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THE ANCHOR -
Diocese of Fall River - Fri., Jan. 9, 1998
Americans giving less of income to churches ported in its "Giving USA" series,
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But the national study are widely used by news media, showed a gap between social scientists and others as a what churches say they source of information about the received and annual charitable activities of Americans.
The Ronsvalles argued that AAFRC estimates of religious giving rose much more rapidly over the past 20 years than actual CHAMPAIGN, Ill.--Ameri- income from congregations did in cans gave slightly less of their in- 29 church bodies that do yearly come to their churches in 1995 national data-gathering. than they did in 1994, says a new By their calculations, the national study. AAFRC could be overreporting Their total giving actually rose current religious giving in the somewhat, but it did not keep United States by more than $20 pace with the growth in their dis- billion. They calculated that total posable income, said the report, religious giving in 1995 was "The State of Church Giving about $44.5 billion instead of the Through 1995," by John and $66.3 billion estimated by the Sylvia Ronsvalle. AAFRC. The Ronsvalles are founders of. They said that difference repEmpty Tomb, a nonprofit research -resents more than 15 percent of and service organization in total estimated giving in thecounChampaign. try for all charitable causes comIn their new report, the sixth bined and may inflate estimates in series of annual studies, they of Americans' individual charihighlighted a growing gap be- table giving to all causes by 24 tween actual income reported by percent. churches and the annual religious Any overestimation of religiving estimates by American gious giving would distort the picAssociation of Fund Raising ture of individual giving more Counsel Inc. than the picture of total giving The AAFRC's estimates, re- because charitable activity of cor-
donation estimates. By CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE
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Consecration to the Divine :Will Oh adorable and Divine Will, behold me here before the im~ mensity ofYour Light, that Your eternal goodness may open to me the doors and make me enter into It to form my life all in You, Divine Will: Therefore, oh adorable Will, prostrate before Your Light, I, the least of all creatures, put myself into the little group of the sons and daughters of Your Supreme FIAT. Prostrate in my nothingness, I invoke Your Light and beg that it clothe me and eclipse all that dO,es not pertain to You, Divine Will. It will be my Life, the center of my intelligence, the enrapturer of my heart and of my whole being: I do not want the human will to have life in this heart any longer. I will cast it away from me and thus form the new Eden of Peace, of happiness and of love. With It I shall be always happy. I shall have a singular strength and a holiness that sanctifies all things and . conducts them to God. . Here prostrate,"I invoke the help of the Most Holy Trinity that They permit me to live in the cloister of the Divine Will and thus return in me the first order of creation, just as the creature was created. Heavenly Mother, Sovereign and Queen of the Divine Fiat, take my hand and introduce me into the Light of the Divine Will. You will be my guide, my most tender Mother, and will teach me to live in and to maintain myself in the order and the bounds of the Divine Will. Heavenly Mother, I consecrate my whole being to Your Immaculate Heart. You will teach me the doctrine of the Divine Will and J will listen most attentively to Your lessons. You will cover me with Your mantle so that the infernal serpent dare not penetrate into this sacred Eden to entice me and make me fall into the maze of the human will. Heart of my greatest Good, Jesus, You will give me Your flames that they may bum me, consume me, and feed me to . form in me the Life of the Divine Will. Saint Joseph, you' will be my protector, the guardian of my heart, and will keep the keys of my will in your hands. You will keep my heart jealously and shall never give it to me again, that I may be sure of never leaving the Will of God. My guardian Angel, guard me; defend me; help me in everything so that my Eden may flourish and be the instrument that draws all men into the Kingdom of the Divine Will. Amen. ( In flonor ofLuisa Piccarreta 1865-1947 Child of the Divine Will) .
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porations and foundations - which makes up about 20 percent of the total charitable giving nationwide - is heavily concentrated in other areas, such as education, health, human services and the arts. This means that any overestimate of religious giving is almost entirely an overestimate of individual giving. The Ronsvalles reported that the AAFRC estimates of individual charitable giving are also considerably higher than those provided by Independent Sector,. a coalition of nearly 800 voluntary and philanthropic organizations which has sponsored an in-depth survey of people's giving habits every other year since 1985. In 1995, they said, Independent Sector estimated that individual giving in the United States totaled $69.3 billion - $42.9 billion below the $112.2 billion estimated by the AAFRC. In terms of their own yearly studies of church giving and its uses in 29 churches that provide national data, the Ronsvalles reported that in 1995 the average contribution per full or confirmed church memoer rose about $21, from $477.21 the previous year to $498.20.' , After adjusting for inflation, however, they said the increased contribution per member was just 'a little over $8 - from the equivalent of $454.74 in constant 1992 dollars to $463.10.' , ) In 1994-95, U.S. per capita disposable income rose from $19,29810 $20,214 - the inflationadjusted equivalent in 1992 dollars of $18,390 to $18,790. ' As a result, the Ronsvalles ~aid, while the average American's inflation-adjusted value of disposable income rose a Jittle J:llore than 2 percent, the inflation-adjusted value of hi~ or her church contributions rose a little less than 2 percent. The percentage of disposable income the average church member gave to the church dropped froin 2.47 percent in 1994 to 2.46
percent in 1995. In 1968, the first year for which figures were tabulated in the Empty Tomb study series, churcli members gave an average of3.11 percent of their disposable income to their churches. Since then, the Ronsvalles said, the portion of personal income members
invest in their churches has dropped by 21 percent. "The State of Church Giving Through 1995" was published at the end of December. Before Christmas the Ronsvalles released a summary of their findings and some excerpts from the book to news media. ,I
Holy Land Francisca,ns discover remains of Cana VATICAN CITY-While construction continuel) at the Franciscan parish at Kafr Kanna, Israel, archeologists and biblical scholars are bUSy under the church studying what they believe are the remains of the biblical town ofCana. Kafr Kanna, a small village of Christian and Muslim Arabs about five miles northeast of Nazareth, for ci~nturies has been identified with the town where Jesus pe'rformed his first miracle, turning water into wine at a wedding feast. But the recent discovery of remains of a fifth- or sixthcentury church and of houses dating back to Jesus' time confirms for the first time that there was a village t~"ere. ''The authenticity of that traditional location of the wedding feast of Cana, which St. John wrote about, has been established," Franciscan Father Ignazio Mancini told Vatican Radio Dec. 29. Father Mancini, who represents the Franciscan:) of the Holy Land iQ Italy, explained that the discoveries occurred while the Franciscans of Kafr Kanna parish were iworking on a remodeling and reconstruction project in preparation for the year 2 0 0 0 . ' The current church was built in the late 1800s. The Franciscans planned to expand the worship spal~e, add rooms for parish functions and construct a small retreat and conference center which would focus mainly on rrlarr,iage and family issues. ' The archeological stUdies are being directed by Franciscan Father Eugenio Alliata, a professor of biblical archeology at the Franciscan's biblical institute in Jerusalem. !, ''These archeological excavations and this new dis,cipline biblical archeology - confirm the data of the Gospel:' Father Mancini told Vatican Radio. "St. John wrote about Gana in Galilee; this excavation confirms the authenticity of that place:' As the dig continues, he said, there is no telling what new discoveries may be made, "but the ideal now would be to find an inscription" either naming the place Cana Clr commemorating the spot as that of the wedding feast. ' Father Mancini said there always are difficulties involved in archeological studies and church construction, "especially where Christians are a minority between two major qroups, the Jewish and the Islamic. One tries not to offend the sensitivities of others. Difficulties are never lacking, but up to . now they have all been surmountable."
Irish bishops address eucharistic sharing By ClAN MOLLOY CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE DUBLIN, Ireland-The Irish bishops' conference has announced that it will publish a document on eucharistic sharing before Easter. The announcement follows new concems among Irish bishops at the numbers of Catholics taking Co.mmunion at Protestant and Anglican churches and the confusion among lay Catholics about the issue. Archbishop Desmond Connell of Dublin, Ireland, said in a radio program broadcast Dec. 16 that Catholics receiving Communion at Anglican eucharistic services are taking part in a "sham." His remark deepened the controversy involving Irish President Mary McAleese, a practicing
Catholic, who received Holy Communion at an Anglican service in Dublin's Christ Church Cathedral Dec. 7. When members of the Church ofIreland expressed dismay at his remark, Archbishop Connell said he was concerned. that the word sham "was interpreted to mean cheap or shoddy." He said what he had intended was a dictionary definition, "anything that is not what it appears to be," he said, "since this is the problem when Catholics take Communion in other churches with which they are not fully united." , According to Canon 844, Catholics "for whom it is physically or morally impossible to approach a Catholic minister" or who are in danger of death may
receive the sacraments of reconciliation, Eucharist, and anointing of the sick "from non-Catholic ministers in whose churches these sacraments are valid." McAleese has said she and her family will continue to Itake Holy Communion at Angl ican and Protestant churches. The controversy took on an Irish-American flavor Dec. 21 when the U.S. ambassador to Ireland, Jean Kennedy Smith, also took Holy Communion at Christ Church Cathedral. Kennedy Smith is a practicing Catholic whose family not only includes the only Catholic to be president of the United S:tates, but also several priests. She said sh~ would continue to t.ake Communion from nonCatholic ministers.