Support Group for survivors, family and friends meets the first Tuesday of each month at 7 p.m. at St. Matthew Church, 8015 Ballantyne Commons Pkwy. For more information, call Marilyn Borrelli at (704) 542-2283.

GASTONIA VICARIATE BELMONT — All middle and high school youths are welcome to join Dennis Teall-Fleming for Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament every Tuesday, 5-6 p.m. in the Adoration Chapel at Belmont Abbey College for an hour of prayer and devotion.

For details, contact Dennis at (704) 825-9600, ext.

26 or e-mail teallfleming@yahoo.com.

SEPTEMBER 24, 2 0 0 4 Volume 13 • Number 44 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

September 24, 2004

FROM THE VATICAN

Commission warns new technology Fight against poverty needs greater threatens human biological integrity

funding, Vatican official says or surpassed the 0.7 target.

Cardinal Sodano reminded nations of their funding commitments, and said that while world efforts to alleviate hunger caused by natural disasters and wars were “praiseworthy,” the problem of hunger was “much more vast.”

The fight against food insecurity must include investments in health care, education, technology and in “guaranteeing fair international trade,” he said.

In a separate ceremony the same day, Cardinal Sodano was presented with the 2004 Path to Peace Award, presented by the Path to Peace Foundation.

Archbishop Celestino Migliore, Vatican nuncio to the United Nations, said Cardinal Sodano was being honored as a way of “recognizing the important contribution that papal diplomacy has made to the international community.”

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — In a new document on the created world, the

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — More funding is needed in the global fight against hunger and poverty, the Vatican’s secretary of state told world leaders at the United Nations.

Cardinal Angelo Sodano said there is a “lack of sufficient funds for a worldwide food security program to make headway” during a Sept. 20 gathering of government leaders who met to discuss ways to eradicate hunger and poverty in the world.

In September 2000, all 191 U.N. member states pledged to cut by half the number of people suffering from hunger and living on less than $1 a day.

In order to implement these goals by 2015, nations promised to provide 0.7 percent of their gross national product as development aid to poor nations.

But out of 24 donor nations, only Sweden, Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands and Luxembourg actually reached

GREENSBORO VICARIATE

School Rd. For further information, call the church office at (704) 664-3992.

HIGH POINT — The Evangelization Commission at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church, 4145 Johnson St., will offer free Spanish classes Sept.

9 - Nov. 11. Classes meet Thursday evenings 7-8 p.m. All materials will be provided. To register, call Nancy Skee at (336) 884-0522 or Larry Kwan at (336) 882-7204.

HIGH POINT — Immaculate Heart of Mary Church, 512 Montlieu Ave., offers free “Gentle Fitness” classes Wednesdays and Fridays, 1:302:30 p.m. The classes are structured to the fitness levels of seniors and anyone wanting low-impact aerobic workout. For more information, call Deana Collis at (336) 885-7029.

GREENSBORO — All Irish-Catholic women are invited to participate in the Ladies Ancient Order of Hibernians, a social, cultural and charitable group for an ongoing series of fun and informative activities. LAOH will meet the first Thursday of each month at 7:30 p.m. at St. Pius X Kloster Center, 2210 N. Elm St. Please join us for refreshments and to learn more about our group. RSVP to Elaine McHale, president, at (336) 292-1118.

HICKORY VICARIATE HICKORY — The Fraternity of Brother Francis will present two spiritual events in the life of St. Francis of Assisi — the stigmata and transitus — Oct. 3 at 3 p.m. at St. Aloysius Church, 921 Second St. NE. Refreshments and a biographical video will follow. For more information, contact Ruth Thoni at (828) 466-1664.

HENDERSONVILLE — The Widows Lunch Bunch, sponsored by Immaculate Conception Church, meets at a different restaurant on the first Wednesday of each month at 11:30 a.m. Reservations are necessary. For more information and reservations, call Joan Keagle at (828) 693-4733.

HICKORY — A Charismatic Mass is celebrated the first Thursday of each month in Sebastian Chapel of St. Aloysius Church, 921 Second St. NE, at 7 p.m. For further information, contact Joan Moran (828)-327-0487.

SALISBURY VICARIATE MOORESVILLE — A special Holy Hour including the Chaplet of Divine Mercy will be held 3-4 p.m. Oct. 2 at St. Therese Church, 217 Brawley

Episcopal

calendar

MOORESVILLE — The St. Therese Book Club meets the second Wednesday of each month at 9:45 a.m. October’s book will be “Eden Found”

by Steve Hart. For details, call Joan Fesko at (704) 664-9722.

SMOKY MOUNTAIN VICARIATE WAYNESVILLE— St. John the Evangelist Church, 234 Church St., offers Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament the first Friday of every month following the 9 a.m. Mass until 4:15 p.m.

For information, call the church office at (828) 456-6707 or Christine Ryan at (828) 926-1331.

SYLVA — St. Mary Church offers Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament the first Saturday of every month following the 9 a.m. Mass until 3 p.m.

For information, call (828) 586-9496.

International Theological Commission warned that science and technology today offer the dangerous ability to “alter man himself” and destroy the biological integrity of human beings.

The 46-page document, “Communion and Stewardship: Human Persons Created in the Image of God,” said the biblical call to “stewardship” over the natural environment extends in a special way to safeguarding human life, which is created in God’s image. This understanding clearly rules out human cloning, destruction of embryos, genetic enhancement, abortion or euthanasia, it said.

The International Theological Commission is headed by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the Vatican’s chief doctrinal official.

In discussing people’s relationship with creation, the document emphasized Christian teachings against unrestrained economic development and environmental damage. It also said evolutionary explanations of biological development were acceptable as long as they did not exclude God as a transcendent cause or exclude the universe as a setting for “a radically personal drama” involving God and man.

Addressing the question, “How far is man allowed to remake himself?”, the document said while human beings are agents and not just passive subjects of

evolutionary development, they do not have a “right of full disposal” over their biological natures, it said.

“Man is created in the image of God, but he is not God himself,” it said.

The document cited several areas where the biological integrity of human beings may be threatened, including: — Human cloning is “an infringement of the identity of the person.”

— Genetic engineering aimed at producing a “superhuman” is radically immoral.

— Assisted suicide, direct euthanasia, and direct abortion — however tragic and complex the personal situations may be — wrongly sacrifice physical life for a “self-selected finality.”

— Birth control and sterilization render “incomplete” the mutual gift of men and women.

The document views these issues through the lens of “imago Dei,” a theology that affirms that humans are created in “the image of God” in order to enjoy personal communion with God and among themselves and in order to exercise responsible stewardship of the created world.

This theology emphasizes that man is not an isolated individual and that he cannot be made subservient to systems that are of this world only.

Sweeping away

WINSTON-SALEM VICARIATE WINSTON-SALEM — The Secular Franciscans will host the Blessing of the Animals at Winston Square, adjacent to the Sawtooth Building, 226 N. Marshall Street, on Oct. 2 at 11 a.m. All family members and their pets are welcome to attend. For more information, call (336) 725-3751 or email p-lstudio@webtv.net KERNERSVILLE — Holy Cross Church, 616 S. Cherry St., celebrates Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament every Friday until 7 p.m. Call the church office at (336) 996-5109 for more information.

MT. AIRY — Holy Angels Church, 1208 N. Main St., offers Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament every Wednesday, 6:30-7:30 p.m., and every Thursday, 10-11 a.m. Adoration concludes with Benediction.

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:

Sept. 27 — 10 a.m.

St. Mark School, Huntersville

Oct. 1 — 9 a.m. Mass St. Mark Church, Huntersville

Sept. 28 — 11 a.m. Mass St. Matthew School, Charlotte

Oct. 2 — 10 a.m. Mass St. Francis of Assisi Church, Mocksville

CNS photo by Douglas Kaup, Pittsburgh Catholic

Morgan Pogel, a fifth-grader from All Saints School in the Diocese of Pittsburgh, cleans up the mud that accumulated in the classrooms after the remnants of Hurricane Ivan swept through the area Sept. 17. More than 100 people lost their lives in the violent storm as it made its way across the Caribbean and into the United States.

4 The Catholic News & Herald

around the diocese

Sharing the faith

Computer grandpa honored by Catholic WINSTON-SALEM — St. Leo the Great School recently celebrated a special grandparent.

Joe Carella, a grandfather of three students, was honored during the school’s Grandparents Day Sept. 9.

Carella maintains the school’s computers and computer network.

“If not for Joe’s computer expertise, our school might still be technologically behind the times,” said Donna Birkel, administrative assistant.

Students presented Carella with three gifts: a golf shirt embroidered with the St. Leo lion head and the words “St. Leo Computer Grandpa”; a certificate recognizing his many hours of selfless dedication and a chain adorned with a computer mouse; and a photograph of all of the St. Leo the Great School students holding a large sign that read “Thank You.”

Courtesy Photo

Joe Carella is honored during Grand-parents Day Sept. 9.

Catholic student’s short story to be

Elliot joins seven other IHM students to feature HIGH POINT — Immaculate Heart of Mary School will soon have another published writer in its student body.

A short story by seventh-grader Donna Ashley Elliot has been selected for publication in the 2004 edition of the Anthology of Short Stories by Young Americans. Elliott’s story, “Haunted Mansion,” was selected as “one of the most creative submissions.”

Now in its third year, the Anthology of Short Stories by Young Americans was created by Anthology of Poetry, Inc. in Asheboro in response to requests by teachers in almost every state to assist in the development of young writers, according to the organization’s Web site.

The publications of Anthology of Poetry, Inc. are “a forum for young poets to see their work and the work of other young poets published in an actual book,” the site states. “The encouragement and confidence gained by seeing their work published will help fuel the enthusiasm needed to develop the writing skills so necessary in adult life.”

As reported in the Sept. 3 issue

September 24, 2004

of The Catholic News & Herald, seven other students at Immaculate Heart of Mary School will be published in another company publication, the 2004 edition of the Anthology of Poetry by Young Americans. They are seventhgraders Christa Dolan, Elizabeth Gooding, Hope Griffin, Katie Shank, Zachary Scott, Kara Walker and Lynn Hamilton.

Donna Ashley Elliot

Photo by Carole McGrotty

Elizabeth Girton, director of faith formation at the Basilica of St. Lawrence in Asheville, explains about baptism during the monthly Catechesis Sunday meeting Sept. 5. After the children and parents watched a video about baptism, Girton explained the significance of the baptismal candle, holy water, stole and sacramental oils, allowing the children to touch the items and smell the oils.

Breaking into small groups, the parents and children chose symbols that represented their love for Jesus. Each group designed a small square to be added, along with a square depicting the basilica, to baptismal stoles to be given to babies during their baptisms at the basilica.

September 24, 2004

The Catholic News & Herald 5

around the diocese

“When poor people get together and they learn how to advocate for themselves, they do tremendous things.”

CCHD projects empower CCHD, from page 1

he said the funding CCHD provides does break the cycle of poverty for many families.

“These programs form poor people into leaders in the community — they teach them how to analyze the problem, to research laws and policies and to propose and advocate for solutions,” said Father Vitillo. “CCHD works with the poor, rather than for the poor.”

CCHD supports local groups as they create jobs, improve neighborhoods, train adults for employment at a living wage, keep schools safe and enriching for children and raise leaders for the future.

Father Vitillo and members of the diocesans committee for the CCHD visited the Montagnard Agricultural Project south of Asheboro and the Boys and Girls Club of Asheboro Sept. 11.

The Montagnard Agricultural Project, which received a $1,500 CCHD local grant in 2004, consists of 101 acres of land south of Asheboro. Volunteers teach Montagnard refugees to use modern farming techniques on land purchased by veterans of the U.S. Army Special Forces, who were aided by Montagnards during the Vietnam War. “Our goal is to teach them to be self-sustaining by raising crops and poultry and sell to other Montagnards,” said George Clark, president of Save the Montagnard People, the organization that established the Montagnard Agricultural Project.

“We’re empowering them to run

at-risk youth.

“This program is desperately needed,” said Addie Luther, a retired teacher and social worker who was instrumental in the forming of the East Side Improvement Association. “These teen-agers have nowhere else to go.”

For a yearly $2 membership fee, Boys and Girls’ Club members can take advantage of a variety of enrichment activities — “Power Hour,” which provides tutoring; programs to teach leadership skills and self-sufficiency; “Smart Moves,” a pregnancy prevention program; and physical fitness activities.

“I was very pleased with the work of volunteers and staff at both projects,” said Patricia Vasil, a member of the diocesan CCHD committee who accompanied Father Vitillo on his visits. “They have used their resources very wisely.”

“It was affirming of the importance of the good work going on in the world, and CCHD is a big part of that,” said Mark Siler, another member of the diocesan CCHD committee. “There aren’t many funds like the CCHD that see the importance of a community taking charge to solve their own problems.”

Contact Staff Writer Karen A. Evans by calling (704) 370-3354 or e-mail kaevans@charlottediocese.org.

Courtesy Photo

Father Robert Vitillo and members of the diocesan CCHD committee speak with George Clark, president of Save the Montagnard People, at the Montagnard Agricultural Project Sept. 11. the property,” he said. “Ultimately our job is to put ourselves out of a job.”

Clark regards other important goals of the project to be the preservation of the Montagnard culture and mutual cooperation among the various tribes.

During its 30-year history, CCHD has funded more than 4,000 self-help projects developed by grassroots groups of poor persons. Each year CCHD distributes national grants to more than 300 community-based projects. In addition, hundreds of smaller projects are funded through the 25 percent share of the CCHD

collection retained by dioceses.

The success of CCHD is due to Catholic parishioners whose contributions to the annual parish appeal have made possible meeting CCHD’s objectives over the years. Eighty-five cents out of every dollar received by CCHD goes directly to community empowerment, economic development and education programs that work to break the cycle of poverty.

In the United States, 33 million people, or 11 percent of the total population, live below the poverty line, earning less than $18,100 a year for a family of four, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

“When poor people get together and they learn how to advocate for themselves, they do tremendous things,” said Father Vitillo.

While in Randolph County, Father Vitillo also visited the Boys and Girls’ Club of Asheboro. The East Side Improvement Association, Inc., which sponsors the club, received a $2,000 CCHD local grant to help defer the operating costs of this safe haven for

Want More Info?

Terri Jarina, CCHD diocesan director: 704-370-3234 Catholic Campaign for Human Development: www.usccb.org/CCHD Save the Montagnard People: (336)

6 The Catholic News & Herald

around the diocese

Hispanic ministry a ‘great pastoral challenge,’ says priest Father Brzoska to oversee pastoral formation, Hispanic ministry at seminary LATROBE, Pa. — Father David Brzoska, former administrator of St. Andrew the Apostle Church in Mars Hill and Sacred Heart Church in Burnsville, has been named director of pastoral formation and director of Hispanic ministries at St. Vincent Seminary in Latrobe, Pa.

Father David Brzoska minister to their particular needs and situation and to find ways to integrate this community into the existing community,” he said. “Therefore, pastoral formation in Hispanic ministry is a great necessity.”

Father Brzoska was ordained to the priesthood in June 2000 after earning a master’s degree in theology with a concentration in Sacred Scripture in 1999 and a master of divinity degree in 2000 from St. Vincent Seminary.

He was the recipient of the Honorable Judge Bernard F. Scherer Award from the seminary in 1999.

“I’m excited to join the staff of St. Vincent Seminary and to be directly involved in the priestly formation of the seminarians,” said Father Brzoska. “I had a very enriching experience at St. Vincent and I hope to contribute to a similar experience for those currently in formation.”

“I believe that an important role in the formation of future priests is their gaining practical experience and their implementing this, along with their learning, into their priestly and pastoral identity,” he said.

Many dioceses such as the Diocese of Charlotte are experiencing rapid growth in Hispanic Catholics, which poses a “great pastoral challenge,” said Father Brzoska, whose parish and mission in North Carolina included significant Hispanic communities.

“One challenge is to be able to

September 24, 2004

U.S. Air Force Band to perform free concert at Charlotte Catholic CHARLOTTE — One of the most traveled musical organizations in the world will perform soon in Charlotte.

The U.S. Air Force Band will appear in a free concert at Charlotte Catholic High School Oct. 17. The performance is in cooperation with Mecklenburg Area Catholic Schools Education Foundation and the MACS Band Program.

The band, comprised of the U.S. Air Force Concert Band and the Singing Sergeants, has represented the nation as “America’s International Musical Ambassadors” in 55 countries on five continents during 12 international goodwill tours.

The 65-member concert band is a world-class symphonic wind ensemble;

the Singing Sergeants is a 23-voice chorus performing a variety of musical selections.

The band is conducted by Col. Dennis Layendecker, who joined the band in 1983. After being commanding the U.S. Air Force’s Europe Band at Sembach Air Base in Germany in 1995, Col. Layendecker returned to command the Air Force’s “musical ambassadors” in 2002.

Want to Go? The concert is at Charlotte Catholic High School at 3 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 17. Tickets are free. Send a selfaddressed, stamped envelope to Air Force Band Tickets, 9013 Raintree Lane, Charlotte NC 28277, or e-mail stanmichjr@aol.com.

Youth invited to help animal blessings

WINSTON-SALEM — A Blessing of the Animals will take place in Winston Square Park Oct. 2.

The Secular Franciscans’ Fraternity of St. Clare, which is hosting the event, is looking for local youth to help plan and assist with the event.

“We are looking for young artists, actors and helpers of all kinds who like photography, animals, and assisting our priests and faith community,” said Betti Longinotti, one of the organizers.

Third Order Regular of St. Francis Father Andrew Draper, pastor of St. Francis of Assisi Church in Mocksville, will perform the blessings. All people and

their pets are welcome to attend.

Each year on the feast day of St. Francis, Oct. 4, churches around the world hold pet blessing ceremonies. St. Francis, patron of ecology, lived in central Italy in the 12th century. His love of animals and all of creation has endeared him to people of many faiths.

Want to Go? The blessing will be 11 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 2, at Winston Square Park, N. Marshall St.. For more info or to assist, contact Betti Longinotti at (336) 7253751 or e-mail p-lstudio@webtv.net.

September 24, 2004

in the news

The Catholic News & Herald 7

Pope refocuses on EUCHARIST, from page 1

“There’s a very close connection between the Eucharist and announcing Christ,” he said.

In fact, said Cardinal Jozef Tomko, who heads the Vatican’s committee for international eucharistic congresses, the pope is convinced that unless Catholics have a firm understanding of the Eucharist, the church’s many missionary and social activities lose meaning.

“More and more, the Holy Father is turning back to the central mysteries of the faith,” Cardinal Tomko said in an interview Sept. 8.

“He is focusing now on the Eucharist as the special presence of Jesus Christ among us. But this is a mystery — the idea that Christ has given his own body for us to eat. It is a very hard language for people to accept,” he said.

Cardinal Tomko will be the pope’s personal representative at the International Eucharistic Congress in Guadalajara, Mexico, Oct. 10-17, when the eucharistic year is inaugurated. The pope would have liked to go, but his poor health makes the trip impossible. Instead, he’ll speak to the assembly via a TV link.

In the United States, most discussion of the Eucharist this year has revolved around the controversy over Catholic politicians who disagree with church teaching on abortion. Some bishops have said they would refuse to give Communion to such politicians, including Bishop Peter J. Jugis, who in August, along with Archbishop John F. Donoghue of Atlanta and Bishop Robert J. Baker of Charleston, issued “Worthy to Receive the Lamb: Catholics in Political Life and the Reception of Holy Communion.”

Despite the risk of politicizing the

Eucharist, many observers in Rome and at the Vatican are not unhappy the Communion issue has been raised.

“The whole question of being in a proper disposition to receive the Eucharist is something that’s been practically untouched for decades in many parts of the world,” said U.S. Father Thomas D. Williams, a member of the Legionaries of Christ who teaches at Rome’s Regina Apostolorum University.

“In the aftermath of the political debate, I think the coming year will be an opportunity for instruction on what this means,” he said.

Father Williams said he also expects deeper reflection on other questions — for example, what the host is made of.

Controversy was stirred in August when a New Jersey bishop said a local girl’s first Communion was invalid because it used a no-gluten wafer made of rice instead of wheat.

After reading blogs — Web journals — full of people slamming the church on this issue, Father Williams said, “There’s a lot of ignorance out there, and I think this will be a year of instruction.”

Of course, the pope’s focus will go beyond liturgical details. He is most concerned that Catholics understand how the Eucharist embodies fundamental truths for the church, including Jesus’ redemptive sacrifice and his continued presence in the world.

“It’s part of his continual hammering of the theme: ‘The world needs Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ comes to us in an exceptional way through the Eucharist.’

I think he sees this as essential,” Father Williams said.

Archbishop John J. Myers of Newark, N.J., said his archdiocese has begun preliminary planning for the eucharistic year. He said most of his parishes already have regularly scheduled eucharistic

Photo by Rev. Mr. Gerald Potkay

Bishop Peter J. Jugis leads a eucharistic procession during the 10th anniversary of perpetual adoration at Maryfield Chapel in High Point on the feast of Corpus Christi June 13. adoration, and some have perpetual adoration. It’s part of a U.S. trend that owes something to the pope’s consistent teaching on this issue, he said.

During a visit to Rome, Archbishop Myers said that in his experience the more the Eucharist is integrated into parish and diocesan life “the more fruitful the vocations, the more confessions are heard and the more the life of the church is enriched.”

The Eucharist in all its implications seems a perfect theme for the final years of this papacy, but it’s been dear to the pope his whole life.

As an archbishop in Poland, he would complain loudly and publicly every year that authorities had kept the annual Corpus Christi procession out of Krakow’s central square. It wasn’t right, he said, that the Eucharist — the body of Christ — should be carried over the “uneven and potholed roads” of the city’s periphery.

And, addressing a vast crowd at the procession in 1978, he deftly linked the Eucharist with a call for recognition of the church’s legal status. The church “is building itself on the Eucharist,” he said, and the nation’s authorities cannot deny that truth.

Father Williams predicted the 20042005 year of the Eucharist would have a ripple effect throughout the church. He said it’s very much in keeping with the pastoral style of this pope, who has dedicated years to Mary, the rosary and the family, among other things.

“He just keeps throwing out the net, and every time these things affect a lot of people positively,” he said.

Editor Kevin E. Murray contributed to this story.

8 The Catholic News & Herald

fighting for life

Church law: Bishops may deny holy Communion to dissident politicians ABORTION, from page 1

ton, issued in August 2004 “Worthy to Receive the Lamb: Catholics in Political Life and the Reception of Holy Communion,” a letter stating that Catholic politicians who persistently support abortion may not be admitted to Communion in their dioceses.

Franciscan Coughlin was one of several speakers at a daylong conference, “Public Witness/Public Scandal,” on “the controversy over Catholic politicians who consistently advocate and vote against pro-life positions.”

The conference was held at the National Press Club in Washington Sept.

16.

Father Coughlin, who teaches law at the University of Notre Dame, said that while bishops should deny Communion to pro-abortion politicians, there might be good pastoral reasons for not doing that during an election campaign.

The question has led to a national controversy this year, sparked in large part by the candidacy of the Democratic presidential nominee, Sen. John F. Kerry, a Catholic who supports keeping abortion legal.

Father Coughlin said the relevant law for most Catholics is Canon 915 in the Code of Canon Law, which says that Catholics “obstinately persevering in manifest grave sin are not to be admitted to holy Communion.”

Documenting church law Father Coughlin said recent Vatican documents make it clear that Catholic politicians are in “manifest grave sin” if their voting record “shows a definite proabortion or pro-euthanasia position.”

He cited this summer’s statement of principles, “Worthiness to Receive Holy Communion,” by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, prefect of the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, as a key document spelling out the theological and canonical principles for the determination that Catholic politicians who support legal abortion are in manifest grave sin, as well as the procedures to be followed by church authorities for dealing with those politicians.

The cardinal sent the statement in a confidential letter to Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick of Washington, head of a task force of U.S. bishops examining that issue, shortly before the bishops’ June special assembly, at which the question was discussed.

At the June meeting near Denver, the U.S. bishops approved by a 183-6 vote a statement on Catholics in political life that said politicians who act “consistently to support abortion on demand” risk “cooperating in evil and sinning against the common good.”

“In that statement, we reminded Catholic politicians of the moral teaching of our church in regard to abortion: ‘...

The killing of an unborn child is always intrinsically evil and can never be justified,’” said Bishop Jugis.

CNS photo by Bob Roller

Father Richard John Neuhaus discusses Catholic politicians and church teachings at the National Press Club Sept. 16.

In “Worthy to Receive the Lamb,” Bishops Jugis and Burke and Archbishop Donoghue said that only after the politician’s “public disavowal of former support for procured abortion” and “with the knowledge and consent of the local bishop” can the politician be admitted to Communion.

“We undertake this action to safeguard the sacred dignity of the most holy sacrament of the altar, to reassure the faithful and to save sinners,” they said.

Turning point for Americans During the conference Sept. 16, Father Richard John Neuhaus agreed that Catholic politicians who persist in supporting legalized abortion should be denied Communion.

Father Neuhaus, a New York priest and editor in chief of First Things magazine, described the current debate over how bishops should deal with Catholic politicians who dissent from church teachings in public policy stands on fundamental issues “a turning point of considerable consequences in American history.”

How the bishops handle the issue with have significant implications for “the future of Christian witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ” in the United States, he said.

Father Coughlin said Cardinal Ratz-

inger’s “Worthiness to Receive Holy Communion” presents an “authoritative protocol” for pastors to follow in confronting politicians who publicly dissent from church teaching on abortion or euthanasia, seeking to persuade them to change their views, but ultimately denying them Communion if they obstinately persevere in their position.

Both Fathers Coughlin and Neuhaus praised Archbishop Raymond L. Burke of St. Louis who last winter, when he was still bishop of La Cross, Wis., communicated with three local politicians whose voting records he judged to be pro-abortion.

When the politicians declined to change their positions, he issued a formal canonical notification, made public in January, that they should not present themselves for Communion and must be denied the sacrament if they did present themselves to receive it.

Those who disagree with Archbishop Burke’s position “disregard church law,” Father Coughlin said.

When politicians who publicly oppose church teaching on abortion are permitted to receive Communion, “it is a source of scandal for all devout believers,” he said.

Always the prominent issue Father Neuhaus noted that some people have accused those bishops who have followed Archbishop Burke’s lead of “speaking recklessly” by addressing the issue in the midst of a presidential campaign.

But with Kerry, who supports keeping abortion legal, as the first major-party Catholic presidential nominee in 44 years, the priest said, “it is precisely because of this moment that this issue needed to be addressed now.”

“Rome has made it clear. ... It’s intrinsically evil to take innocent human life,” he said, adding that the abortion issue “is singular and it does have priority” over issues like the minimum wage, capital punishment or the war in Iraq.

Among the U.S. bishops “the center has moved dramatically,” he said.

September 24, 2004

“The issue now is not whether this will be publicly addressed,” he explained, but how to address it and to make policy decisions “in the case of persistent, unrepentant, public and scandalous defiance of the church’s teaching that will range from urging the person not to present himself or herself for Communion to publicly refusing Communion (to that person).

That is a great move on the part of the bishops. That is the range of discussion. That was not true a year ago.”

Father Neuhaus said he has “great sympathy for the politicians and other public figures who are asking the question, ‘Why, all of a sudden, is it a big deal?’”

“The answer, of course, is that it was always a big deal,” he said. “But the bishops were negligent, and in some cases timorous and in some cases, perhaps it is not kind to say, cowardly.”

Father Coughlin offered several observations in defense of bishops who may not seek to bar dissident politicians from Communion immediately.

“Canon law was never intended to influence an election,” so it might be pastorally prudent to wait until after the current elections to begin the process of educating and warning dissenting politicians. He reminded the audience that when Archbishop Burke acted in Wisconsin, it was not during an election period.

“A bishop must consider the effect on his diocese,” he said.

Noting that Kerry comes from Boston, he said that with the church in Boston embroiled in two years of turmoil over the clergy sexual abuse scandal, he said, Boston Archbishop Sean P. O’Malley “could reasonably conclude that it was not realistic at this time” to begin the process to bar the Democratic candidate from Communion.

He suggested bishops might begin to give dissident politicians notice that “after a certain time” they are going to begin enforcing the provisions of Canon 915 — “outside the context of an election contest” and in the pastoral context of seeking to get dissenting politicians to understand and accept the church’s teaching.

In an August letter, Bishop Jugis asked the people of the Diocese of Charlotte to “pray, as I do, for all those involved in the political process, and ... also for a greater respect in our country for the dignity of the life of the unborn

September 24, 2004

The Catholic News & Herald 9

FIGHTING FOR LIFE

Vatican dismay: Memo on politicians touches nerve in U.S. campaign Bishops struggle to preserve church teaching

by JOHN THAVIS catholic news service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — When Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger sent out a brief memo in June about politicians and Communion, he probably never imagined it would ignite a heated discussion about Catholics and voting.

The document, leaked to an Italian reporter but never officially acknowledged by the Vatican, focused on the grounds for denying Communion to proabortion Catholic politicians.

Almost as an afterthought, it added two sentences about Catholic voters: First, it said, a Catholic who deliberately voted for a candidate precisely because of the candidate’s pro-abortion (or pro-euthanasia) stand would be guilty of “formal cooperation in evil” and should exclude himself from receiving Communion.

Second, when a Catholic does not share a candidate’s stand in favor of abortion but votes for that candidate for other reasons, it is considered “remote material cooperation,” which is “permitted in the presence of proportionate reasons.”

Reaction to those two sentences has been simmering all summer, fueled in part by election-year politics.

One self-styled “traditional” Catholic publication criticized Cardinal Ratzinger, who heads the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, saying his words would be taken as a “license to vote for pro-abortion politicians.”

In a New York Daily News column headlined “Catholics can vote for Kerry,” Father Andrew Greeley said Cardinal Ratzinger had correctly underlined that Catholics should not be single-issue voters, but should weigh all the issues.

Other conservative Catholic Web sites have criticized Father Greeley’s column and disputed the idea that Cardinal Ratzinger has given a green — or at least yellow — light to Catholic voters who intend to

vote for pro-abortion candidates.

Vatican officials are dismayed because a private communication was leaked.

Moreover, they say, the ensuing discussion has mixed up two very different issues — the public actions of Catholic politicians and the private moral decisions faced by Catholic voters.

Vatican officials also are concerned that the discussion of “leeway” in voting for pro-abortion candidates may eclipse a more important point Pope John Paul II and others have been hammering home for years: That Catholics are morally obligated to try to limit the evil of abortion and euthanasia, and that those life-anddeath issues should have unique moral weight with Catholic voters.

‘Moral object’ of voting The one-page memo that started the discussion was sent with a letter from Cardinal Ratzinger to Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick of Washington, who heads the U.S. bishops’ Task Force on Catholic Bishops and Catholic Politicians. Sources described the memo as an unsigned “staff document” aimed at summarizing basic principles.

They said it did not begin to explore the complexity of voting and sin, which, in the words of one official, is pretty much “terra incognita” for moral theologians.

“The memo was certainly not intended to clear the way for Catholics to vote for candidates who are in favor of laws permitting abortion or euthanasia, but rather to clarify that the simple act of voting for such candidates might not per se justify one’s exclusion from holy Communion,” said U.S. Dominican Father Augustine DiNoia, undersecretary of the Vatican’s doctrinal congregation.

The problem is that it’s difficult to determine the purpose, or “moral object,” of an act of voting, Father DiNoia said.

“The only thing we could say is, a person might come to be in the state of mortal sin and therefore unworthy to receive Communion if they voted precisely with the moral object of extending abortion or the provision of abortion,” he said.

Formal vs. material cooperation For the church, there’s no question about the sinfulness of abortion, but there are serious questions about how far culpability extends beyond those directly involved in abortion.

That’s where the concepts of “formal” and “material” cooperation come in. These are traditional terms in theology, although their application to the act of voting is quite new.

Cooperation in evil concerns people who are drawn into the bad act of another person. In general, “formal” cooperation means culpability, whereas “material” cooperation — being more remote — does not, Father DiNoia said.

In the case of abortion, the church considers as the principal agents the person procuring it and the doctor performing it.

Believing unborn are of less value bears ‘false witness’ at altar Guest Column FATHER FRANK PAVONE Guest Columnist

CNS photo from Reuters

Jenni Login, right, demonstrates with a small group in front of St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City June 16. The group was asking Cardinal Edward M. Egan of New York and other bishops to withhold giving Communion to Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, a Catholic, due to his support of efforts to keep abortion legal.

In his 1995 encyclical, “Evangelium Vitae,” Pope John Paul II spoke at length about cooperation in acts against human life — but did not mention voting.

“Christians, like all people of good will, are called upon under grave obligation of conscience not to cooperate formally in practices which, even if permitted by civil legislation, are contrary to God’s law,” the pope said.

“Such cooperation occurs when an action, either by its very nature or by the form it takes in a concrete situation, can be defined as a direct participation in an act against innocent human life or a sharing in the immoral intention of the person committing it,” he said.

‘Proportionate reasons’ The recent doctrinal memo’s mention of “proportionate reasons” has led some people to suggest a set of reasons that could justify voting for pro-abortion politicians — or to argue that no “proportionate reason” can exist in such a case.

Father DiNoia said one obvious proportionate reason would be when, as often occurs, Catholic voters must choose between two candidates who support legalized abortion but to widely differing degrees. In that situation, not to vote at all would seem to go against a Christian’s responsibility to participate politically.

But further defining what may or may not be “proportionate reasons” in these cases is extremely difficult, Father DiNoia said. The situation of individual Catholic voters is different, so it’s impossible to have a standard list of acceptable reasons, he said.

In the end, theology is not able to say categorically in every circumstance when a Catholic voter sins or does not sin. What it can do — and what the recent memo attempted to do — is offer principles that are applied to the different situations.

Vatican officials have been reluctant to comment at all on the voting issue, saying it is a complex question that is easily muddled. They say the best thing that could come out of the recent discus-

An important perspective to consider on the question of whether pro-abortion politicians should receive Communion is Jesus’ teaching about the need to reconcile with our brothers and sisters before coming to the altar.

“Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.” (Mt 5:23-24) Those who allow abortion are not reconciled with their unborn brothers and sisters. To fail to see the equal dignity of children in the womb with children outside the womb is prejudice. To consider the unborn as “non-persons” and unworthy of Constitutional protection is an insult. And to consider one’s unborn brothers and sisters as “tissue” or “parasites” is name-calling of the worst kind.

Those who do this must first be reconciled with their unborn brothers and sisters before they can present their gift at the altar.

Communion is bestowed in the context of the Sacrifice of the Mass. That sacrifice is not only the sacrifice of Jesus, but of each of us along with Jesus. We offer him everything — our thoughts, our opinions, our choices. At the altar, we want to be reconciled to God, but we must be one with our neighbors — all of them.

To do so, we first have to recognize them. The command “Love your neighbor as yourself ” actually means, “Love your neighbor as a person like yourself.” Recognize that no matter how different your neighbor may seem, he or she has equal dignity to you, and therefore demands your respect and love. Failure to protect the unborn is rooted in the failure to recognize them, which is the most fundamental kind of failure to love.

We have to respond appropriately to our neighbor’s needs. “How can God’s love survive in one who has enough of this world’s goods but turns his back on his brother when he sees him in need?” (1 Jn. 3:17) Is there anyone more in need than the child in the womb?

To be reconciled to our neighbors, we must avoid false witness. To hold that the unborn are of less value than the rest of us, is to “bear false witness against your neighbor.” If we are doing that, we are not ready to present our gift at the altar.

Communion means union, which requires reconciliation. How much more does it apply to those who, as public officials, have the opportunity to

1 0 The Catholic News & Herald

September 24, 2004

Culture Watch

A roundup of Scripture, readings, films and more

‘The Da Vinci Code’ banned in Lebanon based on Catholic

Best-selling novel attempts to destroy church history, says Maronite priest

by DOREEN ABI RAAD catholic news service

BEIRUT, Lebanon — “The Da Vinci Code,” Dan Brown’s best seller, has been banned in Lebanon at the recommendation of Catholic officials.

A government spokesman said that “as a standard procedure, any book or publication that may offend the Christian or Muslim faith is referred to the religion’s appropriate leadership for commentary.”

“We have the power, under the law, to stop any book or publication from coming into the country if it might provoke any feelings against a religion,” the government spokesman added.

“The Da Vinci Code” was referred to the Catholic Center for Information, which serves as a clearinghouse for the church in Lebanon.

Maronite Father Georges Rahme, professor of theology at the Lebanese and Antoine universities, said government authorities asked him to read the book and submit a report.

Father Rahme said that, after careful review, the church recommended that “The Da Vinci Code” not be sold in Lebanon. The General Security Department’s office then issued an order to booksellers to pull the book from their shelves.

“I gave my evaluation with all the documentation to back it up after carefully reading the book, and we (the church) are conscientious that, with Dan Brown

and other authors, there are sects who are working in the world, even today, to make Christ out to be an ordinary man and to destroy the church,” said Father Rahme.

“We must remember that we are in an area (the Middle East) in which Muslims are the majority,” said Father Rahme. “Meddling with the core of the sacredness of Christianity in such a way as this book does is blowing up the foundation of Christianity.

“What has been said in Dan Brown’s novel is very far from the historic truth,” said Father Rahme.

The Virgin Megastore in Beirut has sold several thousand copies of “The Da Vinci Code” in English, French and Arabic, said Assaf Boulos, assistant manager of the book department.

“This is censorship,” he said. “People should read what they want. It’s fiction, not a religious book.”

“The Da Vinci Code” begins with the premise that Leonardo da Vinci used his art to communicate secret knowledge about the Holy Grail. It then claims that early Christians did not see Jesus as divine and criticizes the church for keeping secret thousands of texts that detail Christ’s humanity.

The book has been criticized for its claims of historical accuracy.

As of Sept. 21, “The Da Vinci Code” had been on the New York Times Best Seller List for 78 weeks.

CD features Christian hymns in Native American languages WASHINGTON (CNS) — In conjunction with the opening of the National Museum of the American Indian, the Smithsonian Institution’s Folkways Recordings has released a compact disc of Christian music in native languages.

“Beautiful Beyond: Christian Songs in Native Languages” includes 33 songs performed by people from tribes across North America, each recorded in the group’s native language.

It includes familiar songs, such as

“Rock of Ages,” sung by three Oneida women; “Silent Night,” sung by the Kykotsmovi Mennonite Church Choir in the Hopi language; “In the Sweet By and By,” sung by the Ojibwe Hymn Singers; and “Amazing Grace,” sung in Navajo by the TeecNosPos Gospel Melody.

The CD is available for sale at the museum’s gift shop or on the museum’s Web site — www.nmai.si.edu — by clicking on “bookshop,” then on “CDs.”

WORD TO LIFE

Sunday Scripture Readings: Oct. 3, 2004

Oct. 3, 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time Cycle C Readings: 1) Hebrews 1:2-3; 2:2-4 Psalm 95:1-2, 6-9 2) 2 Timothy 1:6-8, 13-14 3) Gospel: Luke 17:5-10

by JEFF HENSLEY catholic news service

My friend Carole and her husband Frank have been dynamos at the heart of their parish for most of their adult years. Their children are grown now, and Frank has a degenerative muscular disease, ALS, one of the most difficult blows that can come to a human being — and those close to him.

Carole and her hubby have responded with a courage that is inspiring to all who know them. They laugh a lot, and in the silence of their rooms, I am sure, they cry a lot.

But the other day Carole was shar-

ing with a group of her co-workers how much she missed being active in the service of others in her parish. She had so internalized the message of Jesus in the passage from Luke in this week’s readings — “When you have done all you have been commanded to do, say ‘We are useless servants. We have done no more than our duty’” — that even in the most stressful and stretched of circumstances, she was looking to serve her Lord in his people.

Little does she know that each time she opens her mouth, displaying her courage, she is living out the response to Timothy’s exhortation from Paul in this week’s reading from 2 Timothy: “For this reason, I remind you to stir into flame the gift of God bestowed when my hands were laid on you.

The Spirit God has given us is no cowardly spirit, but rather one that makes us strong, loving and wise.”

The call to service of God’s people that comes to both the ordained and all the baptized comes with the anointing with oil and the touch of the Holy Spirit.

WEEKLY SCRIPTURE Scripture for the week of September 26 - October 2 Sunday (Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time), Amos 6:1,4-7, 1 Timothy 6:11-16, Luke 16:19-31; Monday (St. Vincent de Paul), Job 1:6-22, Luke 9:46-50; Tuesday (St. Wenceslaus, St. Lawrence Ruiz and Companions), Job 3:1-3, 11-7, 20-23, Luke 9:51-56; Wednesday (Sts. Michael, Gabriel and Raphael), Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14, John 1:47-51; Thursday (St. Jerome), Job 19:21-27, Luke 10:1-12; Friday (St. Therese of the Child Jesus), Job 38:1, 12-21; 40:3-5, Luke 10:13-16; Saturday (Guardian Angels), Job 42:1-3, 5-6, 12-16, Matthew 18:1-5,10.

Scripture for the week of October 3 - October 9 Sunday (Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time), Habakkuk 1:2-3; 2:2-4, 2 Timothy 1:6-8, 13-14, Luke 17:5-10; Monday (St. Francis of Assisi), Galatians 1:6-12, Luke 10:25:37; Tuesday, Galatians 1:13-24, Luke 10:38-42; Wednesday, Galatians 2:1-2, 7-14, Luke 11:1-4; Thursday (Our Lady of the Rosary), Galatians 3:1-5, Luke 11:5-13; Friday, Galatians 3:7-14, Luke 11:1526; Saturday (St. Denis & Companions, St. John Leonardi), Galatians 3:22-29, Luke 11:27-28.

The Catholic News & Herald 11

September 24, 2004

German film portrays priest’s struggle with conscience in Dachau

by MICHAEL SWAN catholic news service

TORONTO — The German-language film “The Ninth Day” might seem on the surface to be another film trying to burn the memory of the Holocaust onto celluloid, but it is really about a man faced with temptation.

Director Volker Schlondorff said he made the movie “not because it is morally important; it’s just because the human story is so deep and so suspenseful.”

The film is the true story of Msgr.

Jean Bernard, the prewar head of the International Catholic Film Organization and postwar editor of the Luxembourg daily Luxemburger Wort. In between, Msgr. Bernard was arrested and sent to the Dachau concentration camp in 1941.

He was one of nearly 2,600 priests sent to Dachau as punishment for speaking out against Nazi policies.

More than half of them died there.

The diary Msgr. Bernard kept of his 20 months in Dachau became a best seller in Luxembourg in 1945. A strange episode from the diary forms the basis for “The Ninth Day.” Msgr. Bernard was released from Dachau and sent home to Luxembourg for nine days, during which Nazi occupation forces wanted him to persuade his bishop to endorse cooperation with the occupying force and agree to Nazi policy on the church.

If Msgr. Bernard went underground, tried to escape or failed to persuade his bishop, the Gestapo promised to start killing occupants of Dachau’s priest cellblock.

In the film, Msgr. Bernard becomes Father Henri Kremer. He is tempted to violate his conscience by Gestapo Untersturmfuhrer Gebhardt, a baby-faced ex-seminarian who forsook the priesthood for a career in Nazi administration just two days be-

CNS photo courtesy of Progress-Film Verleih

August Diehl plays Gestapo Untersturmfuhrer Gebhardt and Ulrich Matthes plays Father Henri Kremer in “The Ninth Day,” a film based on the true story of Msgr. Jean Bernard, a Dachau concentration camp survivor imprisoned for speaking out against Nazi policies. Msgr. Bernard died in 1994.

fore his ordination.

Gebhardt combines Nazi ideology with Catholic theology to present an argument for accommodating Nazi ideals.

Jesus may have been a Jew, but it was his will to overcome his Jewishness that

makes Jesus a model for humanity, Gebhardt says in dialogue scriptwriters lifted from the writings of Nazi propaganda master Joseph Goebbels.

“By defeating the Jew in me, I am doing the Lord’s work,” Gebhardt says.

Then he tries to persuade Father Kremer to make Judas his model.

“I claim Judas was pious,” he says.

Without Judas there would have been no Catholic Church, according to the Nazis.

The arguments form the basis of the film. Will Father Kremer choose the comfort of doing what he is told or the uncertainty of following his conscience?

“The Ninth Day” is an intimate movie that takes place mainly in conversations between two men.

“The church as an institution is not my subject,” Schlondorff said after the Toronto screening. “I think it’s more interesting to tell the story of individuals.”

Schlondorff, a Protestant, was educated for three years in France by Jesuits, who encouraged the young man to become a filmmaker.

For the film, Schlondorff went back to his Jesuit friends for advice about how to dramatize the theological puzzle of temptation.

After seeing Alain Resnais’ 1955 documentary on the death camps, “Night and Fog,” a young Schlondorff vowed never to try to dramatize a concentration camp. He said that at the time he thought, “This is one thing that is beyond staging.”

Now he has made a film that begins with a crucifixion in a Nazi camp.

“Fifty years later you think better of it,” he said.

No North American distributor has been announced for the film.

Schlondorff is known for directing “The Tin Drum,” which tied with “Apocalypse Now” for the 1979 Cannes Palm D’Or and won an Oscar for Best Foreign Film in 1980.

1 2 The Catholic News & Herald

around the diocese

September 24, 2004

Broadening horizons

Photo by Karen A. Evans

Kevin Murray, editor of The Catholic News & Herald, gives a presentation to a group of visitors from Kazakhstan at the diocesan Pastoral Center July 28.

Visitors from the Central Asian country deep in the Eurasian continent visited Charlotte as part of the U.S. State Department’s Community Connections program and Charlotte’s International House’s Citizen Diplomacy program.

The group visited the Pastoral Center to learn more about religious diversity in the United States and toured the diocesan newspaper to learn how a U.S. religious publication is managed and financed.

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September 24, 2004

around the diocese

The Catholic News & Herald 13

Editor honored at awards

Courtesy Photo

Rev. Mr. Curtiss Todd, vice chancellor of the Diocese of Charlotte, presents Kevin Murray, editor of The Catholic News & Herald, with a 2004 Irish in Media award during the inaugural Irish American Awards Dinner at the Palmer Building in Charlotte Sept. 16.

Event raises funds for upcoming parade CHARLOTTE — The editor of The Catholic News & Herald was honored recently for his work.

Kevin Murray received the Irish in Media award during the inaugural Irish American Awards Dinner at the historic Palmer Building, also known as Fireman’s Hall, Sept. 16.

The dinner was held to recognize local Irish Americans and raise funds for Charlotte’s annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade, which will be March 12, 2005.

“The parade is getting huge and we thought this dinner would be a nice way of helping raise money, and honoring some of the leading Irish Americans in our community,” said Linda Dyer Hart, an organizer of both the dinner and parade.

Other award winners were Moira Quinn, chief operating officer of Charlotte Center City Partners, as Irishwoman of the Year; Jim Babb, president of Babb Communications, as Irishman of the Year; Pat Mumford, Charlotte city councilman, as Irish Civic Leader; Marty Hurney, general manager of the Carolina Panthers, as

Irish in Sports; Tommy Timmins and Kevin Devin, owners of Connally’s Irish Pub, as Irish Philanthropists; and Ronan Cleary, of Connally’s Irish Pub, as Irish Bartender.

Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory received the Irish Hall of Fame Award.

“I think the awards and dinner are a great idea,” said Murray, who has been with the diocesan newspaper since February 2002.

“They show that there are a lot of Irish in our area doing great things,” he said. “I’m honored to be included among them.”

Want More Info?

For more information on Charlotte’s ninth annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade to take place March 12, 2005, visit www.charlottestpatsday.com.

1 4 The Catholic News & Herald

September 24, 2004

Perspectives

A collection of columns, editorials and viewpoints

Of icons and plagiarism God’s Word, spirit should not be copyrighted

Catholics & the Media DAVID HAINS Guest Columnist

ens, if not hundreds, of other iconographers copied it. In the art world that is considered forgery. In the church, repeating something that gives praise to God is called prayer.

Icons and the way in which they are freely copied are admissions that the things we accomplish here on earth are possible only because of the love of God. Should commercial artists like Picasso not profit from their work? What about music composers, or structural engineers? Shouldn’t they benefit from their talent and their years of training, hard work and experience?

You can make an argument that God-given talent should praise God and not an individual. But in an age in which paintings sell for millions of dollars, you would have a hard time convincing anyone, other than an iconographer, of the value of your argument.

Pope John Paul II made headlines recently when he returned an icon to the Russian Orthodox Church. The 18th century relic, The Mother of God of Kazan, was a copy of an icon created hundreds of years earlier. It depicts the Blessed Mother and the infant Jesus. The original and the copies have been credited with working miracles, including the repulsion of an invasion of Russia by a Polish army.

How different is the work of an iconographer from that of a priest or pastor or any layperson who reads Scripture, contemplates God’s sacred Word and then writes about it in such a way that the audience gains a better understanding of God’s will? Shouldn’t we all benefit from the gifts of wisdom that God has given to the few who are able to put that wisdom into words?

The person who has the courage to repeat the words spoken by another, in praise of God, shouldn’t have to worry about lawsuits and exposure as a thief when the result of the act of repetition gives praise to God. Like copying an icon, sharing insight into God’s Word is an act of prayer that should be celebrated, not branded as a criminal act.

David Hains is director of communications for the Diocese of Charlotte. Contact him at dwhains@charlottediocese.org.

It was front-page news recently when the pastor of a non-denominational Christian church in Charlotte resigned his position. His crime was that he admitted to plagiarizing someone else’s sermons. He borrowed the words of other ministers and proclaimed them without giving credit.

In a secular sense, the pastor had committed the crime of plagiarism. News organizations, which have a vested interest in protecting the value of the written word, are very sensitive to this topic. Not surprisingly, a local editorial said the resignation was justifiable punishment.

But the incident raises the question: Can anyone own the Word of God? The Bible isn’t copyrighted, but what about the words and thoughts that are derived from God’s Word? Can man lay claim to those? The answer can be found on an icon.

Before the software giants co-opted the word so we would know what to call those little trash bins on our computer screens, an icon referred to a piece of religious art. Icons are traditionally associated with Russian and Eastern Orthodox churches. They may look like a painting on a piece of wood, but they aren’t. Icons are a form of prayer that connects the artist and those who gaze upon the icons to the divinity of Jesus and the spirituality of the Blessed Virgin or the saints.

As our prayers are conversations with God, so too is an icon a dialogue with the Almighty.

So how are icons connected to plagiarism? Icons are also beautiful works of art; many are considered masterpieces.

Who painted them? Who should get the credit? Should icon artists, iconographers, profit from their work?

In most cases the artist of an icon is unknown. Credit for an icon, a signature, is purposely left off the finished work.

The artist, knowing he or she was entering into a prayerful act when applying the paint, accepted no credit for the inspiring work that followed. Occasionally, a master iconographer might sign with words such as “Through the hands of ...”, meaning that the icon was not an individual expression so much as it was a representation of God’s will.

And once an icon was created, doz-

Justice is found through redemption by God, not revenge, pope says

by CAROL GLATZ catholic news service

VATICAN CITY — Broken by violence or injustice, humanity can find justice not through revenge, but by trusting in God’s saving power, said Pope John Paul II at his weekly general audience.

Christ walked toward “the fierce path of his passion without objecting to the injustice and violence, without recrimination and complaint, but by delivering himself and his painful circumstances ‘to the one who judges justly,’” he said.

The pope’s Sept. 22 audience in St. Peter’s Square centered on a canticle from the First Letter of Peter, which presents “the suffering face of Christ” and the Christian example in a hostile world.

Before a crowd of some 13,000 pilgrims, the pope struggled through the reading of his catechesis, skipping over large portions and gasping for air after almost every word.

But his perseverance, despite the increased difficulty in reading aloud, made more poignant his message of God’s healing power.

Christ “endured our sufferings, he bore our infirmities ... by his wounds we have been healed,” said the pope’s written catechesis.

Christ suffering with patience did not represent “blind and passive resignation,” but reflected “courageous trust, destined

The Pope Speaks POPE JOHN PAUL II

to be an example to all disciples who will travel the dark road of tribulation and persecution,” he said.

By being born of the Virgin Mary, Jesus became our brother so he could “be near us, share our pain,” and “carry our sins,” the pope said.

Through Christ’s solidarity, a poor and weakened humanity is “snatched from mistaken and evil pathways and brought back to ‘justice,’ that is, to God’s beautiful plan” for our lives, he said.

At the end of the two-hour audience, the pope offered his greetings in eight different languages and met with hundreds of pilgrims as is his practice.

He was later driven back to his summer residence in Castel Gandolfo outside of Rome, where he is scheduled to remain until the end of September.

The Catholic News & Herald 15

September 24, 2004

Gaining from I find it remarkable that a person can appear to have so much — family, home, health, affluence, talent, success — and it still isn’t enough. Time and again, people who should literally be counting their blessings seem to be so dissatisfied with their lives.

Yet every day I meet others who have far less in many ways, but who are obviously far happier. The only way I can account for the difference is that the second group has a spirit of gratitude that the first lacks.

People who have a sense of entitlement, as though they somehow deserve good things — either because they earned them or because they are innately worthy of being treated well by life — strike me as having a sadly immature attitude. It’s a way of thinking which refuses to take into account how much we actually owe to other people — to say nothing of the gratitude we should feel for God’s unceasing generosity.

But it is the gratitude of those who have little success by the world’s standards or who have suffered greatly that is truly extraordinary to witness.

Two spiritual writers I admire have looked at what gratitude means — and how it affects us. The first is the late Rev. Henri Nouwen who wrote an account of his experiences in Peru and Bolivia in Gracias: “A Latin American

Light One Candle MSGR. JIM LISANTE Guest Columnist Journal.” He found a great sense of gratitude among people whose difficult, often destitute lives would seem to give them every reason to feel despondent.

“I saw thousands of poor and hungry children, I met many young men and women without money, a job, or a decent place to live,” he said. I spent long hours with sick, elderly people, and I witnessed more misery and pain than ever before in my life. But in the midst of it all, that word lifted me again and again to a new realm of seeing and hearing: Gracias! Thanks!”

Father Nouwen found that his Latin American friends received as gifts things that he took for granted.

Through them, he came to realize that “everything that is, is freely given by the God of love.”

The second author also believes that gratitude is “the fundamental religious emotion.” In his latest book, “The Lord Is My Shepherd: Healing Wisdom of the Twenty-third Psalm,” Rabbi

Stewards of God’s gifts Adult learning should be cultivated in parishes that same spirit with catechists today to enrich and encourage, refresh and renew, strengthen and support each of them. Those who would be stewards of God’s gifts, as they teach the truth in love, appreciate that their strength is rooted in and sustained by the spirit of the Lord.

There is no doubt that the children, youth and young adults within our parishes must be formed in the vision and values proclaimed and lived

by Jesus Christ. Catechists, then, are commissioned to echo the message of our teacher both by the fidelity of their words and the example of their works. It is in that manner that they teach with authority. They are called and enabled to proclaim a culture of life rather than a culture of death, to share a message of hope instead of despair, to be bearers of light within a milieu of darkness.

When one considers the complexity of contemporary society, is it any wonder that the formation of adults should be perceived as a priority within the Catholic Church’s catechetical mission? Individualism (all that really matters is the “I”), relativism (there really isn’t any objective morality) and materialism (things are more important than people) are all too present and pervasive phenomena in the fabric

What an inspiring sight! Recently, dozens of catechists from St. Luke Church in Mint Hill gathered in the parish family life center. Within a matter of weeks, the children, youth and young adults would be initiating another year of catechetical formation.

It was fitting, then, that their teachers should meet for prayer, reflection and conversation.

What a privilege to be in their presence. It was abundantly clear to me that these people were open to being touched and transformed by the spirit of the Lord so that they might be faithful to their calling to teach as Jesus did.

In surveying this magnificent mosaic of selfless stewards, the image of those gathered in the upper room on Pentecost came to mind. Those disciples of the risen Christ were enveloped as by a great wind and tongues of fire rested on each. As community, they were one in the Spirit, one in the Lord. As unique, valuable witnesses of Jesus, each was permeated by the Holy Spirit so that all might manifest by their words and works that they were faithful friends, devoted disciples and wonder-filled witnesses of Jesus himself.

Just as the spirit of God was present in power in that upper room, so is

Harold Kushner says, “God would have us develop the habit of gratitude for all the blessings of our lives, not because He needs our thanks but because when we acknowledge those blessings we come to feel differently about His world and live happier lives as a result. ...

“Reading between the lines, we can infer that the author of the Twentythird Psalm did not have a life free from pain and problems. He has had to confront enemies. He has known the feeling of finding himself in the valley of the shadow of death. He can praise and thank God for all that God has done for him, not because his life has been easy but precisely because his life has often been hard and God has seen him through the hard times.”

Rabbi Kushner concludes, “Our ability to receive God’s blessings with thanksgiving will never outstrip God’s ability to bless us. For those who have cultivated the habit of gratitude, no matter how large a bowl we set out to receive God’s blessings, it will always overflow.”

Beyond every other gift God has given us, he has given us himself. If each one of us were to truly believe that “the Lord is my shepherd” — how could we want for anything else?

For a free copy of the Christopher News Note, “Gifts of the Spirit, Gifts From the Soul,” write: The Christophers, 12 East 48th Street, New York, NY 10017; or e-mail: mail@christophers.org.

Guest Column FATHER JAMES HAWKER Guest Columnist of our culture. It is essential, then, that every parish incorporates adult education in the faith as integral to its catechetical experience.

One of the most fruitful adult formation experiences at St. Luke Church is entitled “Enrich.” Society of the Holy Child Jesus Sister Veronica Grover, together with a team of collaborators, meets weekly with parents while the children are attending their classes. During these sessions the parents pray, reflect on Scripture and discuss the relevance of church teaching to their daily lives. The degree of enthusiasm manifested by the participants is truly inspiring.

As the leadership in each parish exemplifies a commitment to being stewards of God’s gifts, surely the creation and cultivation of a learning environment for adults should be viewed as an essential component of a parish’s catechetical program.

Father Hawker is vicar for education in the Diocese of Charlotte and pastor of St. Luke Church in Mint Hill.

Caskets for funeral Masses and cremation Question Corner FATHER JOHN DIETZEN CNS Columnist Q. In your recent column on cremation, you said it is possible for the body to be taken to church for the funeral Mass before cremation. My husband died not long ago, but in order to have the body present for Mass in church I had to purchase a “disposable” casket at a cost of $600, which was then also cremated. The funeral director told us this is state law. I thought you should know of this ramification. (Ohio) A. The law, in your state and most others, states that the body being cremated must be in a sturdy container box that is burned during cremation.

Simple containers for this purpose, usually cardboard of some sort, cost anywhere from $50 to $200.

These containers, however, are normally not appropriate for viewing the body at a visitation or for presence at a funeral liturgy in church. At least two options are possible in this case. A more attractive casket, which is burned at the cremation, may be purchased for several hundred dollars. This apparently is what happened in your case.

Or a more traditional coffin, specially designed to hold the simpler box in which the body will be cremated, may be rented for public viewing and funeral services. Afterward, the body with the box are removed for cremation.

State laws generally call for 24 or 48 hours delay after death before cremation can take place.

Those considering cremation for themselves or a loved one should check with a funeral director well in advance.

Options, procedures and costs may vary and can get a bit complicated.

In addition, Catholics should check with their parish priest about arrangements for funeral rites, especially for Mass with the body or cremated remains present.

A free brochure answering questions Catholics ask about Mary, the mother of Jesus, 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.

September 24, 2004

The Catholic News & Herald 16

PARISH PROFILE

Our Lady of Consolation Church serves spiritual needs in Charlotte Our Lady of Consolation Church 2301 Statesville Avenue Charlotte, N.C. 28206 (704) 375-4339 Vicariate: Charlotte Pastor: Capuchin Father Jude Duffy Parochial Vicar: Capuchin Father Martin Schratz Deacon: Rev. Mr. Charles Knight Number of Households: 600

Capuchin Father Jude Duffy

Photo by George Cobb

Our Lady of Consolation Church is the only African American Catholic parish in Charlotte. The church was established when Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church and St. Mary Church were combined in 1955.

CHARLOTTE — Our Lady of Consolation Church, Charlotte’s only African American parish, was founded in 1955, but the roots of the parish go back to the 1940s when the Redemptorist Fathers came to Charlotte.

In those days, 13 black Catholics made up the congregation of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church. Years passed and the number of Catholics in the area grew to the extent that a second church, St. Mary, was added to the area.

In 1955, Our Lady of Perpetual Help and St. Mary were joined, establishing Our Lady of Consolation Church on

Dec. 15 of that year.

In the spring of 1956, construction began on the current parish buildings, consisting of the rectory, school, auditorium and convent for the Oblate Sisters of Providence, who arrived the next year.

In attendance at the dedication of the new church on March 25, 1957, were Archbishop Amleto Giovanni Cicogani, apostolic delegate to the United States; Bishop Vincent S. Waters of Raleigh; Father Clarence Howard, the first black North Carolina native to be ordained a priest; and Bishop James J. Navagh, auxiliary bishop of Raleigh and the first

pastor of the church.

Of special note is the fact that three bishops have come from the Our Lady of Consolation congregation. The founding pastor, Bishop Navagh, later became bishop of Ogdensburg, N.Y. and then bishop of Patterson, N.J. One of the parish’s assistant pastors, Father Moss Anderson, became auxiliary bishop of the diocese of Detroit.

Another assistant pastor, Father Joseph Howze, became auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Natchez-Jackson, Miss. and later the first bishop of Biloxi, Miss. when that diocese was established, making him the first African American to function as ordinary in the United States.

In 1999 the Capuchin Friars assumed administration of the parish, and Capuchin Father Jude Duffy was named as pastor.

According to former pastor Father Cecil Tice, one of the aspects of the parish mission statement is to blend the richness of the African American culture with that of Catholicism. Keeping that goal in mind, and using the African principles of Nia (purpose) and Imani (faith),

the parish established Perpetual Hope Gospel Choir in 1980.

Other activities in the parish that have large participation are the African Drum and Dance group Kabaka and the Shepherd’s Care Ministry, a program that addresses the needs of those living with HIV/AIDS. Our Lady of Consolation Church also has active Boy and Girl Scouts programs, Knights of St. John and Knights of Columbus, a food pantry and St. Martin de Porres outreach to the poor.

Father Tice said these and other groups make the congregation unique.

“These groups have gone out in the name of the parish to show not only the blending of the cultures, but also how they both become richer by proclaiming the name of Jesus, “ he said. “We are truly a blessed and grateful people.”

In recent years, Our Lady of Consolation Church has hosted an annual revival sponsored by the diocesan African American Affairs Ministry. Designed to be reminiscent of the early days of outdoor preaching, the revival is an opportunity to publicly worship in the spirit of the black church while breaking down misconceptions about the Catholic faith and black Catholic worship.

As the congregation grew, the parish desperately needed more space to better serve its current 600 families.

“We have no facility where we can adequately gather as a family or use as outreach to the community around us,” said Father Duffy.

To meet these needs, the parish broke ground on a new 14,000-squarefoot community life center Aug. 29.

Bishop Peter J. Jugis; Msgr. Mauricio W. West, vicar general and chancellor; Capuchin Friars serving Immaculate Conception Church in Hendersonville and St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Charlotte; diocesan representatives and city and county government officials were in attendance during the special outdoor Mass.

The building, expected to be completed in July 2005, will be used for community outreach programs such as English as a Second Language, Boy and Girl Scouts, senior citizens’ events, Bible study and other educational and cultural enrichment activities.

With an ever-growing population of more than 600 families worshipping at Our Lady of Consolation Church each weekend, Father Duffy said the parish hopes to build a new church in the near future.