Tne Anchor

Diocese of Fall River

The Anchor

F riday , January 21, 2011

Seeking to offer Christ’s care and comfort

By Rebecca Aubut Anchor Staff

FALL RIVER — Back in 1939, Msgr. Raymond T. Considine was given the task by Bishop James E. Cassidy to establish a home for elderly care in the Fall River area.

“That care would have been a place to live, like a rest home,” said Msgr. Edmund J. Fitzgerald, executive director of Diocesan Health Facilities. “That was the idea and where it started to evolve.”

And evolve it did, from one home to five nursing and rehabilitative care facilities, as well as community-based programs like EldersFirst and Bethany House Adult Day Health Care. Programs include rehabilitation therapies, such as short-term rehabilitation, physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech and language therapy, pulmonary therapy, pain management programs and spe-

cialized Alzheimer’s care.

Also on that list is a palliative care and hospice program that help promote optimal quality of life combined with psychosocial and spiritual care regarding endof-life issues.

“It’s something to which we are very committed,” said Msgr.

Fitzgerald, “that the dignity and spiritual part is provided.”

Adhering to the ethical and religious directives of the Catholic Church, as outlined by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Msgr. Fitzgerald said that the Catholic presence is felt in every aspect of care at each facility. Along with the doctors and nurses, trained pastoral care staff members provide daily companionship along with spiritual support, a key element in helping to encourage the well-being of patients.

“A vital role as Catholics, beTurn to page 18

a meeting to remember — Bishop George W. Coleman, right, meets with Pope John Paul II at the Vatican during the Diocese of Fall River’s pilgrimage celebrating its centennial in 2004.

(Photo courtesy of Bishop Coleman)

Beatification set for Pope John Paul II on May 1, Divine Mercy Sunday B y John Thavis C atholic N ews Service

VATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI approved a miracle attributed to Pope John Paul II’s intercession, clearing the way for the late pope’s beatification on May 1, Divine Mercy Sunday.

Pope Benedict’s action January 14 followed more than five years of investigation into the life and writings of the Polish pontiff, who died in April 2005 after more than 26 years as pope.

The Vatican said it took special care with verification of the miracle, the spontaneous cure of a French nun from Parkinson’s disease — the same illness that afflicted Pope John Paul in his final years. Three separate Vatican panels approved the miracle, including medical and theological experts, before Pope Benedict signed the official decree.

“There were no concessions given here in procedural severity and thoroughness,” said Cardinal Angelo Amato, head of the CongreTurn to page 14

Beloved John Paul II was source of inspiration, healing for many in diocese

By Dave Jolivet, Editor

Just a dash — As part of her rehabilitative care at Sacred Heart Home in New Bedford, Domenica Bellenoit, 99, bakes one of her family recipes each week in the rehab room’s kitchen. The home is part of the Fall River Diocesan Health Facilities family.

FALL RIVER — ­ In April of 2005 millions of hearts across the world and thousands across the Diocese of Fall River were broken when the beloved Holy Father, Pope John Paul II was called to the house of the Heavenly Father. Those same hearts were warmed and buoyed last week when news emanated from the Vatican that John Paul II

would be beatified on May 1 of this year, appropriately enough on Divine Mercy Sunday, which he instituted in 2000 and on the vigil of which he died.

For many in the diocese, Pope John Paul II was the only pope they had ever known. For others, he was an inspiration to young and old alike, and a model of holiness, humility and dignity, even to death.

Several diocesan priests shared not only the ordained life with John Paul II, but his Polish heritage as well. Other younger priests cited John Paul II’s influence as helping them answer the call to the priesthood.

Diocesan laity also were affected by John Paul II’s charisma, including one man who was healed through John Paul II’s Turn to page 15

to teach young people about the sacrament of matrimony before they become engaged. To that end, marriage ministries have been absorbed into the Office of Faith Formation.

For many years the Office of Family Ministry met the immediate needs of couples preparing for marriage. Beginning last July, the Office of Faith Turn to page 18

Diocese broadening preparations of young people for marriage

By Christine M. Williams Anchor Correspondent

FALL RIVER — In order to meet the demands of a modern culture that devalues marriage, the Diocese of Fall River seeks

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News From the Vatican

January 21, 2011

Cardinal: Church’s justice teachings need new ‘vocabulary’ for some U.S. audiences

Vatican City (CNA/EWTN News) — When he travels to the United States next month, Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson is aware that he may have to make some adjustments in the way he talks about the Church’s social teaching.

As president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, the Ghanaian cardinal, 62, is charged with making the Church’s social teaching more widely known and practiced around the world.

He will be in Washington to deliver the plenary address of the 2011 Catholic Social Ministry Gathering, February 13-16. The gathering, on the theme of “Protecting Human Life and Dignity: Promoting a Just Economy,” is sponsored by 19 Catholic organizations, including the U.S. Catholic bishops.

In a recent interview with CNA, Cardinal Turkson said he has learned from past experience that the Church’s justice and peace terminology often needs clarification for an American Catholic audience. Key terms used by the Vatican — such as “social justice” and “gift” — are not always understood the way the Vatican intends, he said.

“We found out that some of the vocabulary which is just taken for granted and used freely may not always have the same sense or may have had some nuances which sometimes are missed because of the way the terms are used in the American political context,” Cardinal Turkson said in a January 12 interview at the council’s offices in Rome.

Pope Benedict XVI appointed Cardinal Turkson to his post in October 2009, just months after the pope released his blueprint for the Church’s social teaching, “Caritas in Veritate” (Charity in Truth). The council has since made promotion of the pope’s vision a top priority.

The encyclical outlines Pope Benedict’s plan for “integral human development” in economics, society and politics through the principles of charity and truth.

Cardinal Turkson said the Vatican is pleased by response to the document. But he said reaction from some sections of the audience in the United States was unexpected.

The council has been surprised to find that common terms were misunderstood or misinterpreted. He emphasized that the misunderstanding was not a general or widespread problem among American Catholics.

But, he said, “in certain circles ... there is a difficulty.”

For instance, the pope’s teaching on themes of “social justice” have been mistakenly connected to “socialism” and “communism.” As a result, he indicated, the pope is mistakenly seen as promoting socialist or big-government solutions to social problems.

The council has also learned that words like “social” and “solidarity” may have been dismissed by American readers for their perceived connection with communist regimes such as the Soviet Union, he said.

Cardinal Turkson explained that in the Church’s thinking, social justice involves citizens’ obligations and responsibilities to ensure fairness and opportunity in their communities and societies.

While this may include the adoption of specific government policies and programs, the emphasis in Cath-

olic social teaching is on the obligations that flow from citizens’ relationships in societies.

“Respecting, understanding and fulfilling those demands constitute our justice,” he said. “It would be useful if we just observed our sense of justice as our ability to fulfill the demands of the relationships in which we stand.”

This is in contrast to socialism, he explained, which is an ideology in which private property and private interests are totally placed in the service of government policies.

What the pope proposes in “Caritas in Veritate,” said Cardinal Turkson, is “achieving the common good without sacrificing personal, private interests, aspirations and desires.”

Cardinal Turkson said the Council was also surprised that the pope’s concept of the “gift,” was perceived in some circles as encouraging government welfare handouts.

In “Caritas in Veritate,” Pope Benedict described the concept of “gift” as a way to understand God’s love for men and women in his gift of life and his gift of Jesus.

“Truth is the light that gives meaning and value to charity,” the pope wrote. “That light is both the light of reason and the light of faith, through which the intellect attains to the natural and supernatural truth of charity: it grasps its meaning as gift, acceptance, and communion.”

Gift, Cardinal Turkson explained, is “a very basic, deep theological expression of God’s relation or the motivation for whatever God does in the world, and it’s not quite the same as a handout.”

“If we ever need to talk about this in a society where the sense of gift is that of a handout ... it doesn’t quite express the sense of gift in this regard,” he added.

While it is too late to add any explanations to the encyclical, the Council might tailor its language differently in future documents.

“We just realized that probably in the future, when ... this dicastery takes up the task of diffusing, presenting and talking about this it might be necessary to provide a footnote in which some of these expressions can be given an awareness of the different senses of expressions in different cultures and settings,” he said. We thought something like that would be useful and helpful to the readers.”

Cardinal Turkson urged American Catholics and government and economic leaders to give a conscientious reading of “Caritas in Veritate.”

The encyclical, he said, invites us “to go back or to remind about the centrality of the human person, his well being, his common good within everything that we do.”

Another important message, Cardinal Turkson said, is that “we must not sacrifice the good of the human person for anything that we aspire after or want to do with technology, business, economics or whatever.”

The key to an authentically human vision of development is to consider the full ethical character of the individual in all decisions, he said.

“In details,” he concluded, “it may be for food security and shelter for all persons, but at the end of the day we are looking at whether things that we are doing in the world as government, as a Church and all of that help advance the good of the individual person.”

remembering haiti — Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Vatican secretary of state, greets Haiti’s ambassador to the Vatican, Carl-Henri Guiteau, at the conclusion of a Mass in Rome to commemorate the first anniversary of the Haiti earthquake. The Mass was held at the Basilica of St. Mary Major.

(CNS photo/Paul Haring)

Threats to religious freedom abound, including in West, pope says

VATICAN CITY (CNS) —Religious freedom and religious diversity are not threats to society and should not be a source of conflict, Pope Benedict XVI told diplomats from around the world.

The pope asked the representatives of 178 countries, as well as of the Palestine Liberation Organization, the European Community and the Knights of Malta, to examine how well their own countries respect the right of individuals to believe, to act in accordance with their conscience, to gather with other believers for worship and to carry out the educational and social projects their faith inspires.

Pope Benedict met this month with diplomats accredited to the Holy See and continued his recent focus on the connection between religious liberty and peace, and on threats to full religious freedom in Western democracies as well as in countries notorious for violating human rights.

Once again he denounced recent attacks on Christians in Iraq, Egypt and Nigeria and expressed concern about the recent renewal of Chinese government restrictions on Catholics there.

Condemning the murder January 4 of Salman Taseer, the governor of Punjab in Pakistan, the pope said the country must overturn its blasphemy law, which makes insulting the Prophet Mohammed or the Quran punishable by death.

Taseer supported the move to abrogate the law, which the pope said often “serves as a pretext of acts of injustice and violence against religious minorities.”

The pope also announced that the communist government of Vietnam has accepted his appointment of a papal representative to Catholics in the country. Vietnam agreed in June to allow the pope to name a representative as a first step toward diplomatic relations; Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman, said the representative’s name would be announced shortly.

Pope Benedict told the diplomats

that when religious believers are free to practice their faith, society benefits from an increase in upright behavior, respect for others and solidarity with the poor and weak.

Discussing threats to full religious freedom in Western democracies, the pope expressed concern about efforts to push religion to the margins of public life and about situations in which citizens are denied the right to act in accordance with their religious convictions, “for example where laws are enforced limiting the right to conscientious objection on the part of health care or legal professionals.”

The Vatican has insisted on the right of Catholic health care workers, including pharmacists, not to be involved in abortions or other procedures that violate Church teaching on the right to life.

Father Lombardi said the pope’s reference to conscientious objection in the legal profession referred to the right of Catholic lawyers and judges to refuse to participate in cases involving adoption by gay couples, for example.

Pope Benedict also condemned educational programs that want to “mandate obligatory participation in courses of sexual or civic education” with content opposed to Catholic teaching. Church leaders and Catholic parents in Spain have objected to a

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public school curriculum that teaches children that presents homosexuality and abortion in a positive light.

The pope told the diplomats that there is no such thing as a “scale of degrees of religious intolerance” whereby a certain amount is acceptable.

It is not permissible to infringe on the freedom of conscience out of concern to uphold “other alleged new rights which, while actively promoted by certain sectors of society and inserted in national legislation or in international directives, are nonetheless merely an expression of selfish desires lacking a foundation in authentic human nature,” the pope said.

Father Lombardi said those “alleged new rights” included a woman’s right to choose to have an abortion and the right of homosexual people to marry and adopt children.

Miguel Diaz, the U.S. ambassador to the Holy See, attended the audience with the pope and said the U.S. government will continue to work around the globe for the defense of human rights, particularly the right to religious liberty.

“One of the great things about our democracy is that, from the beginning, religious freedom has been defended,” he said in an interview with Catholic News Service.

OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER OF THE DIOCESE OF FALL RIVER Vol. 55, No. 03

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January 21, 2011

The International Church

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Pope erects new English Ordinariate for former Anglicans as first priests ordained

staying afloat — Two men push their boat through a flooded street in a commercial area of Brisbane, Australia, recently. The flood, which has claimed at least a dozen lives and has affected more than 200,000 people in two dozen towns, is estimated to have already caused nearly $5 billion in damages, devastating much of Australia’s coal, beef and agriculture industries. (CNS photo/Tim Wimborne, Reuters)

Bishops urge world leaders to continue to work for peace in Holy Land

JERUSALEM (CNS) — Bishops who spent five days meeting about the Holy Land urged the international community to continue to work toward peace and be aware of problems faced by Christians in the region.

“Those who govern the different parts of the Holy Land need to summon the will and find the ways to take courageous steps for justice and peace,” the bishops said in their final statement, released at a recent news conference. “The leaders of our own nations whose international policies have important effects here have inescapable responsibilities to help bring about a just peace and protect the rights of believers and all people in these lands.”

Nine bishops from North America and Europe took part in the Coordination of Episcopal Conferences in Support of the Church in the Holy Land, a Catholic group formed in 1998 at the request of the Vatican.

They visited Jordan, the West Bank city of Jericho, and met with politicians, religious leaders and diplomats in Israel and the West Bank.

Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas of Tucson, Ariz., left the meeting early to return home following the shooting attack that left six dead and 14 injured in his city.

John Carr, executive director of the U.S. bishops’ Department of Justice, Peace and Human Development, traveled with Bishop Kicanas and remained for the end of the meeting. He commented on the support Bishop Kicanas received from the parishioners in Jericho following the shooting, in which U.S. District Judge John M. Roll, a personal friend of the bishop, was killed.

“There was a stark paradox of being here hoping to assist people overcoming violence and turning on the television and seeing violence in his own territory,” said Carr. “It was moving to see people who live with violence and suffering every day so quickly identifying with the loss and trauma of others.

“In a region which needs hope, the best source of hope is not politics but faith, and faith here is very strong,” Carr told CNS. He said Catholics in the United States put a lot of emphasis on the issue of Middle East peace. He added that it was useful to him to talk to local bishops and people on the street and see how they looked to the United States for help in solving the problem.

In their statement, the Church leaders said every visit to the Holy Land benefits both the pilgrims and local population, especially Christians.

“We want people to come on pilgrimage, not (for) tourism,” Archbishop Patrick Kelly of Liverpool, England, told journalists. “On the other hand, when we come as pilgrims we are seen as tourists. The economic aspects needs to reduced and not emphasized. The emphasis is on spirituality and prayer.”

The bishops cited the difficulty and frustration of Catholic clergy and religious who, despite some improvement in the situation, still face restrictions in their movements. They also encouraged a conclusion to the lengthy VaticanIsraeli negotiations, which have stalled primarily on fiscal matters.

While in Jordan, the bishops met with Iraqi refugees, including survivors of the October 31 attack on a Syrian Catholic church in Baghdad.

At the news conference, Latin Patriarch Fouad Twal of Jerusalem noted that attacks on Christians in Iraq and Egypt proved the necessity of the October Synod of Bishops for the Middle East and also illustrated why it was important to be concerned about with situation of Christians in the region.

“One thing we learned is do not minimize the threat to Christians,” Carr said, adding that “in Jordan, Palestine and Israel the situation is different.”

Specifically commending those teachers and educators who are working toward educating youngsters in tolerance and dialogue, the bishops said they have a “special responsibility in helping young

minds grow in respect for the rights and the dignity of every person God has created, irrespective of their beliefs, their culture or their nationality.”

“At a human level hope is difficult; nevertheless, it seems a lot of people on every level of society are waiting in hopes of finding a solution to the problems,” said Bishop Pierre Morissette of St. Jerome, Quebec.

“The way they continue is a sign of hope,” he said. “At God’s level, everything is possible. People are praying so hard for a solution. So many people are praying I am sure God will answer someday. I’m not saying how or when, but I am sure God will answer someday.”

London (CNA/EWTN News) — An official jurisdiction for members of the Church of England opting for full communion with the Catholic Church was established just in time to receive its first three priests on Saturday.

On January 15, the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith decreed the creation of “The Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham.” The announcement of the establishment of the ordinariate, a special diocese-like structure, was announced during the Mass at London’s Westminster Cathedral to ordain three former Anglican bishops to the Catholic priesthood.

The very name of the personal ordinariate denotes the Catholic-Anglican connection, both Churches have Marian Shrines in the English village of Walsingham. Blessed John Henry Newman, the most well-known Anglican to seek communion with the Catholic Church, was chosen as the jurisdiction’s patron.

The ordinariate is a new structure in which “worthy Anglican liturgical, spiritual and pastoral traditions” will be preserved. The movement of away from the Anglican Communion is being spurred by a growing acceptance of female bishops, practicing homosexual clergy, and disagreements over the primacy of sacred Scripture within the Church.

The Vatican explained in a statement, released just after mid-day, that ordinariate members are “fully integrated” into the Catholic fold.

It also stated clearly that married ex-Anglican clergy cannot be ordained as Catholic bishops “for doctrinal reasons” while, “under certain

conditions,” they can be ordained Catholic priests.

The first three were thus made Catholic priests by Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Westminster in London’s cathedral. Three former Anglican bishops, Fathers Andrew Burnham, Keith Newton, and John Broadhurst, received the sacrament of Holy Orders as priests in the Catholic Church.

Archbishop Nichols called the day “a unique occasion marking a new step in the life and history of the Catholic Church.”

He welcomed the three priests and told them, “you have distinguished pasts, full of real achievements. Now, ahead of you, you have an important and demanding future.”

Father Newton has been chosen

by Pope Benedict XVI to oversee the new structure.

The priest said he was “humbled” by the appointment. “This is not an honor I have sought or expected but I pray that God will give me the wisdom and grace to live up to the trust the Holy Father has placed in me,” he said in a statement transmitted through the English and Welsh Catholic bishops’ conference.

He hoped that the ordinariate would be “a gift to the Catholic Church” and that all who join it “will be of service to the whole Church.”

Father Newton and the two others ordained on Saturday will begin their service by overseeing the formation of the first groups of lay faithful who aim to enter into full communion at Easter. They will also assist other former Anglican clergy as they prepare for their Catholic ordinations around Pentecost.

January 21, 2011 The Church in the U.S. Prospects good for Pro-Life legislative success, but challenges remain

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By Nancy Frazier O’Brien Catholic News Service

WASHINGTON — The 112th Congress that was sworn in January 5 contains up to four dozen more ProLife House members and four to six more Pro-Life senators than the Congress that preceded it, according to estimates from organizations on both sides of the abortion question. And the Republican “Pledge to America” outlining the party’s legislative priorities vows to “establish a governmentwide prohibition on taxpayer funding of abortion and subsidies for insurance coverage that includes abortion.”

“This prohibition would ... enact into law what is known as the Hyde Amendment as well as ban other instances of federal subsidies for abortion services,” the pledge says.

“We will also enact into law conscience protections for health care providers, including doctors, nurses and hospitals.”

But with a president who supports keeping abortion legal in the White House for two more years, what are the chances that the Republicans can deliver on their pledge?

Richard Doerflinger, associate director of the U.S. bishops’ Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities, thinks progress will be made.

When the leadership of the House makes a Pro-Life

Another sign of progress promise, “it makes a lot of chasers to negotiate a health difference practically in get- plan under the new reform law for those who support the ting a vote” on key pieces of that would exclude items that Pro-Life cause is the appointlegislation, Doerflinger said. are against their moral and/or ment of some House commitIn addition, he said, “the pres- religious convictions, even in tee chairmen who are known ident is less likely to veto a the face of new federal “man- to oppose abortion.

The Health Subcommitbill if he has to veto an entire dated benefits” provisions.

Most of those bills received tee of the House Energy and package of funding legislawide bipartisan support in the Commerce Committee, for tion” on another matter.

Ready to be introduced in last Congress, Doerflinger example, is headed by Rep. the new Congress or recently said, and “they should re- Joe Pitts, R-Pa., who co-wrote introduced are four pieces of ceive support again even from the Stupak-Pitts amendment to eliminate aborlegislation supported by the U.S. Confere need to protect human life tion funding from the health reform ence of Catholic Bishfrom the unborn to the elder- legislation.

The ops: — The Protect Life ly,” Pitts said in December, when his sub- subcommittee has over Act, which would ap- committee appointment was announced. jurisdiction ply long-standing fed- He has described the health reform legis- private health insurance, Medicaid, the eral policies on funding and conscience lation as “riddled with loopholes that al- Food and Drug Adrights related to abor- low taxpayer subsidies for coverage that ministration and the National Institutes tion to the Patient Pro- includes abortion.” of Health. tection and Affordable “We need to proCare Act. — No Taxpayer Fund- people who say they are pro- tect human life from the uning for Abortion Act, which choice” because they guaran- born to the elderly,” Pitts said would make those policies tee a true choice for those who in December, when his subcommittee appointment was part of permanent federal law do not support abortion.

Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., announced. He has described rather than requiring them to be inserted into funding legis- co-chairman of the Congres- the health reform legislation sional Pro-Life Caucus with as “riddled with loopholes lation each year.

— Abortion Non-Discrimi- Rep. Dan Lipinski, D-Ill., and that allow taxpayer subsidies nation Act, which would ban a chief sponsor of the No Tax- for coverage that includes governmental discrimination payer Funding for Abortion abortion.”

Laurie Rubner, vice presiagainst obstetrics/gynecology Act, said at least 77 of the residency programs that do 93 freshman members of the dent of the Planned Parentnot provide abortion training 112th Congress “are commit- hood Federation of America, and allow health care provid- ted to defending the unborn.” termed Pitts “as anti-choice “Dan Lipinski and I have as a member of Congress can ers to sue a discriminating en— and will continue to — be.” tity.

Even when no specific leg— Respect for Rights of work hard together to provide Conscience Act, which would needed protection for unborn islation has been introduced, protect the rights of insurance children and their mothers,” heads of committees and subcommittees can raise awareissuers, providers and pur- Smith said in a news release.

“W

ness of particular issues by scheduling oversight hearings.

At the state level there are signs of progress, too.

As a result of the November elections, “the number of states where Pro-Life legislation stands a realistic chance of enactment has substantially increased,” according to Mary Spaulding Balch, director of state legislation for the National Right to Life Committee.

Her group has proposed model legislation for states based on Nebraska’s PainCapable Unborn Child Protection Act, which prohibits abortions after the 20th week of pregnancy because of what Balch called “substantial medical evidence” that unborn children can feel pain.

“While we expect substantial resistance from abortion advocates, we believe most Americans agree in rejecting abortions that cause excruciating pain, and look forward to protective laws being given serious consideration in a significant number of states,” she said.

Other bills likely to receive consideration in some states this year would ensure that women could see ultrasounds of their babies before an abortion and allow state insurance exchanges to opt out of any abortion coverage under the federal health reform law, Balch said.

Boston’s Father Coyne named auxiliary bishop of Indianapolis

patriotic tribute — Local firefighters look at American flag outside St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church in Tucson, Ariz., January 13. The flag was flown in from New York City as part of the funeral for Christina Taylor Green, nine, who was killed in the January 8 shootings that left six dead and 14 others wounded, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. Christina was born Sept. 11, 2001, the date of the terrorists attacks. (CNS photo/Mamta Popat, Arizona Daily Star pool via Reuters)

WASHINGTON (CNS) — Pope Benedict XVI named Msgr.

Mark L. Bartchak, a priest of the Diocese of Erie, Penn., to head the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown, Penn., and accepted the resignation of Bishop Joseph V. Adamec, who had headed the diocese since 1987.

The pope also appointed Father Christopher J. Coyne, a priest of the Archdiocese of Boston, as an auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Indianapolis. He will be the archdiocese’s first auxiliary since 1933.

The changes were announced in Washington by Archbishop Pietro Sambi, apostolic nuncio to the United States.

Bishop-designate Coyne has been serving as pastor of St. Margaret Mary in Westwood. He is a former spokesman for the Boston Archdiocese, 2002-05, and has been on the faculty of St. John Seminary in Brighton.

Indianapolis Archbishop Daniel M. Buechlein will ordain his new auxiliary March 2 at St. John the Evangelist Church in Indianapolis.

The newly named auxiliary said

he was grateful for his appointment but said he has a lot to learn about central and southern Indiana and about being a bishop.

“I need to learn how to be a bishop, a good bishop for the faithful and the clergy of this great archdiocese,” he said. “I pledge myself today to the service of God’s people here in (the archdiocese) and I hope over time to become a true son of Indiana. Please know that my prayers are for you and I ask only the same in return.”

Born June 17, 1958, in Woburn, Bishop-designate Coyne was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Boston June 7, 1986. He holds a bachelor’s from the University of Lowell in Lowell, a master’s of divinity from St. John’s Seminary in Brighton, and a licentiate and a doctorate in liturgy from the Pontifical Liturgical Institute of Rome’s St. Anselm University.

Boston Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley praised the newly-named bishop for his “tremendous skill as a pastor and leader,” and called him “one of Boston’s finest priests.”

January 21, 2011

The Church in the U.S.

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Aid agencies focus on developing Haitians’ ability to rebuild country

in need of healing — Cars are seen parked outside St. Odilia Church in Tucson, Ariz., during a Mass for victims of the January 8 shootings. Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas of Tucson gave the homily during the Mass for healing. The church was packed, and more people watched a TV feed in the parish hall. (CNS photo/Will Seberger)

Mass of remembrance, healing celebrated for victims of Tucson shooting

By Bern Zovistoski Catholic News Service

TUCSON, Ariz. — More than 800 people filled St. Odilia Church and its nearby parish hall to pray for the victims of the shooting spree outside a Tucson supermarket January 8.

Roxanna Green, the mother of slain nine-year-old Christina Taylor Green, a member of the parish, looked on as Tucson Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas spoke at a special Mass to heal the community, remember those who died and console the victims and their families.

President Barack Obama and members of his cabinet and Congress attended a much larger memorial service the following day at the University of Arizona’s basketball arena, McKale Center.

But the St. Odilia Mass, televised locally, was the first of the formal religious services to memorialize the victims.

Many of the people who attended were St. Odilia’s parishioners, but others had no connection to the church. Law enforcement officers, many in civilian clothes, could be seen throughout the congregation.

The opening song, “Amazing Grace,” was led by the parish children’s choir, of which Christina was an enthusiastic member.

“The memory of that Saturday morning will haunt all of us for a long time,” Bishop Kicanas said in his homily. “May it also prod us to treasure each moment with loved ones, to find ways to work together, despite our differences, to enhance our community.

“May it also move us to commit our efforts to rid our communities of violence and all that

causes and encourages it,” the bishop said.

Citing the “many thoughtful, kind, supportive words from people all over the world,” Bishop Kicanas said many recognize “how this community in Tucson has pulled together so beautifully to face the tragedy that struck so unexpectedly.”

The bishop said “we are grateful for the world’s concern, their solidarity, and their love.

“Everyone takes pride in the bravery of Tucsonans subduing the suspect, the first responders who instantly reacted to assist those hurt, and the medical staff at University Medical Center.”

Half a dozen priests and several deacons participated in the liturgy. United Methodist Bishop Minerva Carcano of Phoenix spoke at the end of the Mass. She had hosted an ecumenical prayer service at Catalina United Methodist Church earlier that day which Bishop Kicanas attended.

Twenty people were shot, six fatally. The most critically wounded survivor was Democratic U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. She was holding a meeting with constituents when she was apparently targeted by the gunman.

The suspect, Jared Lee Loughner, 22, was tackled and subdued by people at the scene after firing 31 shots and attempting to reload his Glock 9 mm handgun, Tucson police said.

Among the dead was U.S. District Judge John M. Roll, who had attended Mass at St. Thomas the Apostle Church just before stopping by to speak with Giffords, a longtime friend.

“We are a community in grief,” said Bishop Kicanas, a longtime of both Roll and Gif-

fords. “We are a community in tears. We are a community struggling, questioning, wondering how such a tragic event could happen.

“How could God allow such violence to be done to the innocent? How could God permit the pain and suffering felt by so many good people? Has God abandoned us? Has God looked the other way?” he asked.

“Our all-good God never wills evil, never inflicts harm, never injures or hurts,” the bishop said.

“Rather our gracious God comforts and consoles us when such tragedies strike. Our God stands by us, walks with us, holds us in the palm of his hand.”

Listing the first names of the deceased victims, Bishop Kicanas said: “(God) knows Christina, John, Gabe, Dorwin, Phyllis and Dorothy by name. They are God’s sons and daughters, beloved in God’s eyes. He receives them and welcomes them home.”

Besides the judge and young Christina, the others killed were: Gabriel Zimmerman, 30, who was Giffords’ community outreach director, and three retirees: Phyllis Schneck, 79, Dorwin Stoddard, 76, and Dorothy Morris, 76.

Referring to the injured, the bishop said God “loves and cares for each of them. He wills their full recovery.”

Bishop Kicanas said that God “wills not discord, not division, not destructive words or actions.

Rather God desires that we be worthy of being called his sons and daughters by how we act and relate to one another. We are to resist evil, to live with integrity, to speak with civility and respect.”

WASHINGTON (CNS) — As recovery efforts slowly move forward a year after a massive earthquake leveled Haiti’s most densely populated communities, aid and development agencies have begun focusing on building the skills of Haitians to better address the numerous challenges facing the impoverished nation.

Such efforts are taking advantage of the resiliency, determination and entrepreneurial spirit of Haitians, who have been forced to deal with oppressive or unresponsive governments and the remnants of colonial rule for generations. Aid and development workers call the effort “capacity building.” Representatives of Catholic Relief Services, the U.N. Office of the Special Envoy to Haiti and the U.S. Agency for International Development told a gathering to mark the one-year

anniversary of the earthquake January 11 that no matter how much aid they provide, the sooner Haitians develop the ability to deal with the country’s social, political and disaster-related challenges, the better off the Caribbean nation will become.

Nancy Dorsinville, senior policy adviser to former President Bill Clinton in the U.N. Office of the Special Envoy to Haiti, said people across the country want to develop their “own sense of agency.”

A native of Haiti, Dorsinville told a lunchtime program for congressional staffers and other invited guests in the Rayburn House Office Building that Haitians know best what local communities need.

“Participation and understanding the priorities set by the communities where the (nongovernment organizations) are working is really important,” she said.

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For further information please contact: The Espousal Retreat House 544 Lexington St., Waltham, MA 02454 Phone: (781) 209-3120 www.espousal.org or E-mail: espousaladmin@gmail.com

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The Anchor

Think, living and embracing life on the digital continent

Each year on January 24, the feast of the St. Francis de Sales, the patron saint of journalists and communication, Pope Benedict publishes his routinely compelling annual message for the World Day of Social Communication. For the past two years, he has emphasized the crucial importance for the Church to evangelize by means of cyberspace. In 2009, he called on young people, “the digital generation,” to become heralds within the new communications frontier, infusing the digital continent with Catholic leaven and taking advantage of the extraordinary potential of the new social communications media to foster communion with each other and with God. Last year, he called on priests not merely to give ordinary pastoral care to the Church’s digital missionaries, but to establish a “more focused, efficient and compelling” priestly presence in the new digital world so as to feed the spiritual hunger and preach the Gospel to the burgeoning number of both churched and un-churched individuals who spend increasing portions of their day online.

We will receive on Monday Pope Benedict’s text for this year’s message. Last November, however, those who are not of the digital generation or serving as priests witnessed an example of how to take the pope’s summons for the evangelization of the new internet agora and apply it to their own situation. In a provocative, practical and perceptive address to his brother bishops at their annual meeting, Bishop Ron Herzog of Alexandria, La., the chairman of the U.S. Bishops’ Communications Committee, entreated his brother bishops to “take social media seriously” and stressed that the failure to do so would be an oversight of historically detrimental proportions.

“I often hear people, both in my work and in my circle of friends, who dismiss social media as frivolous and shallow,” Bishop Herzog began. “Who can blame them? Twittering. Status updates. Blogs. The very words used by the practitioners seem to beg for ridicule. Their lighthearted twisting of the language suggests that these are the latest fad in a culture that picks up and drops fads quicker than the time it takes me to figure out my cell phone bill.” Yet Bishop Herzog said that the leaders of the Church should not be fooled by appearances: “Social media is proving itself to be a force with which to be reckoned. If not, the Church may be facing as great a challenge as that of the Protestant Reformation.”

He admitted that such a claim sounded like an exaggeration, but he gave data about the “staggering” amount of participation in the new media to back up his assertion. “The numbers are compelling. There are more than 500 million active users on Facebook; if it were a nation, only India and China would have more citizens. The American Red Cross reported that it raised more than $5 million dollars, $10 at a time, through a text messaging service. One out of eight married couples in the United States say they met through social media. It took 13 years for television to reach 50 million users; after the iPod was introduced, it took only nine months for one billion applications to be downloaded. ” He then gave an example even closer to home. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops “started a community on Facebook last August. There are now 25,000 ‘fans’ associated with that community. Everyday, USCCB staff provides at least four items of information to those 25,000 people: the daily Scripture readings, news releases, links to information on our marriage and vocation websites, and other information. Furthermore, if those 25,000 are like the average profile of a Facebook user, they have 130 friends, or contacts, on Facebook. With one click they can share the information they receive from the USCCB. If only 10 percent of the USCCB fans share what they receive from USCCB, we are reaching 325,000 people. Multiple times a day. All it costs us is staff time. And these are not just young people. Almost half of Americans classified as the baby boomers — born between 1947 and 1964 — have a Facebook account. Social media may have started with the younger generation, but it is now a very useful tool to reach Catholics of all ages. Although social media has been around for less than 10 years, it doesn’t have the makings of a fad.”

Rather than a fad, he asserted that we’re witnessing “as fundamental a shift in communication patterns and behavior as the printing press did 500 years ago.” The Church, he contended, was rather slow to adapt to that new medium half a millennium ago and should not repeat the same mistake. The consequences of tardiness may be to lose whole generations of the young.

“I don’t think I have to remind you of what happened when the Catholic Church was slow to adapt to that new technology,” he stated. “By the time we decided to seriously promote that common folk should read the Bible, the Protestant Reformation was well underway. Because it is so different from mass media and mass communication, social media is creating a new culture on this digital continent. Young people use it as their first point of reference. In other words, they’re not even going to their email to get information. The news, entertainment, their friends are all coming to them through their mobile devices and through their social networks.

The implications of that for a Church that is struggling to get those same young people to enter our churches on Sunday are staggering. If the Church is not on their mobile device, it doesn’t exist. The Church does not have to change its teachings to reach young people, but we must deliver it to them in a new way.”

Bishop Herzog stressed that, like all missionaries, leaders of the Church need to learn the language and cultures of those to whom they’re proclaiming the Gospel in order effectively to reach them. This is one of the largest challenges they face. “Most of us don’t understand the culture. One of the greatest challenges of this culture to the Catholic Church is its egalitarianism. Anyone can create a blog; everyone’s opinion is valid. And if a question or contradiction is posted, the digital natives expect a response and something resembling a conversation. We can choose not to enter into that cultural mind-set, but we do so at great peril to the Church’s credibility and approachability in the minds of the natives, those who are growing up in this new culture. This is a new form of pastoral ministry. It may not be the platform we were seeking, but it is an opportunity of such magnitude that we should consider carefully the consequences of disregarding it.”

He observed that if the Church is going to preach effectively in “this culture of 140 characters and virtual friendships” — Twitter and Facebook respectively — Church leaders need to respect the culture and engage those in this “brave new world” on their own terms. Church leaders need to “acknowledge that social media is not the latest fad, but a paradigm shift” and that they and their staffs will need training and direction in order to be effective under the new paradigm.

It’s not enough to have a presence; there has to be “careful strategizing and planning to make social media an effective and efficient communication tool, not only for your communications department, but for all of the Church’s ministries.” He noted that most bishops, in particular, are “digital immigrants” and therefore need “lessons on the digital culture,” saying that those lessons must involve more than “just learning how to create a Facebook account. It’s learning how to think, live and embrace life on the digital continent. ” Thinking, living and embracing life on that digital continent is an urgent summons not just for bishops, but for the whole Church.

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January 21, 2011

‘In hope we were saved’

“hope” for a lot of things. For exof hope. ample, I hope the Red Sox win the The pope explains that hope is the World Series; I hope it never snows ever distinguishing mark of our Christian again; I hope to have a nice vacation. We identity. He says “It is not that we know all have lots of things that we “hope” for the details of what awaits us, but we but most of these things would probably know in general terms that our life will be better articulated by saying that we not end in emptiness. Only when the “wish” for this to happen, or we “desire” future is certain as a positive reality does things to occur in a certain way. it become possible to live the present as Today we look at the virtue of hope. well. The Gospel is not merely a comThe “Catechism” provides a wondermunication of things that can be known ful definition of this second theological (informative) — it is one that makes virtue: “Hope is the theological virtue by things happen and is life-changing which we desire the kingdom of heaven (transformative). The one who has hope and eternal life as our happiness, placing lives differently; the one who hopes has our trust in Christ’s promises and relying been granted the gift of a new life” (SS not on our own strength, but on the help 2). of the grace of the Holy Spirit” (CCC The pope concluded his encyclical 1817). letter on hope by making this point: When we hear the word hope, the “Human life is a journey, but towards Church leads us to think of it in terms of what destination? How do we find the the virtue by which we are firmly rooted way? Life is like a voyage on the sea of in our desire for the greatest thing poshistory, often dark and stormy, a voysible: being with God forever in heaven. age in which we watch for the stars that The virtue of hope is more than just indicate the route. The true stars of our wishing for the things that we want in life are the people who have lived good life, but it is a lives. They conviction and are lights of trust that the hope. CerPutting Into one in whom tainly, Jesus the Deep we place our Christ is the hope in is the true light, the

By Father only one who sun that has Jay Mello can fulfill risen above all every human the shadows longing — our of history. But hope is in God himself. to reach him we also need lights close by Many may be reading this and asking — people who shine with his light and “Why have hope?” After all, there seems so guide us along our way” (SS 49). to be so many reasons to lose hope: the As Catholics we have the saints who enormous amount of human suffering in guide us by their holy example. We conthe world, people starving and homeless, tinue to look to St. Joseph, the man of people unable to find work, countries at virtue. When Joseph was told in a dream war with one another, natural disasters, that Mary had been chosen to be the terrorism and corrupt leaders. Why have mother of God’s only Son, he didn’t just hope? hope that he heard correctly. He didn’t We all experience things that chaljust hope that he was doing the right lenge our reasons to have hope, but — thing. His hope was his firm conviction and this is where the virtue comes in — that this was the will of God. we all need to be reminded that the light When Joseph was told to take the overcomes the darkness. Jesus Christ is baby Jesus and his mother to Egypt to the light of the world and he entered into hide from Herod who wanted to destroy the world to dispel the darkness for ever. the child, he didn’t just hope that things He alone is the source of our hope. would be OK or that the problem would The “Catechism” explains that, go away. Joseph’s hope was rooted in his “Hope keeps us from discouragement; faith in God, trusting that he is the light it sustains us during times of abandonthat dispels the darkness. ment; it opens up our hearts in expectaAllow me to end this article on hope tion of eternal beatitude” (CCC 1818). quoting the words of the “Catechism” Placing our hope in Jesus Christ is that remind us that this virtue is ultireason that we should never lose hope mately tied to our “waiting in joyful because he reminds us that there is hope for the coming of our Savior, Jesus something more — heaven. In the face Christ.” of doubt or difficulty, St. Paul reminds “We can therefore hope in the glory us that we should, “rejoice in our hope, of heaven promised by God to those be patient in tribulation and be constant who love him and do his will. In every in our prayer” (Rom 12:12). circumstance, each one of us should Pope Benedict XVI began his second hope, with the grace of God, to perseencyclical letter with the words “Spe vere ‘to the end’ and to obtain the joy salvi facti sumus” — “In hope we were of heaven, as God’s eternal reward for saved.” These words are taken from St. the good works accomplished with the Paul’s letter to the Romans (Rom 8:24). grace of Christ. In hope, the Church Our Holy Father acknowledges that prays for ‘all men to be saved.’ She St. Paul writes this primarily because, longs to be united with Christ, her before their encounter with Christ Jesus, Bridegroom, in the glory of heaven” his readers were without hope since they (CCC 1821). were without God in the world. Coming Father Mello is a parochial vicar at to know God means to receive the virtue St. Patrick’s Parish in Falmouth.

January 21, 2011

Q: Is it permissible, and/ or is there any good reason for a confessor to ask the identity of a penitent when the confession is anonymous; that is, it is not “face to face”? — L.L., Washington, D.C. A: Anonymous confession, along with the confessional as we know it today, is generally attributed to an initiative of St. Charles Borromeo (1538-1584), the archbishop of Milan, Italy. Previously, the confessor would sit in a chair and the penitent, who usually was kneeling, was clearly visible to him.

In order to ensure modesty and discretion, Cardinal Borromeo mandated in 1564 that the confessionals in his diocese be closed on both sides with a grill between penitent and priest. Pope Paul V’s Roman Ritual adopted this provision, which helped spread its use, although it did not

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Anonymity in the confessional

become a universal practice less the penitent makes some until the 17th century. form of self-identification or Anonymous confession the circumstances warrant it, remains the norm although such as could be the case of a current dispositions allow regular penitent well known for the penitent who so desires to request face-to-face confession. And confessionals may be designed to allow for both options.

By Father Although the peniEdward McNamara tent may request faceto-face confession, the priest is not obliged to accede to the request and to the priest. may insist on the use of the More frequently there grill. may be situations when, in If a penitent desires order to determine the exact anonymity, the priest should nature and gravity of the respect this desire and in the sin involved, the priest may vast majority of situations he make a general inquiry as to should never have any need the penitent’s state in life, for or right to inquire as to the example, if he or she is maridentity of the penitent. ried, or a vowed religious, Even if the priest recetc. ognizes the penitent it is In some confessionals, usually more prudent not to where the penitent is almost make personal references un- invisible, it can happen that a

Liturgical Q&A

priest may have to ask some detail of age, or even sex, in order to tailor his counsel to the penitent’s specific characteristics.

Some very grave sins, such as abortion, also might incur excommunication reserved to the bishop or in some special cases, such as the deliberate profanation of the Eucharist, to the Holy See. In such cases the confessor may not be able to grant absolution immediately, or only on condition that the penitent requests the lifting of the canonical penalty within a month from the competent authority.

As most penitents would be unaware of how to go about this process, the priest may offer to help by contacting either the bishop or the Holy See as the case may be.

This is always done without revealing any personal data or identifying circumstances (see Canon 1357).

If the penitent wishes to remain anonymous then he or she may make an appointment to return to confession to the same priest after a certain time in order to have the sanction formally lifted.

But in some cases it may be necessary to reveal some personal data so that the priest can inform the penitent of the arrival of the proper authorization.

Father Edward McNamara is a Legionary of Christ and professor of Liturgy at Regina Apostolorum University in Rome. His column appears weekly at zenit.org.

To submit questions, email liturgy@zenit.org. Please put the word “Liturgy” in the subject field. The text should include your initials, your city and state.

Singing his song: Introducing the Liturgical Movement

once asked a college student to describe what it means to be a Christian.

After a few seconds’ thought, she replied, “Being good.”

Not a perfect answer, but one that shows an instinct for the truth, for to be a Christian means to enter the life of God who is Goodness itself. As Jesus reminds us: “No one is good but God alone” (Mk 10:18). At the same time, Jesus indicated that goodness is no longer exclusively God’s turf. “You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Mt 5:48).

Never one for empty rhetoric, Jesus must have seen God’s goodness as somehow accessible to the general public. In fact, he made it accessible, for a great part of his own mission was to share God’s goodness with men and women created in God’s image but fallen from grace. To be a Christian, therefore, means to be good with the goodness of God by entering somehow into Christ himself — or, in that fine phrase of St. Paul, to “put on the Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom 13:14).

But what exactly is it that we put on when we put on Christ? To answer this, we must look at what we have received in Christ. In him we have received salvation: the free pardon of sin and participation in divine life. So,

In the liturgy the events of in putting on Christ we are Christ’s life are made presputting on salvation, we are ent to us and we live them being saved. And our salvawith him. By “liturgy” is tion consists of entering into Christ’s life — every bit of it, meant the prayer of the whole from Bethlehem and Nazareth Church united with Christ her Head. Immediately the Mass to Calvary and Heaven; the entire time and distance of his comes to mind, and with good reason: it is the most familiar “passover” from the home of form of liturgy. At a deeper Mary and Joseph to the home of the Father. This is what we level, it is also the greatest must enter, what we must “put on” if we would share in the divine life which Christ has lived from all eternity.

Now, how is this done?

By Father By singing.

Thomas M. Kocik Yes, you read that right. In the 1950s, form of worship, for it is a the French Benedictine nun sacrifice of praise offered and artist Mother Genevieve Gallois wrote an appropriately to God by Christ and his Church. But the sacred liturgy little book about a legendary also includes the celebration saint known as Little Placid, of the other sacraments, the a young disciple of St. Beneofficial daily prayer of the dict. In her Life of Little St. Church (the Liturgy of the Placid, she has Jesus saying Hours), the funeral rites, the to the novice, “The liturgy rite of exorcism, and other means spending your life special rites. passing into my life,” and Roman Catholics today, prompting Placid in turn to especially those born after this maxim: “Singing his life 1960, take many features so as to live my song.” That’s of liturgical celebration for the sort of singing I propose: granted. We generally expect not simply producing sounds to hear the Scripture readings with the voice in regular vibrations, but being “in tune” and prayers in a language we understand. Regardless of our with the life of Christ by musical tastes or abilities, it living our faith through the seems normal to us that the liturgy.

The Liturgical Movement

congregation is expected to sing certain acclamations and hymns that are part of the liturgy, such as the Gloria or the Sanctus. It comes as no surprise when the deacon or priest preaches on the readings we have just heard. On the other hand, we would be puzzled if, before the Communion rite of the Mass, another priest were to emerge from the sacristy, retrieve hosts from the tabernacle, and begin distributing Holy Communion. To give one final example, we expect there to be only one liturgical celebration going on at a time in a given church.

None of these things could be taken for granted during much of the twentieth century and for several centuries prior.

The liturgical landscape to which Catholics are now accustomed is largely the result of the “Liturgical Movement” which began more than a century ago in Europe, spread to this country after the First World War, reached its fruition in 1963 at the Second Vatican Council, and thereafter transformed the religious imagination and practice of two generations of Catholics.

In its origins, the Liturgical Movement sought to restore liturgical piety to the very heart of Christian life. The

liturgy, with its complex of words and ceremonies, had by and large ceased to be what it was always meant to be: the primary source of instruction and nourishment for the faithful. It was, in the popular imagination, a sacred but mysterious heirloom, having no vital meaning for everyday life. For this reason, the early pioneers of the Liturgical Movement sought to reawaken people’s consciousness, including that of the clergy, to the Church’s traditional spiritual treasury. Years later, the movement began to press for changes in the liturgy itself.

Over the next several weeks, we will survey the history of the Liturgical Movement: its various phases, key figures, and principle ideals.

History, of course, is never “just history” but is always told with a goal in mind. Ours is to understand not only how we got to where we are, but also what the future might hold in view of the “New Liturgical Movement” now underway.

Father Kocik, parochial vicar of Santo Christo Parish in Fall River, is editor of “Antiphon: A Journal for Liturgical Renewal,” author of two liturgy-related books, and contributor to the forthcoming “T&T Clark Companion to Liturgical Studies.”

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he words of St. Paul to the Corinthians this week are words that all believers in Jesus Christ should consider prayerfully.

“I urge you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree in what you say, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and in the same purpose.”

Getting people to agree on anything without an argument is nearly impossible.

Some would say it is nothing short of miraculous. This is true for families, churches, parish communities and civic life as Americans. Yet these words from St. Paul, written almost 2,000 years ago, are just as urgent now as they were then.

Each year Christians throughout the world pause and take the opportunity to

January 21, 2011

The Anchor

Answering the call and challenge of unity pray for Christian unity. We We witnessed the same do this during a special week thing a couple of weeks ago set aside for prayer for Chriswith the shootings in Tucson, tian unity; which this year is Ariz. There is something from January 18 to the 25. about tragedy that brings We are now in the midst of out the very best of who this week of prayer. It should we are. We unite to help be the fervent prayer of every Christian to heed the call of the Homily of the Week Lord that we might Third Sunday all be one in him. in Ordinary Time It is hard to believe but just a little

By Father more than a year ago John M. Murray we all watched with heavy hearts as the people of Haiti sufthose in need. We do so fered the terrible earthquake without giving up who we and its aftermath. It was are or shedding our identity. horrible to behold. Yet, in the People from all walks of midst of the tragedy and horlife, all faith backgrounds ror, so many people reached and people of no faith at all, out in generosity to those united to help the victims in who were suffering. We were whatever way they could. It united in the common goal is profound to witness such and purpose of assisting our actions. These are truly signs sisters and brothers in need.

that Christ continues to work among us.

Certainly, this came to mind with the second reading from this Sunday. St. Paul is reminding the Corinthians that division has no place in the Body of Christ.

We need to ask ourselves on a regular basis: are we causes of division or do we build up the unity in Christ to which we are called?

What a weekend to ponder the necessity of Christian unity. Just last week we commemorated the birth of the great civil rights leader, (Rev.) Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. January 22 marks the sad anniversary of the Supreme Court decision of Roe v. Wade. As Christians, as people of good will, we need to unite now more than

ever.

It is easy to point fingers and blame others when tragedies occur. It is easy to blame other ethnic groups, political parties or people of “varying moralities” for anything that goes wrong.

But what about us as individuals, local communities, parish communities or even as a nation? Do we cause division or do we unite? If we can unite when things are not going well, why then can’t we unite when things are going well? Why does it take tragedy to bring out the best in us? Let us not wait.

Let us act now. We live in challenging times but with Christ as the center of our lives we can live up to the call and challenge of unity.

In fact, we must.

Father Murray is pastor of Holy Ghost and St. Joseph’s parishes in Attleboro.

Upcoming Daily Readings: Sat. Jan 22, Heb 9:2-3,11-14; Ps 47:2-3,6-9; Mk 3:20-21. Sun. Jan. 23, Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Is 8:23-9:3; Ps 27:1,4,13-14; 1 Cor 1:10-13,17; Mt 4:12-23 or 4:12-17. Mon. Jan 24, Heb 9:15,24-28; Ps 98:1-6; Mk 3:22-30. Tues. Jan. 25, Acts 22:3-16 or Acgts 9:1-22; Ps 117:1-2; Mk 16:15-18. Wed. Jan. 26, 2 Tm 1:1-8 or Ti 1:1-5; Ps 96:1-3,7-8,10; Mk 4:1-20. Thur. Jan. 27, Heb 10:19-25; Ps 24:1-4ab,5-6; Mk 4:21-25. Fri. Jan. 28, Heb 10:32-39; Ps 37:3-6,23-24,39-40; Mk 4:26-34.

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atholics once had an intuitive understanding of sacred space: to enter a church, especially in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament, was to enter a different kind of environment, one of the hallmarks of which was a reverent silence. Some of that intuition remains. But much of it has been lost. Thus, within the past few months, I have noted three habitual behaviors, not in parishes that are otherwise sloppy in their liturgical practice, but precisely in parishes that take their liturgical life seriously: 1) The demarcation between the narthex (or, as they say in

The chattering classes are us

nounced.

AmChurchSpeak, the “gather2) The exchange of peace, ing space”) and the body of which ought to be accompanied the church (a.k.a. the “worby the briefest of greetings, ship space”) has been severely eroded. Conversations begun in the narthex often continue when people reach the pews; new conversations are initiated in the pews.

Both types of conversation sometimes

By George Weigel continue during the choral prelude, if there is one. In any case, the new convention seems to be that in-pew conversations often becomes the occasion for a general conversational freeare quite appropriate until the for-all. This breaks the rhythm processional hymn is anof the Liturgy of the Eucharist and is anything but conducive to the gathering of mind and spirit appropriate to the period before the reception of holy Communion.

3) Immediately after the conclusion of the recessional hymn, conversation, often quite loud, immediately breaks out in the pews (among those, that is, who have not already bolted for the door during the recessional). Choirs who have spent time and effort preparing a choral postlude must therefore compete with a torrent of chatter that not infrequently drowns out music that has been carefully rehearsed.

This chatter is both bad liturgical form and very bad manners. Attempts to remind one’s fellow congregants of the

The Catholic Difference

proprieties, through a pleading glance, are met with either incomprehension or hostility.

2011 could be a year in which the liturgical catechesis enjoined

by Vatican II as part of the reform of the liturgy actually takes place: if pastors and parish liturgy directors see the introduction of the new English translations that will become mandatory on the First Sunday of Advent as the occasion to do what should have been done 40 years ago, and equip the saints — who have too often devolved into the liturgical chattering classes — for their part in worship. That part was beautifully defined by the fathers of Vatican II in the chapter on the holy Eucharist of the Council’s Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy: “The Church … earnestly desires that Christ’s faithful, when present at this mystery of faith, should not be there as strangers. … They should give thanks to God. Offering the immaculate victim, not only through the hands of the priest but also together with him, they should learn to offer themselves.”

That offering of self takes place through silence as well as through the “full, conscious, and active participation” the

Council enjoined — a “participation,” I might add, that was not envisioned as obliterating the distinction between behavior appropriate to the parish hall and behavior fitting for the body of the church. Both our participation in the liturgy and our silence should reflect the distinctiveness of the sacred space that we are privileged to share when we come into church. If there is little discernible difference in our parishes between what happens in the narthex before and after Mass and what happens in the body of the church during Mass, something is wrong.

Pastors and liturgical directors have a great opportunity this year to re-educate Christ’s people in the nature of the liturgy. That education can be direct and indirect: direct, by catechesis from the pulpit; indirect, by providing ample moments of silence within the liturgy. There is no reason why every available moment during Mass must be filled with speech or music; surely there ought to be moments of repose when all are allowed to listen for the “still small voice” of 1 Kings 19:12. Those moments, in turn, might help remind us that sacred space is not space for chatter.

George Weigel is Distinguished Senior Fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C.

Forever a champion

Wednesday 19 January run a 26-mile marathon in half 2011 — Bridgewater, Mass. — an hour. Dear Essi was faster.

Night of the Full Wolf Moon She raced for the usual two ear Essi was whelped years and then retired from on May Day, 1999. professional sports.

She was born stouter than other American greyhounds. She had a double coat of fur. Her Reflections of a head was unusually Parish Priest large. She was a purebred registered with the

By Father Tim National Greyhound Goldrick Association, but she had Irish greyhound ancestors. I, too, have Irish We first met in July, 2003, ancestors. at River Bend Kennel in FalAt two years of age, Essi mouth. Essi had eye markings became a State Champion. An resembling mascara. I reaverage racing greyhound can named her Cleopatra — Miss

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January 21, 2011

Cleo for short. I adopted her.

Miss Cleo was an independent sort. She refused to be intimidated by other greyhounds that came into her life.

If they got too close, she would growl. Other dogs would sulk away and Miss Cleo would go back to her “beauty rest.” Cleo never growled at people.

Miss Cleo, for all her speed, would just as soon doze on my couch for 16 hours a day. She would, though, never sleep through mealtime, and she would jump up immediately should I mention the secret word —

Children are not tigers

was her relentless demand ecently, the Wall that one daughter practice a Street Journal exdifficult piece of music until cerpted a portion of a new she could master it. Screams, book by Yale law profesthreats, and tirades on the sor Amy Chua, the mother part of both only ended late of two lovely and talented in the night when the daughdaughters. Her book, “Battle ter finally succeeded — and Hymn of the Tiger Mother,” they embraced in joy. boasts of the superiority of While Chua stresses to those cultures that rely on her readers that children can the Confucian method of be pushed further than many child-rearing. She explains think possible, that only that Western parents focus rigorous discipline can bring too much on their children’s about success in challengself-esteem and individualiing fields and that there is ty, while neglecting to instill discipline, marketable skills, and an attitude of reverence and gratitude for parents. The published article has garnered thousands of comments in variBy Genevieve Kineke ous Internet venues and sparked furious debates over parenting an inherent satisfaction in styles. She’s obviously hit a mastering difficult tasks, nerve, but like most secushe ignores other aspects of lar theorists, she’s partially human development. Interright but misses something personal skills aren’t on her essential. radar screen, nor are solvShe illustrates her points ing moral quandaries, nor with anecdotes from her own delving into the transcendent family and lists the rules she regions of our marvelous firmly enforces. She strictly world. Indeed, the questions limits extra-curricular activisurrounding why we exist ties to piano or violin lesand what we do with those sons, demanding three hours deeply-held desires that of practice daily. She insists don’t contribute to academic not only on perfect grades proficiency become unanbut that her children be first swerable, even irrelevant. in every class. As a mother, Finally, there is no room she will dedicate any time for God — who calls us into and resources necessary for being and prepares us for our those outcomes, but in return vocation by means of myriad she expects the children not promptings that would be only to submit, but to dedicrowded out in such a regicate themselves to fulfilling mented life. Sadly, it would their parents’ wishes. One seem that Chua’s parenting example that fascinated — is oriented to the material or horrified — her readers

The Feminine Genius

world alone — with a strictly utilitarian view of the human person.

I am delighted that her daughters have turned out well with such obvious talent, but where does this parenting theory leave children with learning disabilities, chronic illnesses or other kinds of crises? And what happens to the child whose parent withholds affirmation when he fails or falls short of expectations? If a parent is consumed with material success and visible accolades, how is a child to know unconditional love and the joy of hidden virtue?

Surely, Christians would agree that filial piety is a beautiful thing, but the reverence due to parents is intended as an echo of the veneration due to God, who is the ultimate Father of these children. It is in him that they live and move and have their being, and discipline and proficiency should redound to his greater glory, not our own.

To raise children to be so self-sufficient, so successful, and so capable without teaching them humility and gratitude to the giver of these gifts would be tragic indeed.

As in any proposal, we can sift for the good, adjust our framework if necessary and baptize that which would help us create saints — for that’s the real task at hand.

Mrs. Kineke is the author of “The Authentic Catholic Woman” (Servant Books) and serves as an editor at catholicexhange.com.

“cookie!”

Miss Cleo was, alas, very fond of my greyhound Transit.

He showed no interest in Her Royal Majesty whatsoever.

She would bark playfully and bow before him, but he would just sidestep her and be about his business. Cleopatra never gave up batting her eyelashes at Greyhound Transit. She was a canine Mae West.

I lived with Miss Cleo for almost eight years, in three different rectories. Miss Cleo didn’t mind where she lived, as long as she was with me.

Living together so long, you get to know each other’s habits. Miss Cleo liked to sleep in her doggie cot in my bedroom. She would be the first to awaken in the morning, going immediately over to Transit’s cot to alert him to the dawning of a new day.

Transit would just open one eye, roll over, and go back to sleep. He is a guy.

Miss Cleo had no major health issues. A few years ago, though, she was complaining about a stiff neck. I happened to mention this to a parishioner. The parishioner, unbeknownst to me, was a “dog whisperer.” I didn’t believe such nonsense at the time but figured it couldn’t do any harm. I invited the dog whisperer to check Cleo. She moved her hand to and fro and quickly arrived at a diagnosis.

“Miss Cleo has a pinched nerve in the second vertebrae of her neck. She also has neurological damage in her hindquarters, but she is not yet aware of it.

One day, she will be.”

Being the logical person that I am, I soon thereafter had Miss Cleo seen by a doctor of veterinary medicine.

After a scientific examination, he made a diagnosis: “Miss Cleo has a pinched nerve in the second vertebrae of the neck. Take these pills and she will recover quickly.” Miss

Cleo took the pills and got better. The veterinarian never mentioned neurological issues, but I knew.

On New Year’s Eve, 2010, I climbed the stairs to go to bed at 10:00 p.m. The hounds followed, as usual. I heard Miss Cleo struggling to make the stairs, but thought nothing of it. After a series of bumps and whines, Miss Cleo tumbled and collapsed at the foot of the stairs. She was paralyzed in her hindquarters. I carried her upstairs and laid her in her favorite spot. She lay there, immobile. Having ignored her for years, now Transit paced back and forth all night. He didn’t sleep a wink. Every few minutes, he would check on Miss Cleo and then come over to nudge my hand to indicate that something was very, very wrong.

I finally got out of bed to lie on the floor next to Miss Cleo, stroking her double fur.

If I started to doze off, Miss Cleo would poke me with her left front paw, “Whatever you do, don’t stop now!” she was telling me. I stayed with her.

When the sun rose on New Year’s Day, I loaded Miss Cleo in my truck and drove her to an emergency room for animals. “She has irreparable neurological damage,” the doctors told me. I knew.

I received a note from a friend named Kathy: “We share our lives with these creatures, and we always, always know how it will end.

And we do it anyway. It is a hard and steep cost, but it is the price of the unconditional love and faithful companionship they give us for the few years they’ve been allotted by our Creator.”

“Cleo,” said I, “you have run the race,” and then she died, forever a champion.

Father Goldrick is pastor of St. Nicholas of Myra Parish in North Dighton.

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The Anchor

January 21, 2011

A light for others in a world that needs to know God

By Rebecca Aubut Anchor Staff

FALL RIVER — When Mario Barbosa immigrated to the United States at seven years-old, his only focus was getting settled into a new country; 10 years later, his focus would be getting settled with God. “My family and I would go to church but it wasn’t until I was in high school when God became relevant in my life,” said Barbosa. “When I was a senior, I began to take interest in my future, and this idea of where I was going to spend my eternity started to become real vivid.”

Joining some friends who were part of a prayer group at St. Patrick’s Church in Fall River, Barbosa began to readjust his belief in the Lord whom he initially saw as a judge interested in bestowing punishment rather than forgiveness.

“If you didn’t tow the line, you would have to suffer the consequences,” said Barbosa, of his view of a critical God.

“As I became more involved “My task in life is to be a preparing meals for those in in the prayer group, I came light. That’s what I’ve per- their parish community unto know God differently, as a ceived as a Christian, what I able to get out during the holiloving Father. I came to a dif- was called to be: a light for day, and helped deliver those ferent understanding of meals to area homes. who God was by readIt’s important to ing the Bible.” be involved and help Mass became more others, said Barbosa, relevant and Barbosa something “which we made a point to behope David will concome more involved tinue once he goes on in Church activities. to college. I guess by He began teaching example, we’ve tried Religious Education to show what it means classes, became part of to be a Christian, that the music ministry and it’s in serving others. took on being a lector Hopefully my kids have at Mass, viewing all of gotten the message and these as “opportunities will come to a point, to serve God.” like myself, when they “I became much more have a personal encounaware of who Jesus was ter with Christ.” in my life. In reading Father Brian E. Althe Scriptures I came bino, pastor of St. Anto understand,” said thony of Padua already Barbosa. “I wouldn’t sees Barbosa’s mesdo things just to get insage being passed on to Anchor Person of the Week — Mario volved in the Church, his children.

Barbosa. (Photo by Kenneth J. Souza) but to be the kind of “He’s been a faithful character he wanted to member of the parish. build in me, how he wanted to others in a world that needs to The family participates in just transform me. That’s what I know God.” about anything in the parish,” saw as most important.

As a member of St. An- said Father Albino. “They’re thony of Padua Parish in Fall just one of those solid famiRiver for more than 35 years, lies that do just about everyBarbosa has raised his two thing.” children to give back to their Part of that “everything” is parish, especially his oldest playing for the folk Mass on son David, a senior at Bishop weekends. Though the group Connolly High School of Fall of musicians has shrunk over River, who is also involved the years, Barbosa hopes to in the music ministry and a continue to play guitar and teacher in the Religious Edu- sing as long as he can. cation program at the parish.

“I think what has kept me This past Thanksgiving, both involved is mostly that I’ve father and son took part in developed friendships with

the people there who are still involved, including my wife,” said Barbosa. “There’s a strong connection to the friends that I’ve made there, and I find that it’s something I enjoy. I go to Mass anyway, so it becomes a more special way for me participating in Mass.”

Barbosa is currently in his 34th year of teaching Portuguese and Spanish at Attleboro High School, and will soon retire. Teaching at a public high school has presented challenges, but his continuing to embrace the message of the Word of God has Barbosa ready to begin the next chapter of his life.

“It’s an everyday relationship. I look at the relationship with God as a daily walk. I can’t say there have been any earth-shattering moments other than that I’ve seen him present in my life in different situations in small ways but to me, visible ways.

“I find that little things happen as I’m seeking and praying. I see those signs that God is in my corner and hears my prayers. I think that’s the most special part of a relationship with God, that you can talk to him anytime about your struggles and you know that he is there. You know that his friendship is real.”

To submit a Person of the Week nominee, send an email with information to fatherrogerlandry@anchornews. org.

FALL RIVER — Bishop George W. Coleman will be the principal celebrant of a Mass at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Fall River on February 5 at 4 p.m., commemorating World Day for Consecrated Life.

“It is our hope that the assemblies gathered in parish communities will not only gain a deeper awareness of religious life and the need to call forth women and men to this way of life, but, at the same time, be reminded of everyone’s

sharing our bread with the hungry, sheltering the homeless, clothing those in need, and removing oppression from our midst.

Consecrate us through prayer and service. May holiness shine forth from us so that others may come to know and love you.

Bless our Church with men and women who dedicate their lives to you through the consecrated life.

Be a lamp to light our way now and always. Amen. www.nccv-vocations.org

Bishop Coleman to celebrate Mass for World Day for Consecrated Life baptismal commitment to be the light of Christ in the world,” said Mercy Sister Catherine Donovan, Episcopal Representative for Religious in the Diocese of Fall River.

Prayer for Vocations Radiant God, we offer you our praise and thanks for creating us and all of creation out of love.

You sent your Son, Jesus, as the Light of the World to shine forth your goodness. You call us, like Jesus, to let our light shine by

11

The Anchor

January 21, 2011

U.S. author cites new evidence of communism’s ‘war’ with the Church B y John Thavis C atholic News Service

ROME — That Pope John Paul II was a pivotal figure in the fall of European communism is accepted as a truism, but many details of that drama have remained hidden in archives.

A U.S. biographer of the late pope has now provided particulars of what he describes as the full-scale war by communism against the Catholic Church, and Pope John Paul’s astute and successful counter-strategy.

The Polish pope displayed political savvy and “a shrewdness that combined steadiness of strategic vision with tactical flexibility,” George Weigel told an audience of seminarians, diplomats and Vatican officials at the Pontifical North American College.

One of Pope John Paul’s moves, Weigel said, was to appoint as his own secretary of state Cardinal Agostino Casaroli, the architect of the Vatican’s “Ostpolitik” efforts to reach workable compromises with communist regimes.

By doing so, the late pope “created tactical advantages for the Church: As the pope preached moral revolution over the heads of communist regimes, speaking directly to their people, Cardinal Casaroli continued his diplomacy, thus denying the communists the opportunity to charge that the Church had reneged on its commitment to dialogue,” Weigel said.

Weigel said he based his conclusions on previously secret cables and memos that have emerged from behind the former Iron Curtain. He came across the information while researching his latest book on the life of Pope John Paul, “The End and the Beginning,” which looks at the pope’s final years and evaluates his legacy.

As a point of orientation, he quoted Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, Pope John Paul’s longtime secretary, who once remarked about the Church’s battle with Poland’s communist regime: “You must understand that it was always ‘them’ and ‘us.’” What he meant, Weigel said, was that “the struggle between communism and Catholicism could not be understood as a matter of episodic confrontations. It was all war, all the time.”

Certainly that was how communist leaders from Moscow to Budapest saw it, Weigel said. He catalogued efforts by communist regimes to place spies in

Boston says no ‘categories’ of students will be excluded

BRAINTREE (CNS) — A new Catholic schools admission policy in the Archdiocese of Boston says schools must “not discriminate against or exclude any categories of students” while at the same time acknowledging the autonomy of parish and school officials to make admissions decisions at the local level. Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley pledged to develop the new policy after a May 2010 incident that made national headlines when a Hingham Catholic school rescinded the acceptance of a child of lesbian parents. At the time, archdiocesan officials reacted negatively to the decision but noted there was no specific archdiocesan policy covering the situation.

The new Archdiocesan Catholic Schools Admission Policy, distributed January 12, says schools “do not discriminate against or exclude any categories of students.” The policy does not define what is considered a category. “Our schools welcome, and they don’t discriminate against any categories of students,” said Mary Grassa O’Neill, secretary for education. “It covers all categories of students.” Father Richard Erikson, vicar general and moderator of the curia, said, “Catholic education is a treasure of the Church, and we want to share that as broadly as we can.” He added: “We will not exclude any category of child from our schools and we expect pastors will be in conformity with the decision.”

local Catholic hierarchies and the Vatican, to exploit the Church’s moves toward openness and dialogue, to create ecumenical confusion and to compromise Church leaders by planting false stories.

In 1983, Weigel recounted, the Polish security police even decided to blackmail Pope John Paul.

The instrument chosen was a fake diary said to have been written by a deceased female employee of the Archdiocese of Krakow, in which the diarist reported she had been the future pope’s lover. The plot fell apart when one of the conspirators, after successfully planting the diary in the home of a Krakow priest, got

W

eigel said communist moles were placed successfully at Vatican Radio, at the Vatican newspaper and in pontifical universities. When Pope John Paul II was elected, he took some counter-intelligence steps; for one thing, materials dealing with Poland were no longer archived in the Secretariat of State but were kept in the papal apartment “where there was no chance for mischief-makers to prowl around,” Weigel said.

nominated after 1964 were cooperators with internal security and foreign intelligence services, he said.

At the Pontifical Hungarian Institute in Rome, all the rectors and half the students in the late 1960s were trained agents of Hungarian secret intelligence, he said.

Weigel said communist moles were placed successfully at Vatican Radio, at the Vatican newspaper and in pontifical universities. When Pope John Paul II was elected, he took some counter-intelligence steps; for one thing, materials dealing with Poland were no longer archived in the Secretariat of State but were kept in the papal apartment “where there was no chance for mischief-makers to prowl around,” Weigel said.

When Pope John Paul met with leaders such as Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko, the pope decided not to keep a written record of their conversations, so that the notes would not fall into the wrong hands. Instead, Weigel said, the pope and then-Msgr.

Dziwisz would discuss the encounters, and the secretary kept notes in diaries that remained under his control.

Weigel said he thinks some lessons can be drawn by the Church’s experience with European communism, as it looks to present challenges in the world’s remaining communist states and in Islamic states. For one thing, he said, Vatican efforts to reach beneficial compromises with communist powers “rarely, if ever, paid significant dividends.”

He said a much more valuable witness was provided by Church leaders who spoke courageously against the regimes, sometimes paying with their lives.

“Deeply committed and politically shrewd Christian pastors and laity eventually won out over communism. The blood of martyrs, however, was the seed of victory. Their sacrifice, and what we can learn from it about the cardinal virtue of fortitude — courage — must never be forgotten,” he said.

drunk, crashed his car and blabbed to police about what he’d just done.

Although the story has a Keystone Kops flavor, Weigel noted that the same security police operative would surface a year and a half later — as one of the men who beat Solidarity activist Father Jerzy Popieluszko to death and dumped his body in the Vistula River.

Weigel said Soviet bloc intelligence services tried to manipulate the debates of the Second Vatican Council for political ends, a process that continued as the “Ostpolitik” policy of the Vatican developed and prevailed. He said the Hungarian regime used o advertise in he the Vatican’s diplomatic opening to take control ayne owers at of the Catholic Church in the country; most bishops mail waynepowers

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Anchor, contact 508-675-7151 or @anchornews.org

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The Anchor

January 21, 2011

Pope recognizes heroic virtue of American priest, Father Nelson Baker

Buffalo, N.Y. (CNA/ however, contributing to the EWTN News) — Pope Bene- local Catholic orphanage. Dedict officially recognized the spite the apprehension of his heroic virtues of 20th century father, brother and business American priest Father Nelson partner — yet to the delight Baker, which moves the be- of his mother — he eventually loved champion for the poor discerned that he wanted to further along in the process to- join the priesthood.

Though he was a good 10 wards sainthood.

Father Baker — who was years older than most of his born in Buffalo, N.Y. in 1842 fellow seminarians, Father — lived to be 95 years old and Baker relished his experience is heralded for building what’s in the seminary, earning top been called a “city of char- marks in his studies, organizity” in Lackawana, N.Y. By ing sports and drama events the time of his death in 1936, and being considered a leader his initiatives for the poor in- by his peers, noted Sister Mary cluded a minor basilica, an in- Monica of the Slaves of the Imfant home, a home for unwed maculate Heart of Mary in her mothers, a boys’ orphanage, a biography of the priest. During hospital, a nurses’ home, and his time at the seminary, things an elementary and high school. took a brief turn for the worse On January 14, Pope Bene- when a bought with erysipdict recognized the heroic vir- elas — a disease that could be tues of Father Baker, which is cured with antibiotics today, the second step in the priest’s but in the nineteenth century was often fatal — cause for canonhospitalized him ization. After a for 11 weeks and candidate is inithreatened to take tially listed as a his life.

Servant of God, He slowly rethe promoter of covered, and eventhe cause must tually went on prove that the a pilgrimage to candidate lived Rome with his heroic virtues. fellow seminariWhen documents ans in 1874, stopand testimonies ping at the Shrine are presented to of Our Lady of the Congregation Victories in Paris. for the Causes of Father Nelson Baker It was there he Saints in Rome, began an intense and the candidate Marian devotion that would is approved, he or she earns the title of “Venerable.” Two influence the rest of his life’s documented and medically- work.

Father Baker was ordained authenticated miracles are then needed, one for beatification a priest in 1876 and was assigned to be the superintendent and one for canonization.

“Father Baker was known of a group of Catholic institufor his tremendous works of tions at Limestone Hill — an charity during his 60 years of area now known as Lackawana priesthood,” Archbishop Tim- — which were wracked with othy M. Dolan of New York insurmountable debts. Using said on January 14. Archbish- his business savvy, Father Nelop Dolan expressed delight in son gave every penny of his the pope’s action on his blog, savings to the institutions and “The Gospel in the Digital hand-wrote thousands of letters imploring Catholics to become Age.” The Diocese of Buffalo said members of the “Association on Friday that they “rejoice” at of Our Lady of Victory” for a the news, adding that the latest fee of 25 cents a year. Over the move “is the next step in what years, his tireless work helped we hope and pray will be the the facilities flourish.

After decades of unyieldeventual beatification and caning service to the community, onization of Father Baker.”

After his upbringing in Buf- Father Baker died in 1936 at falo in the late 19th century the age of 95. He was named a and a period of enlistment as a Servant of God in 1987 by the solider in the Civil War, Father late Pope John Paul II, and his Baker enjoyed economic suc- legacy lives on in the current cess running a feed and grain work of Our Lady of Victories business with his good friend Institutions, which annually Joe Meyer. He often spent serves more than 3,500 chilmuch of his time and money, dren and families in need.

the flight of the hornet — Jay Chou and Seth Rogen star in a scene from the movie “The Green Hornet.” For a brief review of this film, see CNS Movie Capsules below. (CNS photo/Sony)

CNS Movie Capsules NEW YORK (CNS) — The following are capsule reviews of movies recently reviewed by Catholic News Service.

“Country Strong” (Screen Gems) This music-filled drama about a troubled country singer (Gwyneth Paltrow) wears its mawkish cliches proudly on its flannel sleeves. Writer-director Shana Feste creates four one-dimensional characters — besides the alcohol- and drug-addicted troubadour, there’s her manipulative promoter-husband (Tim McGraw), her on-again-offagain lover (Garrett Hedlund) and a young, neurotic beauty queen-turned-crooner (Leighton Meester) — then sends the quartet spinning like pinballs in a twangy, shopworn tale of substance abuse, adultery and the grim lifestyle played out on a tour bus. Scenes of implied adulterous and premarital sex, pervasive crude language and fleeting profanity. The Catholic News Service classification is A-III — adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 — parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

“The Dilemma” (Universal) Unappealing mix of comedy and drama as a Chicago businessman (Vince Vaughn) and reformed gambler discovers that his best friend and partner’s (Kevin James) wife (Winona Ryder) is cheating with a younger man (Channing Tatum). Unable to bring himself to share

the news, he undertakes a series of credulity-straining antics designed either to gain proof of the affair or end it. But his strange behavior convinces his live-in girlfriend (Jennifer Connelly) that he’s returned to betting.

Though fidelity, honesty and the value of marriage are affirmed in passing, and Vaughn’s character even pauses to pray for guidance, the plot of director Ron Howard’s mood-shifting mess primarily serves as an excuse for stringing together Vaughn’s trademark manic riffs. And like them or not, they fail to offset the showcasing of wayward, sometimes seamy bedroom behavior.

Brief graphic adulterous sexual activity with fleeting rear nudity, cohabitation, prostitution theme, much sexual humor, a half-dozen uses of profanity, at least one instance of the F-word, considerable crude and crass language, obscene gestures. The Catholic News Service classification is L — limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 — par-

ents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

“The Green Hornet” (Columbia) Rancid comedic remake of the masked crimefighter franchise that began as a Golden Age radio drama in the 1930s. Director Michel Gondry combines unlikable, potty-mouthed characters, occasional racist outbursts and a numbing procession of car crashes as he updates the familiar story of a respectable newspaper publisher by day (Seth Rogen) who becomes, by night, a disguised vigilante working outside the law. Much gun and martialarts violence, vigilantism theme, one scene of implied premarital sex, occasional profanity, pervasive crude and crass language.

The Catholic News Service classification is L — limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 — parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

Diocese of Fall River TV Mass on WLNE Channel 6 Sunday, January 23 at 11:00 a.m.

Celebrant is Father Kevin J. Harrington, pastor of St. Francis of Assisi Parish in New Bedford

January 21, 2011

T

he first business of the House of Representatives this year was to read the entire Declaration of Independence in order to recall its provisions for the benefit of the House members, as well as the general public.

A friend of mine who sat through the televised session was puzzled by the omission of the reading of the section that provides for the separation of church and state in all matters of religion.

Much to her surprise, the short answer is that there is no such requirement to be found in the Constitution. It is strictly a creation of the U. S. Supreme Court in the 1947 Everson case. Not only did the Court ignore the original intent of the authors of our Constitution, it went further to embellish the new separation between government and religion by stating the wall wasn’t just to be any wall, but rather a wall that must be kept “high and impregnable.”

When the Constitution was being drafted in the late 18th century there were many competing religious faiths being practiced throughout the original 13 colonies. Many of these religions had their origin in England where the Church of England was the established national church under the direction of the English crown, as mandated originally by King Henry VIII. The American settlers did not want history to repeat itself in America, so they specifically provided in the first provision of the First Amendment to our Constitution that “Congress shall make no law

The Anchor

The free exercise clause

respecting the establishment of religion” engage society and its issues publicly, both (the so-called Establishment Clause) “or as individuals and when joined together as prohibiting the free exercise thereof” (the communities of faith. so-called Free Exercise Clause). Thus, the The new and subtler movement referred new Americans were prevented from form- to earlier was recently pointed out by Knox ing a United States church, and their right Thames, the director of the Commission of to freely practice their own individual reli- International Religious Freedom, a Congion was firmly established and protected gressional regulated agency of the U.S. — or so they thought, at least until 1947. government. In a public address, Thames In a 1985 stated that case known during the past as the Wallace several months, case, then-Chief including three Justice William speeches made Rehnquist comby the president mented in a ringoutside of the ing dissent, “The United States

By James T. Grady ‘wall of separaand recent tion’ between speeches by church and state Secretary of is a metaphor based on bad history — a State Hillary Clinton at Georgetown Unimetaphor which has proved useless as a versity and the Newseum in Washington, guide to judging. It should be frankly and D.C., they used the term “freedom of worexplicitly abandoned.” ship” when the term “freedom of religion” Within the past year a new and subtle would have been the more appropriate movement has been underway. In order to term in the context being used. appreciate its significance, it is necessary Well known and respected religious to note the distinction between the concept freedom advocate Thomas Farr, profesof “freedom of worship,” which means sor at Georgetown University, agreed the freedom to go to a church or similar with Thames’ concerns and findings in place and to gather, sing, and even pray, this regard. Michelle Boorstein of the all within the confines of your church; and Washington Post has stated that numer“freedom of religion,” which is a more ous advocates for religious freedom have expansive concept under our Constitution, noticed a definite trend by the present one that includes the right to teach, preach, administration to replace the term “freeassemble, organize, advocate, and to dom of religion” whenever possible with

Guest Columnist

13 the more limited concept of “freedom of worship.”

It should be noted that in response to the public outcry that has resulted from this alleged trend, the White House has failed to make any formal response by way of comment or explanation. A low level staffer in the Secretary of State’s office has volunteered in response to a question that it probably was some sort of a misunderstanding; and anyway, the two terms are interchangeable.

Some will say that this is much ado about nothing, a tempest in a teapot. Others will say that words are important and that Obama and Clinton, both of whom are intelligent attorneys, when speaking of “freedom of worship” rather than using the more robust term “freedom of religion,” were reading from prepared scripts that were carefully drafted and approved prior to delivery, and that as a result, the use of the term “freedom of worship” was deliberate and intentional.

Only time will tell whether the present administration is now attempting to marginalize our Constitutional right of “freedom of religion.”

The year 2011 should be an interesting year.

James T. Grady is a retired lawyer and a former visiting scholar at Harvard Law School. He and his wife Sheila live in Marion and are parishioners at St. Anthony’s Parish in Mattapoisett.

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The Anchor

John Paul II to be beatified on Divine Mercy Sunday continued from page one

gation for Saints’ Causes. On the contrary, he said, Pope John Paul’s cause was subject to “particularly careful scrutiny, to remove any doubt.”

The Vatican said it would begin looking at logistical arrangements for the massive crowds expected for the beatification liturgy, which will be celebrated by Pope Benedict at the Vatican. Divine Mercy Sunday had special significance for Pope John Paul, who made it a Church-wide feast day to be celebrated a week after Easter. The pope died on the vigil of Divine Mercy Sunday in 2005.

With beatification, Pope John Paul will be declared “blessed” and thus worthy of restricted liturgical honor.

Revised and updated ...

Another miracle is needed for canonization, by which the Church declares a person to be a saint and worthy of universal veneration.

The Vatican spokesman, Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, summed up much of the sentiment in Rome when he said Pope John Paul would be beatified primarily for the spiritual gifts of faith, hope and charity that were the source of his papal activity.

The world witnessed that spirituality when the pope prayed, when he spent time with the sick and suffering, in his visits to the impoverished countries of the world and in his own illness “lived out in faith, before God and all of us,” Father Lombardi said.

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Brigida Jones, a 26-year-old Australian Catholic visiting the Vatican from Melbourne, echoed the spokesman’s sentiments: “I think he did so much while he was alive, and you’d just see him on television and get this sense of peace — obviously he was holy.”

Father Lombardi said the Vatican was preparing to move Pope John Paul’s body from the crypt of St. Peter’s Basilica to the Chapel of St. Sebastian in the basilica’s upper level at the time of beatification. The chapel, on the right hand side of the church just after Michelangelo’s Pieta, is easily accessible and spacious, an important factor given the steady stream of pilgrims who come to see the pope’s tomb.

Father Lombardi said Pope John Paul’s casket would not be opened at the time of the relocation, and that it would remain closed after it is placed beneath the altar of the chapel.

To make room, the Vatican will have to move the tomb of a previously beatified pontiff, Pope Innocent XI, to another area of the basilica, he said.

In 2005, Pope Benedict set Pope John Paul on the fast track to beatification by waiving the normal five-year waiting period for the introduction of his sainthood cause. That seemed to respond to the “Santo subito!” (“saint at once!”) banners that were held aloft at Pope John Paul’s funeral.

Even so, Church experts needed years to review the massive amount of evidence regarding the late pope, including thousands of pages of writings and speeches. The

January 21, 2011 process began with the Diocese of Rome, which interviewed more than 120 people who knew Pope John Paul and asked them about his actions and character. Studies were conducted on his ministry, the way he handled suffering and how he faced his death.

In 2007, on the second anniversary of the pope’s death, the Rome Diocese concluded the initial inquiry phase. The documents from the investigation were placed in four chests, which were latched, tied with a red ribbon, sealed with red wax and delivered to the Congregation for Saints’ Causes for further study.

In November 2008, a team of theological consultors to the saints congregation began studying the 2,000-page “positio,” the document that made the case for Pope John Paul’s beatification. After their favorable judgment, the cardinal and bishop members of the sainthood congregation met in late 2009 and voted to advance the cause.

On Dec. 21, 2009, Pope Benedict declared that Pope John Paul had lived a life of “heroic virtues.” That meant he could be beatified once a miracle had been approved.

The reported cure of the French nun was carefully investigated by the Vatican’s medical experts over the last year after questions were raised about the original diagnosis. Vatican sources said that, in the end, the experts were satisfied it was Parkinson’s, and there was no scientific explanation for the cure.

In 2007, the nun, Sister Marie-Simon-Pierre, spoke to reporters about her experience.

A member of the Little Sisters of the Catholic Motherhood, she was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2001 at the age of 40. In watching Pope John Paul deteriorate from the effects of Parkinson’s disease, she said, “I saw myself in the years to come.”

When the pope died in

2005, and as Sister Marie-Simon-Pierre’s condition began to worsen, all the members of the Little Sisters of Catholic Motherhood in France and in Senegal began praying to Pope John Paul to intervene with God to heal her.

By June 2, two months after the pope died, she was struggling to write, to walk and to function normally. But she said she went to bed that night and woke up very early the next morning feeling completely different.

“I was sure I was healed,” she said. Not long afterward, she had recovered enough to return to work in Paris at a maternity hospital run by her order.

Several times during the last two years, rumors have surfaced about delays in Pope John Paul’s beatification cause. Various reasons were reported, most having to do with incomplete documentation.

In 2010, with new revelations of priestly sex abuse in many European countries, some Vatican sources said it was the wrong moment to push the sainthood cause of Pope John Paul, who was pope when some of the abuse occurred.

But the Vatican’s sainthood congregation continued to methodically process the cause.

A year ago, a book revealed some of the spiritual and penitential practices of Pope John Paul, including self-flagellation and spending entire nights on a bare floor with his arms outstretched. The book was written by Msgr. Slawomir Oder, postulator of the late pope’s sainthood cause, and it prompted some displeasure among Church officials because it was based on supposedly confidential material gathered in the investigation process.

Pope John Paul’s death and funeral brought millions of people to Rome, and Vatican officials said they would begin working with the City of Rome in logistical planning for the beatification.

Marian Medal awards presentation on video

FALL RIVER — The 2010 Marian Medals Awards Ceremony is now available on DVD from the Diocesan Office of Communications. The DVD cost is $24.95. To obtain one, please forward a check in that amount payable to the Diocesan Office of Communications, Diocese of Fall River, PO Box 7, Fall River, Mass.

02722. Shipping is included in the video cost.

January 21, 2011

John Paul II was source of inspiration, healing for many in diocese continued from page one

intercession after the April 2005 heartbreak.

Many in the diocese witnessed John Paul II’s love of God in person, either attending a World Youth Day event or a pilgrimage to the Eternal City.

Father Marek Chmurski, pastor of St. Lawrence Martyr Parish in New Bedford, grew up in Poland. He remembered that as Cardinal Karol Wojtyla, he had raised the hopes of Polish Catholics in a time when the faith was suppressed by the government.

“He had a way of using dialogue to deal with the communists,” Father Chmurski told The Anchor.

“He treated them like human beings, and they noticed something different about this man. His priesthood came out of suffering in Poland. He could have been anything he wanted, but he had his priorities in order. He always wanted to be a priest.”

When he learned of the beatification news, Father Chmurski said, “Nobody was surprised. Six years is enough. I feel he’s on the way to sainthood and I’m very happy to hear the news. He’s always been a part of my life and I don’t think there’s been anyone like him. He was a great religious

T

heology was never meant to stay on the page of a book, for it is meaningless until tested in the laboratory of our lives. We need to remember this when we put all of our time and resources into the best formation programs available and expect miraculous results. No matter how good a program is, it doesn’t resonate with the people unless it touches their lives.

Faith is neither a commodity in competition with our secular consumer community, nor is it the privilege of a select group of the pious remnant. Faith is a response to the offer proposed by God: “Do you need me now?”

When faith-filled people are asked to relate a time when they had a profound encounter with God they usually relate a story about hitting the depths, or facing a crisis. The profound truth embedded within their stories is that somewhere in our darkest moments is the human longing for hope in something that transcends the confusion that we are in. This is the moment when we have to give ourselves over and trust that God is there. When we experience that kind of trust in another, we call it love. Faith, hope and love; these words in combination describe the foundation of our union with God. No treatise on these theological virtues can come close to what it feels like to experience them in our own lives.

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The Anchor

and political figure and the great changes in Poland and eastern Europe are attributed to him.

Father Michael Ciryak, pastor of St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Swansea, was thrilled at the news.

“For me, he’s been a real hero. Although I never officially met him, as pope I felt like I knew him. I took his death hard, and I’ve sought his intercession since then.

“I remember a trip I took to Rome when I was in high school.

I attended a Mass celebrated by Cardinal Wojtyla, and received holy Communion from him. A few short months later he was elected pope. I was crazy excited to realize I received the Eucharist from him. Even today, John Paul II is a great light in a darkening world. He was a model, even in his suffering, through his silence and his brokenness. He was and still is a champion of human dignity by being who he was.”

Father Tad Pacholczyk, ordained in 1999 is part of the “John Paul II generation” of priests, told The Anchor, “I am delighted to learn of the news of the beatification. Some of us grew up knowing basically no other pope apart from John Paul II, and his influence on our spirituality, vocations, and un-

derstanding of the faith was enormous. His beatification is a great blessing for the Church.”

Father Jeffrey Cabral, who works at the diocesan Tribunal office, was ordained in 2002. He told The Anchor, “The late Holy Father had a huge impact on the faith life of many in my generation, since he instituted the World Youth Days, which I had the pleasure of attending in 1993 in Denver. He challenged many youth to ‘be not afraid,’ and inspired so many of us to become priests and consecrated religious.

The wonderful news about the upcoming beatification is welcome news indeed by many of the faithful.”

In an Anchor column in January 2010, part of the Year For Priests series, Father Cabral wrote, “The perfect example of a priest who was committed to ministering to young people was our beloved late Pope John Paul II. The people’s pope, and certainly the pope of the youth, had always been involved in youth ministry, from the time he was a priest in Poland to the pope who started the World Youth Day celebrations.”

Ordained in 2007, Father Jay Mello, currently an Anchor col-

umnist and a volunteer staffer in the postulation office for John Paul II’s cause during his seminary years in Rome, said, “There was no surprise that his beatification was coming, but it was such a great joy to hear that it was finally here. With the news of the beatification I immediately thought that this would provide a good theme to write about for the weeks leading up to the beatification.”

“It was August of 2003,” he continued, “and I had just arrived in Rome to begin my seminary studies. The first Sunday in Rome my classmates and I traveled to Castel Gandolfo, the pope’s summer residence. I remember the feeling that overcame me as he was brought to the balcony. This was the first time that I saw in person the man who had been pope my entire life.

“I remember standing in St. Peter’s Square the night that he died. It was like time had stood still as the ‘death bell’ began to ring. All of a sudden a huge eruption of applause broke out. It all made sense — the applause was a sign of both our gratitude to God for giving us such a faithful and holy leader and also an expression of faith that God had called home his good and faithful servant. At his funeral Mass, which my friends and I slept on the street

Hope-bearers to the world

What more compelling reason do would have given him the hope we need to keep plugging away to keep going. He walked down at evangelizing the people in our into his basement and took his lives then to give a person the reason for our own faith, hope and love?

The theological virtues must never be isolated from each other. Faith, when it stands alone, turns our belief in God

By Claire McManus into something sterile and legalistic or foolish superstition. An atheist can counter claims to belief in God own life. A teen-age girl, raised in based on faith alone with arguthe practice of the faith, became ments built on the rock of rational- so twisted around by bad choices ism and reason. One can certainly and wrong turns that her teen-age experience love without knowing unrest turned from angst to patholGod, and one’s hope can be an ogy. The static from her depression empty promise of a worldly desire interfered with God’s offer to love fulfilled. Only faith in the God and forgive her unconditionally. who is love can produce the hope That offer of comfort that only that gives us what Martin Luther God can give was drowned out by King called “the vitality that keeps the noise of her confusion, and so life moving. Hope is that quality she quieted the chaos by ending that helps you to go on in spite of her life. A young woman, never it all.” This kind of hope has no convinced of her beauty and goodcompetition in the secular world. ness, fell into the downward spiral A life without hope is the great- of drugs and alcohol. Addiction est of tragedies. Our world is filled became the insatiable monster with hopeless people, some of that gave her its marching orders, whom are our friends and neighimprisoning her in a life of petty bors. A middle-age man with four crime and lies. The only way out beautiful children watched as the of this trap that she could see was economy destroyed his business, to put an end to her life. Three and the stress unraveled his marsouls, once gained by baptism, riage. Though he walked among now lost to us by despair. us in our parish, he was unable Humanity is wired for God, to hear the offer of salvation that and the reception is best within

The Great Commission

the dark regions of our soul. That moment when we most need to understand the meaning of our doleful existence is the crucial point at which the shell of theology is cracked open to reveal the meat within. Faith formation is best served with a slice of life, especially our own. Elie Weisel once said that since “despair can come to one another only from other human beings, hope, too, can be given to one only by other human beings.”

on the night before to be able to attend, there were tons of signs that said, “Santo, Subito” (saint at once).

Jose Amaral, a parishioner at St. Anthony’s Parish in New Bedford, whose healing through John Paul II’s intercession was the subject of an ABC News “20/20” program last Good Friday and a “Nightline” episode last Friday, was elated at the news. “I was overwhelmed,” he told The Anchor. “I said to my wife ‘Get your bags ready,’” he quipped.

Amaral was healed of cervical myelopathy and spinal stenosis.

The New Bedford resident can now walk and continues his work with the Knights of Columbus and the Men of the Sacred Heart.

“Pope John Paul II never asked for pity during his suffering at the end of his life. He took it with dignity. He inspired me to accept my condition. I prayed for God’s will to be done, even if it meant I wouldn’t walk again.

“John Paul II deserves this because of all he accomplished as a priest, bishop and pope. What better way to let John Paul II’s story continue, than for people to know how he lived.”

Asked if he’ll be in Rome for the ceremony, Amaral said, “I’ll be watching it on TV and loving every minute of it.”

All Christians must be hopebearers to this world. As St. Peter told the early Christians, “Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope.” We must continue to offer opportunities for people to encounter Christ, for there is so much more at stake than the mere handing on of doctrine. As Teihard de Chardin said, “The future belongs to those who give the next generation reason for hope.”

Claire McManus is the director of the Diocesan Office of Faith Formation.

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Youth Pages

January 21, 2011

they are the champions — The Boston Globe announced Division III Bishop Feehan High School in Attleboro as the winner of the High School Scholastic Nason Award for the 13th consecutive year. With a 74.49 winning percentage posted for the 20092010 school year, the Shamrocks won the most games of any Catholic co-educational high school in Massachusetts. The Shamrocks were led by their boys’ and girls’ cross-country and track teams, which combined to go 41-0. Girls’ swimming state champs also contributed with a 11-0 season. Other notable teams were boys’ swimming (9-0), girls’ soccer (12-1-2), boys’ basketball (15-5), and softball (17-3). The award is named after Jerry Nason, the former executive sports editor of the Globe who died in 1986. Athletic Director Paul O’Boy is surrounded by Shamrock team captains with their collection of Nason Award trophies.

net results — Head volleyball coach Rene Marcotte at St. MarySacred Heart School in North Attleboro demonstrates a hitting approach as students look on. From left: coaches Erik Morris and Georgia Lapierre, Brendan Patch, Matt Reardon, Emma Cabral, and Julia Morris.

To prepare for the spring volleyball season and drum up interest for the Catholic Athletic League volleyball sign-ups, the school hosted clinics for fifth- through eighth-graders during gym classes.

a story to tell — Students at St. John the Evangelist School in Pocasset recently performed in a pageant for their classmates.

the stage is set — Students in the Holy Family-Holy Name School Drama Club diligently worked on their production of “Annie Jr.” It was the first performance to be put on by the Drama Club at the New Bedford school.

exercise for the body and soul — Students and staff at St. Mary’s School in Mansfield, recently participated in the Kids’ Fitness Challenge, sponsored by the Boston Bruins Foundation. Free to all Massachusetts elementary and middle schools, the program is designed to encourage students to participate in regular physical activity. The event, coordinated locally by physical education teacher Don Cotter, was designed to bring the entire school together for a 30-minute walk while praying the rosary.

Youth Pages

January 21, 2011

17

You have to hear this song

E

very once in a while In the middle of my little a song will come on mess the radio that makes you just I forget how big I’m stop and listen. That’s what blessed. happened to me just two We all have those things mornings ago. My alarm is that just get to us, things that set to 91.1, K-LOVE. Once drive us crazy. It could be I’m up, I just let it play while losing your keys, or not being I get ready for school. I able to find your phone so you heard a ukulele. Every mornhave to have someone call it. ing should begin with some It could be getting a ticket, or ukulele. And then this upbeat, it could be burning the toast. simple, fun song kicked in The list could be different for and I was hooked. It’s the kind of song that you want to share with other people. I went to school telling my students, “You have to hear this song.”

I’m talking about

By Jean Revil Francesca Battistelli’s “This Is the Stuff.” It’s a song that can apply to all of us and it encourages each of us, but I bet it would the kind of trust that every include some of those univerone of us needs. The song sals irritations we all endure. begins: And in the middle of our I lost my keys in the great little mess, we all are tempted unknown to forget how big we’re And call me please ’cuz I blessed. But we are blessed can’t find my phone indeed. And, as I’ve said This is the stuff that drives before, God doesn’t waste a me crazy thing. The chorus continues: This is the stuff that’s getThis is the stuff that gets ting to me lately under my skin

Be Not Afraid

But I gotta trust you know exactly what you’re doing It might not be what I would choose But this is the stuff you use.

I have heard it said that the real question of faith is not whether or not God exists. It seems that the real question of faith is whether or not God can be trusted. I believe that deep within each of us, we know that God exists. We are surrounded with signs of his presence every day. But trusting God is a different story. I like the way Francesca Battistelli’s song puts it: we have to trust that God knows exactly what he’s doing. It’s true that it may not be what we would choose. It’s often not what we would choose. But we do have to trust that God will use all of the “stuff” of our lives to bring about his plan.

I know the answer to that real question of faith: Absolutely yes, God can be trusted.

Give your “stuff” to him and watch what he does with it.

Surrender your life to him and see how it will be trans-

Pope John Paul II High School earns accreditation

By Kenneth J. Souza Anchor Staff

HYANNIS — With its first-ever graduating class slated to receive diplomas June 6, Pope John Paul II High School in Hyannis recently reached an important milestone by earning accreditation from the New England Association of Schools and Colleges.

The newest high school in the Fall River Diocese now joins more than 630 private schools that have received this distinction from the NEASC, which accredits between 12 and 20 schools a year through a rigorous 18-month process.

The NEASC accreditation report noted, “Pope John Paul II High School is an absolutely wonderful experience from every perspective” and is “truly a remarkable Catholic high school.”

The visiting committee, comprised of fellow teachers and administrators from one independent and five Catholic high schools in New England, found the school to be an inspiration in terms of living its mission and was impressed that “everyone in the school knows the mission, understands it, and lives it.”

“This is a big deal,” said school principal Christopher Keavy, adding that the school earned NEASC accreditation two years ahead of schedule. “It means something to us as a school, but it also means a tremendous amount to the community.

Parents want to believe in the benefit of a Catholic education but they also want to know that a young school is a legitimate, bona fide place of excellence. That’s what this accreditation tells them.”

The first Catholic high school opened in the diocese in 40 years, Pope John Paul II High School was launched with 38 freshmen in the fall of 2007. There are currently 170 students enrolled and Keavy anticipates having 250 students attending in September.

“It’s very gratifying,” Keavy said.

“Many people have invested tremendously in this school; not only the Fall River Diocese and our donors, but families, staff members and students. To see this young school come of age, it’s very gratifying to know that we’re delivering on a promise that’s a product of faith and hard work.”

As a small school in its fledgling years, the NEASC report pointed up how integral the support of parents and the local community has been in Pope John Paul II High School’s success to date.

“One would expect administration, faculty and staff to articulate the school’s mission; however, it was the parents and students who spoke most often as to how the mission has influenced their experience at Pope John Paul II High School,” the report read. “Two parents who regularly volunteer their time at the school came to tears as they expressed the impact which the school has had on their children’s lives.”

With his school’s namesake scheduled to be beatified May 1, Keavy said it’s fortuitous that everything is happening this year.

“Certainly we take advantage of our name on a regular basis,” he said. “He remains a model for us all.”

formed.

Are you up for a little ukulele?

Go to YouTube.com and search for the “This Is The Stuff.” You have to hear this song.

Jean Revil teaches theology and is campus minister at Bishop Stang High School.

Comments welcome at: jrevil@bishopStang.com.

The Anchor is always pleased to run news and photos about our diocesan youth.

If schools or parish Religious Education programs, have newsworthy stories and photos they would like to share with our readers, send them to: schools@anchornews.org

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The Anchor

January 21, 2011

Seeking to offer Christ’s care and comfort Diocese broadening preparations of young people for marriage continued from page one

cause of the aging population and our commitment to the dignity to end-of-life of issues, I think it’s very essential for the Church to be present there,” said Msgr.

Fitzgerald.

To date, the National Catholic Certification program in Health Care Ethics has certified 11 diocesan health professionals.

“I think that the certification program is very important because there are so many ethical health questions we deal with in our facilities,” said Msgr. Fitzgerald. “Being in the long-term care industry, we need to have an understanding of the ethical and religious directives and of our Catholic principles. We think it is a very important investment.”

The year-long program focuses on major bioethical issues that arise in modern medical and research environments. Nurses, administration staff, social workers, a doctor, those in pastoral care, as well as human and personnel resource staff have gone through the program, and with an additional four others currently enrolled in the course, Msgr.

Fitzgerald acknowledges its positive impact on the level of care.

“You really hit a good component of people,” said Msgr.

Fitzgerald, “and it’s done with the purpose to make sure that we are keeping our Catholic identity in decisions we would make, which is more at the end of life.”

Issues like hydration, nutrition or pain management are not easy things to discuss with a family regarding their loved one, and even discussing the degree to which the staff should use extraordinary means to prolong life can add angst to a family.

“These are complicated issues because each one has so many different nuances to them,” said Msgr. Fitzgerald.

Yet even in their darkest hour, families have taken heart and appreciated the care their family members received at the facilities.

“My mother was admitted to the home and lived there for almost five years and received the most professional care possible,” wrote one grateful person in a letter posted on the Health Facilities website. “I visited as often as my obligations would allow, at different times of the day and always unannounced. I was continuously amazed at the sparkling hallways; the people were most friendly and always busy caring for residents.

I realized I had made the correct choice, as hard as it was at the time.

“On numerous occasions I would walk into the room and find a nurse, aid, activity worker, rehab worker or some employee of the home hugging or kissing the top of my mother’s head or cheek, and have no idea I was in the room. The people that work at the Catholic Memorial Home are nothing short of amazing.”

It’s that level of respect and dignity that allows family some peace in time of great trial and suffering, said Msgr. Fitzgerald, and with a chapel available at each facility, families can find their own inner peace with prayer.

“When my mom entered the home,” wrote another individual on the website, “It was one of the hardest decisions I ever had to make. It turned out to be one of the best decisions I ever made.”

The person went on to thank the “wonderful staff,” for the “wonderful care” they gave her mother. “Mom was not always easy, but they always treated her with great patience and respect.

It was a tremendous relief for us to know that mom was safe, well care for, and loved.”

EASTON (CNS) — February 1 is the deadline for entry submission in the 16th annual “Try Prayer! It Works!” national contest sponsored by the Eastonbased Family Rosary. The contest aims to encourage children to express their faith through art, poetry and prose.

This year’s theme, “Speak, Lord, Your Servant is Listening,” focuses on the Annunciation, which celebrates the announcement that Mary would become the mother of Jesus.

The contest asks entrants to use creativity to depict their thoughts and feelings about how they listen when God speaks to them.

The contest is open to stu-

dents in kindergarten through 12th grade who attend a Catholic school, are enrolled in a Religious Education program or are active in a parish or other Catholic organization. Applications can be downloaded from the website at www.FamilyRosary. org/tryprayer. All entries must be postmarked by February 1.

Up to three winners are chosen per grade: First-place winners are awarded $100, while the sponsoring organization earns $200.

Judges choose the winners based on the content of the submissions and entrants’ ability to capture and interpret the theme, their artistic and technical proficiency and their adherence to contest rules.

Deadline approaching for Family Rosary’s 2011 contest

continued from page one

Formation carries on that work and tries to prepare young people for that vocation years earlier.

“An inadequate faith formation has led many Catholics to detach marriage from the realities of vocation and sacrament,” Bishop George W. Coleman wrote in a letter to priests and deacons in May of 2010. “In the earlier days of the Office of Family Ministry, it could be assumed with some confidence that couples were formed in the Church’s understanding of marriage through their family upbringing and relationship to the Church; it has become clear that such assumptions cannot be made today.”

In the 10-year period from 1995 to 2005, marriages in the United States dropped five percent, and in Massachusetts they dropped 10 percent. Catholic marriages in the United States decreased by 30 percent during the same time period, according to data provided by the Archdiocese of Boston.

In the Diocese of Fall River, marriages declined by 25 percent in that decade. From 2000 to 2009, marriages in the diocese have declined by more than 40 percent with the deaneries of Attleboro and New Bedford seeing the number drop by more than half, according to statistics provided by the diocese.

In his letter to priests, the bishop added that the situation calls for “a more systemic approach.” The goal is that marriage preparation will be “distributed across the spectrum of formative years.”

In the 1981 apostolic exhortation, Familiaris Consortio, Pope John Paul II said that the

Church must promote more intensive marriage preparation, including the education of young people.

“This renewed catechesis of young people and others preparing for Christian marriage is absolutely necessary in order that the sacrament may be celebrated and lived with the right moral and spiritual dispositions. The religious formation of young people should be integrated, at the right moment and in accordance with the various concrete requirements, with a preparation for life as a couple. This preparation will present marriage as an interpersonal relationship of a man and a woman that has to be continually developed,” he said.

Claire McManus, director of Faith Formation for the diocese, told The Anchor that the past six months since the Offices of Faith Formation and Family Ministry merged have been a time of transition. Much work goes into supporting the marriage preparation programs, which are run by volunteers.

This year’s Faith Formation Convention will incorporate marriage preparation. A speaker will talk about the sacrament as well as how to evangelize young couples who are “spiritual but not religious.”

Part of what the bishop has asked the office to do is to catechize young people and families on the importance of marriage. People need to understand marriage as a sacrament, a covenant that reflects Christ’s relationship with his Church, McManus said.

“It is a challenge,” she said. “You can’t teach marriage. You basically witness

This week in

marriage, and that’s why we’re trying to get the people who are involved with Faith Formation of children to have more opportunities where you have strong, faithful families and they witness to other families the importance of marriage.”

The other opportunity presented by the merger is to add Faith Formation to the marriage preparation programs. When a young couple approaches the Church before they marry, it is a chance to prepare them for lifelong marriage and to invite them to participate in the life of the Church, she said.

“The marriage prep deals primarily with young adults. What we’re hoping to do is invite them into some of our programs like Theology on Tap so they realize that marriage is not just a moment in time where they use the big, beautiful church but that they’re part of our Church, and there’s a lot of opportunities for them to be formed and catechized,” she said.

The diocese would also like to connect with couples at the next stage of their life in the Church — bringing children to be baptized — by building up better baptismal preparation programs.

“There is already incorporated in their preparation: a talk about raising a good Catholic family and the responsibility that that involves,” McManus said. “If we can, now that we’re merged together, segue into a good baptismal prep program in which we refer back to some of the things they learned when they went through marriage prep, this would be a good example of what ‘being under one roof’ allows us to do.”

Diocesan history

50 years ago — Very Reverend Mother Philomena, SUSC, Mother General of the world-spanning Holy Union Sisters, came to the Fall River Diocese on an informal visit to area schools and convents. More than 100 Holy Union Sisters staffed Sacred Hearts Academy in Fall River at the time.

10 years ago — More than 330 representatives from the Fall River Diocese, including students from all the diocesan high schools and parishioners from several parishes, prepared to travel on six buses to Washington, D.C. to participate in the 28th annual March for Life.

25 years ago — Under the guidance of parochial vicar Father Richard E. Degagne, an impressive 50 altar boys were installed to serve Masses at Holy Name Parish in Fall River over several years. Thirty of the altar boys were recruited during Father Degagne’s first year at the parish.

One year ago — Bishop George W. Coleman authorized a special second collection to be taken up at parish Masses throughout the Fall River Diocese to support relief efforts in Haiti after a powerful earthquake ravaged the impoverished nation on January 12.

The Anchor

January 21, 2011

Our readers respond

In support of waterboarding I get very disturbed when I read Catholic liberals blaming former President Bush for allowing CIA to waterboard radical Muslims to extract information that will save the lives of our brave troops who put their lives on the line for us, like the December 17 letter written by the “Social Justice Committee” of St. Patrick’s Parish in Somerset.

Maybe some of the members of the committee are veterans, but most likely they’re not. We should use all moral means to extract information that can save the lives of our troops and protect innocent people from terrorism. Would the noble men and women of the “Social Justice Committee” react any differently if these radical terrorists were planning to bomb the house where their mother, spouse or child was living and waterboarding was the only method to get this information? My bet is that their position would change.

Al Laurino Plymouth Baptize the frozen orphans Father Tad Pacholczyk in his December 10 column mentions several choices for the disposition of frozen embryos: discard them, freeze them indefinitely, or let them be destroyed for scientific research.

But what about their eternal souls?

Why not baptize them? When did we become concerned only with their bodies and mortal remains?

Kathy King North Attleboro In spiritual need I am an inmate at the Bristol House of Correction and was fascinated to read a recent item in The Anchor wherein the sheriff was interested “to continue to meet

In Your Prayers Please pray for these priests during the coming weeks Jan. 24 Rev. Aaron L. Roche, O.P., Immaculate Conception Mission, North Easton, 1870 Rev. Louis A. Casgrain, Pastor, St. Mathieu, Fall River, 1920 Rev. Edward H. Finnegan, S.J., Boston College Faculty, 1951 Rev. Thomas F. McMorrow, Assistant, Our Lady of Victory, Centerville, 1977 Rev. Cornelius J. O’Neill, Retired Pastor, Sacred Heart, Taunton, 1999 Jan. 25 Rev. Jack Hickey, O.P., Dismas House, Nashville, Tenn., 1987 Jan. 27 Rev. John T. O’Grady, Assistant, Immaculate Conception, Fall River, 1919 Rev. Joseph M. Silvia, Pastor, St. Michael, Fall River, 1955 Rev. Thomas E. Lockary, C.S.C., Stonehill College, North Easton, 1988 Jan. 28 Rev. Joseph M. Griffin, Pastor, St. Mary, Nantucket, 1947 Rt. Rev. Msgr. John J. Shay, V.F., Pastor, St. John the Evangelist, Attleboro, 1961

the spiritual/religious needs of its Catholic inmates” by soliciting the donation of rosary beads. As these are a rarity here, I do hope people will respond to that request.

In furtherance of the stated goal, I wonder if the sheriff would care to explain what security concerns led to the fact that Mass has not been celebrated for inmates since May of 2010? Or perhaps why the diocesan-sponsored After REC prison ministry is frequently denied admission? Or perhaps why the jail’s chapel is no longer available

for religious services? Or why it is a disciplinary violation for inmates to have rosary beads on their persons when not in their cells?

While I appreciate the good offices of the Eucharistic Minister who is occasionally permitted to minister here, this Catholic inmate considers his spiritual and religious needs as far from met. I appreciate the good work of James Rioux, but wonder if Sheriff Hodgson might care to address the above.

Michael Sites, # 154157 North Dartmouth

Around the Diocese 1/23

The St. Mary’s Education Fund sixth annual winter brunch will be held January 23 at the Coonamessett Inn, 311 Gifford Street, Falmouth, beginning at noon. Proceeds will benefit the St. Mary’s Education Fund which provides need-based scholarships to children in need of financial assistance to attend one of the schools in the Diocese of Fall River. For more information call Jane Robin at 508-759-3566.

1/24

The Celebrate Life Committee of Holy Trinity and Holy Redeemer parishes will host a monthly holy hour January 24 following the 9 a.m. Mass at Holy Trinity Church, 246 Route 28, West Harwich. The hour will include recitation of the rosary, Pro-Life prayers, and close with Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.

1/27

19 Eucharistic Adoration in the Diocese Acushnet — Eucharistic adoration takes place at St. Francis Xavier Parish on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays 9:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.; Fridays 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.; and Saturdays 8 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays end with Evening Prayer and Benediction at 6:30 p.m.; Saturdays end with Benediction at 2:45 p.m.

ATTLEBORO — St. Joseph Church holds eucharistic adoration in the Adoration Chapel located at the (south) side entrance at 208 South Main Street, Sunday through Thursday from 6 a.m. to midnight, with overnight adoration on Friday and Saturday only.

Brewster — Eucharistic adoration takes place in the La Salette Chapel in the lower level of Our Lady of the Cape Church, 468 Stony Brook Road, on First Fridays following the 11 a.m.

Mass until 7:45 a.m. on the First Saturday, concluding with Benediction and Mass.

Buzzards Bay — Eucharistic adoration takes place at St. Margaret Church, 141 Main Street, every first Friday after the 8 a.m. Mass and ending the following day before the 8 a.m.

Mass.

East Freetown — Eucharistic Adoration takes place at St. John Neumann Church every Monday (excluding legal holidays) 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. in the Our Lady, Mother of All Nations Chapel. (The base of the bell tower).

East Sandwich — Eucharistic Adoration takes place at the Corpus Christi Parish Adoration Chapel, 324 Quaker Meeting House Road, Monday through Saturday, 9:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday, 12 p.m. to 9 p.m. Also, 24-hour eucharistic adoration takes place on the First Friday of every month with Benediction at 9 a.m. on Saturday morning.

EAST TAUNTON — Eucharistic adoration takes place First Fridays at Holy Family Church, 370 Middleboro Avenue, following the 8:30 a.m. Mass until Benediction at 8 p.m.

FAIRHAVEN — St. Mary’s Church, Main St., has eucharistic adoration every Wednesday from 8:30 a.m. to noon in the Chapel of Reconciliation, with Benediction at noon.

Also, there is a First Friday Mass each month at 7 p.m., followed by a Holy Hour with eucharistic adoration. Refreshments follow.

FALL RIVER — St. Anthony of the Desert Church, 300 North Eastern Avenue, has eucharistic adoration Mondays and Tuesdays from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.

FALL RIVER — Holy Name Church, 709 Hanover Street, has eucharistic adoration Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. in the Our Lady of Grace Chapel.

The Divorced and Separated Support Group will meet January 27 for a video presentation of “When Tempers Flare” at 7 p.m. in the parish center of St. Julie Billiart Parish, 494 Slocum Road, North Dartmouth. The presentation will be a guide on understanding and managing anger. For more information call 508-678-2828 or 508-993-0589.

FALL RIVER — Good Shepherd Parish has eucharistic adoration every Friday following the 8 a.m. Mass until 6 p.m. in the Daily Mass Chapel. There is a bilingual Holy Hour in English and Portuguese from 5-6 p.m. Park behind the church and enter the back door of the connector between the church and the rectory.

2/5

Falmouth — St. Patrick’s Church has eucharistic adoration each First Friday, following the 9 a.m. Mass until Benediction at 4:30 p.m. The rosary is recited Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 9 a.m.

2/7

MASHPEE — Christ the King Parish, Route 151 and Job’s Fishing Road has 8:30 a.m. Mass every First Friday with special intentions for Respect Life, followed by 24 hours of eucharistic adoration in the Chapel, concluding with Benediction Saturday morning followed immediately by an 8:30 Mass.

A Day with Mary will take place on February 5 from 8 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. at Our Lady’s Chapel, 600 Pleasant Street in New Bedford.

It will include a video instruction, a procession and crowning of the Blessed Mother along with Mass, adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, and an opportunity for reconciliation. There will be a bookstore available during breaks.

For more information call 508-984-1823.

The Pro-Life Committee of St. Julie Billiart Parish, North Dartmouth, will present a screening of the groundbreaking film “Demographic Winter: Decline of the Human Family” on February 7 at 7 p.m. in the conference room located in the parish offices. The film reveals how societies with diminished family influence are now seen as being in social and economic jeopardy. Popcorn will be served and admission is free.

2/10

The diocesan Divorced and Separated Support Group will meet on February 10 at 7 p.m. in the parish center of St. Julie Billiart Parish, 494 Slocum Road, North Dartmouth. This will be an open meeting with time reserved for all participants to speak freely and openly.

For more information call 508-678-2828 or 508-993-0589.

2/11

The Sacred Hearts Retreat Center in Wareham and Office of Faith Formation will sponsor a “Retreat for Men and the Boy Within” February 11-13, guided by Father Stan Kolasa, SS.CC., and Deacon Bruce Bonneau. Retreatants will arrive on February 11 at 6 p.m. and will depart on February 13 at 1 p.m. For more information email retreats@ sscc.org or call 508-295-0100.

2/26

Courage, a group for people dealing with same-sex attraction while trying to live chastely, will next meet on February 26 at 7 p.m. The group is faithful to the Catholic Church’s teaching on human sexuality. The meeting lasts about an hour and all are welcome. For location and more information call Father Richard Wilson at 508-992-9408.

HYANNIS — A Holy Hour with eucharistic adoration will take place each First Friday at St. Francis Xavier Church, 21 Cross Street, beginning at 4 p.m.

NEW BEDFORD — Eucharistic adoration takes place 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesdays at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, 233 County Street, with night prayer and Benediction at 8:45 p.m., and confessions offered during the evening.

NEW BEDFORD — There is a daily holy hour from 5:15-6:15 p.m. Monday through Thursday at St. Anthony of Padua Church, 1359 Acushnet Avenue. It includes adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, Liturgy of the Hours, recitation of the rosary, and the opportunity for confession.

SEEKONK ­— Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish has eucharistic adoration seven days a week, 24 hours a day in the chapel at 984 Taunton Avenue. For information call 508-336-5549.

NORTH DIGHTON — Eucharistic adoration takes place every First Friday at St. Nicholas of Myra Church, 499 Spring Street following the 8 a.m. Mass, ending with Benediction at 6 p.m.

The rosary is recited Monday through Friday from 7:30 to 8 a.m.

OSTERVILLE — Eucharistic adoration takes place at Our Lady of the Assumption Church, 76 Wianno Avenue on First Fridays from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and every Friday from noon to 5 p.m., with Benediction at 5 p.m.

Taunton — Eucharistic adoration takes place every Tuesday at St. Anthony Church, 126 School Street, following the 8 a.m. Mass with prayers including the Chaplet of Divine Mercy for vocations, concluding at 6 p.m. with Chaplet of St. Anthony and Benediction. Recitation of the rosary for peace is prayed Monday through Saturday at 7:30 a.m. prior to the 8 a.m. Mass.

WAREHAM — Adoration with opportunities for private and formal prayer is offered on the First Friday of each month from 8:30 a.m. until 8 p.m. at St. Patrick’s Church, High Street.

The Prayer Schedule is as follows: 7:30 a.m. the rosary; 8 a.m. Mass; 8:30 a.m. exposition and Morning Prayer; 12 p.m. the Angelus; 3 p.m. Divine Mercy Chaplet; 5:30 p.m. Evening Prayer; 7 p.m. sacrament of confession; 8 p.m. Benediction.

WEST HARWICH — Our Lady of Life Perpetual Adoration Chapel at Holy Trinity Parish, 246 Main Street (Rte. 28), holds perpetual eucharistic adoration. We are a regional chapel serving all of the surrounding parishes. All from other parishes are invited to sign up to cover open hours. For open hours, or to sign up call 508-430-4716.

WOODS HOLE — Eucharistic adoration takes place at St. Joseph’s Church, 33 Millfield Street, year-round on weekdays 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. No adoration on Sundays, Wednesdays, and holidays. For information call 508-274-5435.

20

O

ur beloved Pope John Paul II will soon be called Blessed, but those of us who were fortunate enough to be able to call him Holy Father when he was alive are the ones who are blessed.

It really doesn’t seem to be six years since our friend and spiritual director was called home to the Father. It truly seems like only yesterday when many of us felt the sting of losing him in April 2005. Actually, it feels like only yesterday that Karol Wojtyla was unexpectedly elected Pope John Paul II. John Paul II was elected pope just two weeks before Denise and I got married, and he immediately became part of our family — as he did with millions of others across this big blue marble.

During the very first year of his papacy, Catholic faithful everywhere became aware that we had a very special pope on our hands. And I don’t mean that as a slight to his predecessors, but one look into his mischievous, yet holy eyes, and you knew they were the eyes of Christ.

One short year after his election, JPII made his way to Boston for his first U.S. visit, culminated by an outdoor Mass

The Anchor

January 21, 2011

We’ll be so blessed to call him Blessed

on the Boston Commons. Denise were some of the most unpleasand I so wanted to go, just to be ant to others. in his presence, but two roadTo see his emotionless counblocks stood in the path between tenance, his drooling, hearing his us and Beantown. One, Denise slurred speech, and witnessing had given birth to our first child each painful movement, painted shortly before the visit, and two, there were torrential rains the day of the Boston Mass — not very practical conditions in which to bring a newborn. We watched the coverage on television.

By Dave Jolivet I consider myself very fortunate to have been a journalist in the Catholic newspaper business during the a poignant picture of the dignity final 10 years of John Paul II’s of life. Those pictures were as life. After watching him capture filled with life as those of him the hearts, minds, and souls of skiing or kayaking in his earlier generations of Catholics and days as pope. non-Catholics alike, I was able As the fateful April 2, 2005 to more closely follow his moves date approached, his children and teachings. knew the time was near. We had As his body began to fail, his mind remained sharp as a knife.

There were some who thought JPII should have resigned when Parkinson’s disease had ravaged his mortal body, but I think, as do many, many others, that this is when he made the greatest impression on the souls who were in his earthly charge.

I believe some of the most beautiful images of the man

My View From the Stands

time to adjust, but it still didn’t ease the pain of his passing.

As soon as word came down of his death, Deacon Jim Dunbar and I immediately began work on an Anchor special edition.

Putting together that edition was one of the most difficult things I’ve had to do in the work place. The pictures and stories of his wonderful life only increased the pain of his loss. Yet, upon completion, that edition is also one of the things of which I’m most proud in my career.

John Paul II has always been one of my heroes, joining Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha, Abe Lincoln and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., among others not including, of course, Jesus Christ, the ultimate hero.

The word hero is too loosely thrown around in this day and age. Too often the word is heaped on athletes and entertainers, both in businesses where trash-talking and ridiculing others is the norm.

No, heroes are people like JPII who didn’t talk trash, but rather spoke of hope. He didn’t ridicule anyone. On the contrary, he made known the dignity and worth of every human being, regardless of their position in the societal “pecking order.”

My hope is that people of my generation, the “JPII generation” will teach future generations of what John Paul II, and others like him, were all about. My hope is to teach future generations what the true meaning of hero is — and the humility and goodness that goes along with the title.