03.26.04

FALL RIVER, MASS.

VOL. 48, NO. 12 • Friday, Man:h 26, 2004

Southeastern Massachusetts' Largest Weekly • $14 Per Year

Round three of marriage debate is next week: What needs to be done by March 29 Diocesan politicians split on traditional marriage issue - Page 13.

SPECIAL TO THE ANCHOR

man and one woman must be approved for same-sex couples will coerce religious on its own merits," said Boston Arch- groups to violate their beliefs, and will bishop Sean P. O'Malley, OFM. Cap. threaten the family.

BOSTON - The Massachusetts State "Joining this Massachusetts Catholic ConferLegislature will return for more debate on amendmef!,t to the marriage for the third time this year. The issue of civil unions "Joining this amendment to the ence, the public session will begin Monday morning at 10 deprives the people issue of civil unions deprives the policy ~oic~ of the a.m. and possibly last for three days, an opportunity to people an opportunity to express CatholIc bIshops through Thursday. express their views th' . .

C't' of the Commonelf views on mamage. I Izens wealth of MassaAt issue is a proposal for amending the on marriage. Citiconstitution that is unacceptable in its zens have that have that right. Linking the two co- chusetts is still represent form. Called the "leadership" right. Linking the erces people in a way that is unfair. questing voters to amendment, the first part reaffirms marriage two coerces people Voting on them seperately respects contact their ~tate as the union between one man and one in a way that is un- the will of the public." representatIves . , and senators, even woman. The second part creates marriage fair; Voting on - Archbishop Sean P. 0 Malley throughout the day for same-sex partners and calls it a "civil them separately reon Monday. union." It is nothing less than marriage with spects the will of .

The following is a message example a different name. The two issues are the public."

Archbishop O'Malley also made it /that can be called or E-mailed to state crammed together in one amendment.

"Marriage as the union between one clear that· creating civil union marriages senators and representatives from their FROM MASSACHUSETTS CATHOUC CONFERENCE

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ELECTION Bishops forDlulating plans for statewide voter registration drive BOSTON - The Roman Catholic Bishops of Massachusetts, acting through the Massachusetts Catholic Conference, will be formulating plans for a voter registration drive in parishes across the Commonwealth later this year. This effort is part of a national initiative called Faithful Citizenship, emphasizing the moral obligation of Catholics to participate in the political process, sponsored by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).

As stated by the USCCB, "At this time, some Catholics may feel politically homeless, sensing that no political party and too few candidates share a consistent concern for human life and dignity. However, this is not a time for retreat

constituents: "My name is . I1ive at -, I'm calling/E-mailing to urge Sen./Rep. _ _ _ to split the marriage and civil union issues into two amendments. The people have a right to vote separately on marriage between a man and a woman."

MCC asks all Catholic voters to contact their senators/representatives and urges them to get their friends and neighbors to do the same. It also asks people to contact their senators/representatives who have voted in favor of traditional marriage and thank them for listening to the voters.

Even if you have already contacted your senator/representative, MCC urges you to do so again.

Legislators' Contact Info: Phone: Call the Senate Clerk at 617-722-1276 and Thrn to page 13 - Marriage

or discouragement. We need more, not less engagement in political life. We urge Catholics to become more involved. We urge all Catholics to register, vote, and become more involved in public life, to protect human life and dignity, and to advance the common good."

Parishes are among the few institutions that can reach groups that notably are unregistered or under represented in the political process. People of low-income, minorities, immigrants, and the young are among those groups.

Voter registration drives must be non-partisan, not tied to any issue or electoral campaign, and otherwise conducted in a neutral manner.

More information will be forthcoming by the summer.

I BISHOP GEORGE W. Coleman attended a recent Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults Holy Hour at Corpus Christi Church, East Sandwich. Below, Father Kevin Cook addresses some of the Elect, Candidates and their sponsors at the event. (Alice McDaniel photos)

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Friday, March 26, 2004

DHF announces changes FALL RIVER Ana E. Marques was recently named the director of admissions and marketing for the Sacred Heart Home in New Bedford. She holds a bachelor's degree in humanities and social services from UMass Dartmouth. Her previous experience includes director of admissions at Brandon Woods in Dartmouth and Blaire House in New Bedford where she was also a social worker.

Kevin Bernardo was recently introduced as the new food service director for Our Lady's Haven in Fairhaven. The Fall River resident is currently enrolled in the food service supervisor program at Stonehill College and has been a part of the Diocesan Health Facilities system for more than three years. He also serves on the Care Plan and Safety Committees at the home.

Cheryl Keene was named as

business office manager for Marian Manor in Taunton. She holds an associate's degree in business management from Bristol Community College, a certificate of accounting from Bridgewater State College and a diploma in secretarial sciences from the Kinyon Campbell Business School. She worked for 11 years at Community Care Services in Taunton. She is a member of the Service Awards Committee for Diocesan Health Facilities.

KEVIN BERNARDO

CHERYL KEENE

CAROL TATE was recently selected as Employee of the Quarter for Our Lady's Haven, Fairhaven. She has worked for the home for 17 years and was nominated by her peers.

Tate received a cash award, certificate of recognition and a reserved parking space for her efforts.

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E. MARQUES

Legion of Mary annual Acies ceremony set for March 28

Father Henry R. Creighton SS.CC FAIRHAVEN - Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary Father Henry Robert Creighton, 82, who had resided at the Darnien Residence since his retirement in 1996, died March 17 at the New England Medical Center in Boston.

Born in Fall River, the only child of the late Henry and the late Margaret (Brow) Creighton, he grew up in SS. Peter and Paul Parish.

He entered the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary on Sept. 3, 1942. Although christened "Robert," he assumed his father's name upon profession of his religious vows on Sept. 14, 1943.

He studied for the priesthood at Sacred Hearts Seminary in Washington, D.C., and was or-

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FALL RIVER - Active memThis year's speaker will be sidia comprising approximately bers of the Legion of Mary in the Father Kevin 1. Harrington, pas- 36 active members in the diocese. dained a priest on June 7, 1949 Fall River diocese will renew tor of St. Francis of Assisi Par- There are estimated 1,500 auxilby then-Archbishop Patrick iary members.

O'Boyle. He was a student of their dedication to the apostolate . ish, New Bedford. of bringing souls to Jesus through All active and auxiliary memFor more information call Father public oratory earning a master's' nd Mary at the 52 annual Acies cerbers of the Legion of Mary, their Barry W. Wall, diocesan director degree and a doctorate in oratory arts from Staley College in emony at St. Mary's Cathedral on families and friends, as well as the of the Legion of Mary, at 508-672March 28 at 2:30 p.m. general public, are invited to at- 7232; or Father Terence F. Keenan, Brookline.

Bishop George W. Coleman tend. spiritual director of the New Father Creighton served in will preside, and the ceremonies Currently there are seven PraeBedford Curia, at 508-992-7163. various capacities such as parochial vicar, pastor, novice master, will include recitation of the rolocal superior, procurator and pro- siuy and Benediction of the vincial councilor. Locally he Blessed Sacrament. served at St. Mary's and the former Sacred Heart parishes in Daily Readings' Fairhaven, and at St. Anthony's Parish in Mattapoisett.

Mar 29 On 13:1-9,1517,19-30,33-62 He was a member of the or 13:41 c-62; Ps Knights of Columbus, maintainMarch 29 23:1-6; In 8:12ing membership in several coun1923, Rev. James H. Carr, S.T.L., Assistant, St. Patrick, Fall 20 cils.

River Mar 30 Nm 21 :4-9; Ps He is survived by the priests, 1951, Rt. Rev. Msgr. Edward 1. Moriarty, Pastor, St. Patrick, 102:2-3,16-21 ; Brothers, Sisters and members of Fall River ..-"\ In 8:21-30 the secular branch of the Congre2002, Rev_ Lucio B. PhilJipino, Retired Pastor, Immaculate Mar 31 On 3:14-20,91gation of the Sacred Hearts of 92,95; (Ps) On Conception, North Easton \ \ Jesus and Mary;. cousins Thomas 3:52-56; In F. Burke of Fall River and 8:31-42 Carmelite Sister Joseph Teresa April Gn 17:3-9; Ps 1963, Rev. Aime B~~j;,0搂S\c~"'Gave, Fall River Corcoran.

105:4-9; In 1985, Rev. BenoirR.-GaIland,'Retired, United States Navy His Mass of Christian Burial 8:51-59 \ was celebrated March 20 in St. April 2 Jer 20: 10-13; Ps March\3'!

Joseph's Church, Fairhaven. In18:2-7; In 1953, Rt. Rev. Msgr. George C. Maxwell, Pastor, SS. Peter & terment was in the Sacred Hearts 10:31-42 Paul, Fall River ] April 3 Ez 37:21-28; Fathers Cemetery in Fairhaven.

(Ps) Jer31:10The Fairhaven Funeral Home, . April! \ \ 13; In 11 :45-56 1958, Rev. George A. Lewin, Pastor, t. Mary, Hebronville 117 Main Street, Fairhaven, was April 4 Is 50:4-7; Ps 1974, Rev. Edwin J. Loew, Pastor, St\&seph, Woods Hole in charge of arrangements.

22:8-9,1718a,19-20,23Apri12 24; Phil 2:6-11 ; 路1961, Rev. Adolph Banach, OFM Conv., Pastor, Our Lady of BURIAL liFE INSURANCE Lk 22: 14-23:56 Perpetual Help, New Bedford No MEDICAL ExAM or 23:1-49 1976, Rev. Donald Belanger, Pastor, St. Stephen, Attleboro 1993, Rev. James B. Coyle, Pastor Emeritus, St. Dorothea, Eatontown, N.J. CATHOLIC FAMILY " I1111111111111111111111111111

In Your Prayers Please pray for the following priests during the coming weeks

Mar"h'30~

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LIFE INSURANCE Joseph A. O'Neil General Agent 508-993-1195

THE ANCHOR (USPS-545..Q20) Periodical Postage Paid at Fall River, Mass. Published weekly except for the first two weeks in July and the week after Christmas at 887 Highland Avenue, Fall River, Mass. 02720 by the Catholic Press ofthe Diocese of Fall River. ~bscription price by mail, postpaid $14.00 per year. . POSTMASTERS send address changes to The Anchor, P.O. Box 7, Fall River, MA 02722.

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April 4 1972, Rev. Lionel Gamache, S.M.M. 19~5, Rev. James F. McCarthy, Retired Pastor, Sacred Heart, Fall River 1991, Rev. Gaspar L. Parente, Retired Pastor, St. Theresa, Patagonia, Ariz.

Friday, March 26, 2004

New Bedford priest writes ~bout priests' need for siDlplicity of life ~

Father Timothy P. Driscoll's article appears in March edition of Homilectic & Pastoral Review.

By

DEACON JAMES

N. DUNBAR

FALL RIVER - Even before I removed the cellophane from this month's Homilectic & Pastoral Review, I spotted the name of Father Timothy P. Driscoll, on the green cover.

That a young priest - Father Driscoll was ordained June 26, 1999, for the Fall River diocese and is on his first assignment at New Bedford's Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception Parish - would author "Simplicity of life for the priest;' calling for priests to examine their identification with the poverty of Christ, piqued my interest.

Coming at a time when the "crisis of the priesthood" is seen in "departures from the active ministry and a catastrophic dip in vocations" as Cardinal Avery Dullas, SJ. maintains, FatherDriscoll's call for priests to appreciate the place of the evangelical counsel of poverty in their lives, is most topical ... and courageous.

I called Father Driscoll and he

spoke candidly about the issue and agreed to an interview.

"It was part ofa paper I had done while attending St. John's Seminary in Brighton, and I was encouraged by a couple of fellow priests. in the diocese to work it into an article and submit it to H&R;' he explained.

If indeed the root cause of the priesthood cris~s is the loss ofa sense of priestly identity, "then looking at one of the important, but often forgotten aspects of that, the priest's identification with the poverty of Christ, is needed for the priest to conform to Christ, the High Priest;' Father Driscoll asserted. ''That's what I set out to talk about in this article;' he added.

"People are drawn to holine,ss and it is more important today than at any time in the past. The priest .must give witness by the way he lives his life."

Although diocesan priests promise celibacy and obedience to their bishops, they are not called to the evangelical counsel of poverty.

However, because like all priests the diocesan priest is still called to a simplicity oflife, he must conform himself more closely to Christ, he said.

"Although it may sound odd to speak of the 'poverty of the diocesan priest' it is clear that every priest

A pastor's perspective TAUNTON - When Father David Stopyra, OFM Conv., arrived at Holy Rosary Parish in Taunton in August of 1997, he knew very little about the Dio-' cese of Fall River. One thing he assumed, based upon his experiences in other dioceses, was that he would soon be receiving a "tax bill." In all of his prior assignments as pastor in a number of different dioceses across the country, parishes were required to, send a certain percentage of their weekly collections to the diocesan offices to help underwrite the cost of administering the diocese. In one parish it amounted to $30,000 per year. When no such "bill" arrived he asked a neighboring pastor when he should expect it and was told, "Parishes are not taxed in the Diocese of Fall River."

Since then, Father Stopyra has reminded his fellow pastors how fortunate they are to be in one of the "very few" dioceses (perhaps fewer than 10 out of the 195 dioceses nationwide) that does not tax its parishes for funds to administer the diocese.

This has also been an added incentive to Father Stopyra when it comes to the Catholic Charities Appeal. Year after year Father Stopyra's parish has one of the highest percentage gains in

Catholic Charities donations in the diocese. While the diocese has experienced an impressive increase of 42 percent over the past six years, Holy Rosary parish has seen an increase of 130 percent over the same period (from $10,220 in 1997 to $23,490 in 2003) with yearly increases averaging over 21 percent.

When asked why the parish does so well in the Appeal each year, Father Stopyra states, "Every year I emphasize to parishioners how amazed I am 'and how lucky they are to be in a diocese that does not ask them for any portion oftheir weekly parish donations and only once during the year, through the Catholic Charities Appeal, are they asked to assist the diocese as it ministers to those in need."

Father Stopyra feels that if his people come to realize just how much respect the Diocese of Fall River has for the proper use of the charitable donations ofits parishioners and how seriously it takes its responsibility as "steward" of the monies entrusted to it, there wouldn't be a single person who didn't feel confident and proud to donate to the Catholic Charities Appeal. Apparently in Holy Rosary parish in Taunton the parishioners are listening to his message:

FATHER TIMOTHY

P.

DRISCOLL

should strive for simplicity of life," Father Driscoll said. "However, this virtue should not be sought simply for its own sake, but rather as a means of witnessing to the radicalism of the Gospel. If priests hope to preach successfully the message of living simply, then they must first practice it in their own lives."

He made it clear that he is not suggesting that priests live in abject poverty. Priests are entitled to a just remuneration, he notes.

"Priests should not however, imagine that the salary they receive should be used to buy expensive clothes or cars, take extravagant vacations, or even amass their own private fortune."

Secularism, he said, is playing a major role in turning people away from their faith and when they see priests gathering wealth to themselves, it abets the problem.

And then he makes his point: ''Rather, after the example of Christ the High Priest, priests are called to live lives of simple and humble ser, vice to the people they have been called to serve. Priests are also exhorted to live as men whose portion and inheritance is the Lord. We can send the wrong message if we in our lifestyles become too materialistic.

People notice these things and in some instances I think people we serve may become scandalized by a priest living that kind of life."

In his scholarly article, Father priest in his ministry, must, as Driscoll limited his focus to official Matthew's Gospel says, ' ... be perChurch teachings. These include the fect as your heavenly Father is perteachings on the sacrament of Holy fect,'" Father DriscoU pointed out.

Orders by the Council of Trent "It means that priests are coun(1545-1563); Vatican Council IT's seled to use temporal goods only for conciliar documents on the priest- those purposes to which the teachhood: Optatam Totius, which deals ings of Christ and the direction of with the training of priests; and the Church allows them to be dePresbyterorum Ordinis, which treats , voted." of the ministry and life of priests; And the Holy Father urged a voland Pope John Paul II's Post untary acceptance of fewer possesSynodal Apostolic Exhortation on sions, saying the counsel of poverty the formation of priests in 1992, ''frees the priest to be able to be sent Pastores Dabo Vobis. wherever his work will be most useWhen he looked at the teach- ful and needed." ings of Trent, he s~id pe was FatherDriscoll readily agrees that amazed by how much it focused recovering and promoting a simple on bishops and priests to be dis- lifestyle on the part of the priest is creet and modest in the matter of only a small part of the renewal that their own possessions. The Sec- must be made so that they can folond Vatican Council called for low Christ more closely. seminarians too, to imitate Christ "I nonetheless believe is an intein basically a spirit of self-denial. gral part of such a renewal," he ''The Council affirms that the stated. advertisement

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Friday, March 26, 2004

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the living word

The world family This Lenten season has been quite unique. Much of the differ- c ence rests in the release of the movie "The Passion of the Christ," on Ash Wednesday. Its impact on the country as a whole has been dramatic - even historic. On a national level it has caused a level of consciousness concerning the Crucifixion, as well as stimulating renewed controversy. Amid this atmosphere, the natiqn continues to struggle with its own problems of death and life. The rising level of objection to the Iraqi war, the surfacing Of pre-strike 9/11 information and the discord among nations concerning terrorism are having a real impact on the American people. One cannot avoid the political campaign for the coming election, which has already reached a loathsome level of nastiness.

All in all, we are being pushed into some trying times. Even the Church family is yet reeling from the shame of abuse that has been inflicted upon the body of the faithful. The secular media is relentless in its reporting, which often times is far from factual and at other times outrightly biased.

The combination of events is taking its toll on the American spirit.

Everyone feels they have been beaten up and now are trying to get their second wind. Sad to say, as difficult as circumstances are at the present, the prognosis for the future is dimmer. The determination and fanaticism of terrorists are at an all time high. At their disposal are weapons that are truly massive in their destructive capabilities.

Given the rapidity of scientific development, there is no safe place in the world. Such a situation puts people in a defensive mind-set, which in tum creates a national apprehensiveness and anxiety.

No one seems to be addressing this problem. Politicians use trite patriotic phrases in an attempt to placate people. This tactic simply is not working. For the most part such a tactic simply has a hollow ring to it. People need to know the truth. It must be given to them in a spirit of honesty and honor. To date, this has not been the case. There have been too many cover-ups. Facts have been fiddled with to gain the advantage of the cmoment. Every day new.fluestions surface and no one seems to' have an answer. What has happened to responsibility and accountability? c In our efforts to truly bring peace to the world and to our own land, there is no longer any room for one nation being the policeman of the world. That ,simply is an impossible task. All the power and money in the world will never reach this goal. The nations of the world must become more interdependent as we seek to curtail and remove the terror at hand. The United Nations, presently, is the one organization that can bring the nations of the world together if they in tum respect the organization's charter. Nations have for too long used the U.N. for their own nationalistic purposes. This includes'the United States as well as other members of the Security Council. We must look upon the U.N. with different eyes. It should be viewed as a universally acknowledged public authority vested with the effective power to ensure security for all, regard for justice and respect

By FATHER EUGENE HEMRICK for law. Leaders of nations must enlarge their thoughts and spirits CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE beyond the confines of their own country. They must put aside naRecently I wrote a column on tionalistic selfishness and ambitions to dominate other nations and caregivers as unsung heroes who they must cu\tivate deep reverence for the whole of mankind. Only sacrifice daily helping those un-' in such a spirit will we be able to "tum our w~apons into plowshares able to help themselves. When I and our spears into pruning hooks." wrote the column, I had in mind If"we can come together and vanquish violence and terror, then a woman whose parents both are "Nations shall not lift up the sword against nation, nor shall they disabled and whose medical costs are wiping out their life savings. learn of war any more." (Is 2:4) Several weeks after that colThe Executive Editor umn, I received a letter with a generous check from a woman who asked that I distribute the money to caregivers I knew. I did as she requested. Afterward I received a beautiful letter from a caregiver who said she had enOFFICIAL NEWSPAPER OF THE DIOCESE OF FALL ~iV~R listed a la\yyer to help her save Published weekly by the Catholic Press of the Diocese .oftrall 'Niver the little her parents had left and 887 Highland Avenue:' Âą .! x$OX that the money I'd sent was the Fall River, MA 02720 * .

Fall MAO exact sum she needed to pay the Telephone 508-675-7151 FAX5()8-675-7~~ ~ lawyer.

E-mail: TheAnchor@Anchornews.org c As I read her letter, it occurred Send address changes to P.O. Box, caUonl$e E-mallaq to me that when I wrote about "" caregivers I had focused solely on EXEOUTIVE EDltQl!1I ~s them and their sacrifices. It hadn't Rev. Msgr. John Fi M re occurred to me that many of these EDITOR NEWS EDITOR OFFICE MANAGER caregivers are supported by David B. Jolivet James N. Dunbar Barbara M. Rais people such as the caring woman

Rows

OF PAPER DOLLS

REPRESENTING THE VICTIMS OF THE MADRID, SPAIN, TRAIN BOMBINGS LINE A WALL AT THE CITY'S EL POZO TRAIN STATION. MORE THAN

200 PEOPLE WERE KILLED AND MORE THAN 1,500 INJURED IN THE MARCH 11 ATTACKS. (eNS PHOTO FROM

REUTERS) , "CURSED IS HE WHO ACCEPTS A BRIBE TO STRIKE DOWN AN INNOCENT PERSON" (DEUTERONOMY

27:25).

MO're unsung heroes that we can count

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who wrote to me. They, too, are unsung heroes we seldom - or never - hear about. In fact, if we counted them as caregivers, the number qf caregivers we would find in one parish alone would be staggering.

Care-giving requires all the strength one has to perform it day after day. When people become disabled through physical illness or old age, they need constant care. Some must be fed, cleaned, moved and constantly reaffirmed.

You don't get used to these types of tasks, espeCially when the one you are caring for is your own flesh and blood. And too, when we love someone dearly, we hurt all the more in seeing them fail.

This, more than taking care of their physical needs, leaves caregivers drained.

Equally wrenching is a dark cloud that forever hovers - the fear of losing a loved one. No matter how strong caregivers may be, they cannot go, it alone for long. Sooner or later, the pressure may start to win out - unless,

that is, there is someone to support them.

Without a doubt, prayer is a powerful support. But unless caregivers border on sainthood, they can use all the help they can get from those who personify the corporal works of mercy. That woman who sent the check is one of the millions who are this personification.

These peoplf: may be neighbors who bring meals or who take turns in helping caregivers so that they can have a break. These people may be parishioners who constantly check in to see if everything is OK, or lawyers and doctors lending their services pro bono. The list of caregiver supporters is endless.

Once we realize all that caregiving includes, it is like an actual grace that shouts to us, "How about becoming a part of me?" In the eyes of society, this is not glamorous wor!<:, but it is a corporal work of mercy, and blessed is he or she who performs it!

Friday, March 26, 2004

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A simple Q &'xsession Here we sit in sports limbo.

Baseball's spring training has already overstayed its wel- . come; nothing much is happening in football that doesn't concern dollar signs; National Hockey League teams are jockeying for playoff positions; the Celtics are securing their spot in the NBA draft lottery; and in college hoops, March Madness has dwindled from 12hour TV marathons to a mere two games on Saturday and two on Sunday.

So what better time than now to hold a Q and A session, sans the A? Also known as "Is it just me, or ... ?," here goes: Does anyone out there, aside from Ty Law himself, feel sorry for Ty Law? How difficult is it for Law to keep his debate alive, when we never hear a peep from the Patriots?

Did anyone feel compelled to adjust the color on their televisions when they saw highlights of the Red Sox St. Patrick's Day game?

How sweet is it to watch Curt Schilling throw the ball "wicked hahhhhed?"

Is it just me, or does anyone else want to see Schilling as the opening day starter?

How ridiculous is it that some folks w~nted a dispensation from abstaining from meat on Good Friday (of all days) when the Sox hold their home opener? (This Q deserves an A - sports may be bigger than life, but never

miss paying $50 to sit with the pigeons at the FleetCenter?

Is it just me, or is anyone else tired of listening to hockey analysts defend felonious attacks in the heat of a hockey game?

What makes television networks think that former players make good broadcasters?

Bill Walton in basketball ?

Darren Pang in hockey?

By Dave Jolivet Deion Sanders in football?

Dennis Eckersley in baseball? bigger than God!) Does anyone really look Has anyone watched a televised arena football game forward to sitting in Fenway Park to watch baseball on a from start to finish?

30-degree April afternoon?

Is it just me, or is anyone If college basketball teams else irritated with golf broad. casters who say "This is a didn't wear the school name v'ery difficult shot," only to across their uniforms, would watch the ball consistently anyone be able to pick out which team is from a Catholic land within three feet of the hole? college?

Does anyone find that sad? . If Tiger Woods is the greatest golfer in the world, Even with the Boston how come he isn't in the top Bruins on such a roll, is there 10 in every tournament he anyone out there who really enters? feels deep down inside that they're going to make it past What does it feel like to break 100 on the golf course the first round of the playanyway? offs?

Does anyone else think that If the National Hockey League doesn't play next Celtics' tlroadcaster Mike Gorman is underrated and that season because of a contract Tommy Heinsohn is better dispute, will anyone really

My View

From the Stands

Communion and Liberation movement to host book presentation in New Bedford NEW BEDFORD - On PBS documentaries.

Esolen has been an English April 3 at 1 p.m., the Catholic lay movement Communion and professor at Providence College Liberation will host a discussion for the past 14 years. He is a of Msgr. Luigi Giussani's book, published poet and author of a "Why the Church?" at Our Lady number of scholarly articles on of Fatima Parish Hall, 4256 Renaissance and Medieval litAcushnet Avenue, New erature, as well as a contributing editor for Touchstone MagaBedford.

The third volume of his tril- zine. His most recent works inogy describing the Christian clude his translations of Dante's event today, it completes "The "Inferno" and "Purgatorio," and Religious Sense and At the Ori- the soon to be published gin of the Christian Claim" by "Paradiso."

Msgr. Giussani is professor answering the question: "How can the Church be recognized as emeritus of the Universita the continuity of Christ's pres- Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan, Italy, and is the founder ence in the world today?"

Msgr. Lorenzo Albacete and of the Catholic lay movement Professor Anthony Esolen will Communion and Liberation, be the presenters. Msgr. which is flourishing in Italy and Albacete, National Spiritual Ad- has spread to over 80 countries viser for the Communion and throughout the world, including Liberation Movement in the Canada, the United States, and United States, is also the execu- Britain. Communion and liberative assistant to the Dean of the tion was founded by Msgr.

John Paul II Institute for Studies Giussani in 1954 among high in Marriage and the Family in school students in Italy. Its misWashington, D.C. He is an au- sion is the education of its memthor, his most recent work being bers toward Christian maturity "God at the Ritz," as well as a and cooperation with the mission columnist for The New York of the Catholic Church in sociTimes Magazine and a featured ety today.

Members of Communion and guest on many television shows, including "Frontline" and other Liberation learn to live the

Catholic faith through a companionship within their everyday life. Community life is built through "School of Community" (a weekly meeting held in places such as high schools, universities, and the workplace, with study and discussion of a text), participation in the sacraments, and listening to the Word of God. In these ways, a person understands and lives the fundamental aspects of Christian life: culture, charitable work, and mission. .

The name of Communion and Liberation expresses the conviction that a Christian life lived in communion is the foundation of authentic human liberation. The members of Communion and Liberation see Christianity as an event that defines and shapes all of life.

As Pope John Paul II affirms in his encyclical "Redemptor Hominis," "The Redeemer of man, Jesus Christ, is the center of the cosmos and of history."

For more information contact Bob Sampson at 508-995-6235 or Amy Hurteau at 508-9956798. There is no admission cost for the book presentation and all are welcome to attend.

5 appreciated in small doses?

Did anyone else miss Jerry Remy on the last few Sox games, while recouping from back surgery?

Who else had their NCAA picks ruined with Gonzaga's early departure?

Am I the only one who finds Houston Rockets? center Yao Ming the most refreshing athlete in sports?

Does any of this really matter?

But, isn't it fun to just ask now and then?

Dave Jolivet, editor of The Anchor, is a former sports editor/writer, and regularly gives one fan's perspective on tbe unique world of sports.

Comments are welcome at dayejoliyet@ancbomews.org.

DREWANTED St. Patrick's Parish in Wareham, MA, has an opening for a Director of Religious Education starting July 1, 2004. The program has 500 children from grades 1 to 9.

ORE also oversees the RCIC and RCIA programs.

ORE Search Committee Send resume to: PO Box 271 Wareham, MA 02571

It's never too .late to start planning your summer vacation!

Franciscan Guest House at St. Anthony's Monastery, Kennebunk, Maine's hidden treasure! Located on the Kennebunk River this luxurious 60-acre estate boasts expansive rolling grounds and spectacular river views.

A perfect location for relaxation, retreats and receptions.

Franciscan Guest House open Mid-May to Mid-October. Off-Season Rates starting at $60; In-Season Rates starting at $80. Outdoor Salt Water Pool, full complimentary breakfast, TV and A/C. Walking distance to beach and Kennebunkport Shops. Gift Certificates available. Motor Coach Tours Welcome! Call 207-967-4865 for reservations.

PILGRIMAGE!TOURS HEALING RETREATS Immaculate Conception Church Under the Spiritual Direction of

FR. JOSEPH P. MCDERMOTT Pastor of Immaculate Conception 122 Canton Street, Stoughton, MA 02072

POLANDIRUSSIA: MAY 31 - JUNE 11, 2004 Planned visits to: Shrine of Divine Mercy, St. Faustina's Convent; tour of Krakow featuring the Wawel Castel, Auschwitz; the Salt Mines; Our Lady of Czestochowa, Jasna Gora Monastery; tour of Warsaw, Church ofSt. Stanislaus, Fr. Capiusco Memorial, home ofMaximillian Kolbe; Neo Gothic Church of St. Wenceslas; tour of Moscow, Kremlin Wall, Red Square, St. Basilica's Church; tour of Voiga River; Novgorod; tour of St. Petersburg, Peter & Paul Fortress housing the crypt of Russian Emperors, the Hermitage (DAILY Breakfast & Dinner, including cultural performance & one river boat tour)

PHOENIx/SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA OCTOBER 13 -22, 2004 Exciting trips are planned to the Grand Canyon, Sedona, Montezuma's Castle, Meteor Crater, the Petrified Forest, and the Painted Desert. Also, visit St. Thomas the Apostle & Canaan in the Desert (the garden of Jesus' Suffering & Resurrection) in Phoenix, St. Timothy's in Mesa, & St. Maria Goretti's in Scottsdale.

Each trip includes comfortable rooms with private bath. Mass, usually, each day. Fr. Joseph McDennott will serve as your Spiritual Director. There will be time for relaxation, socializing, etc. For brochure with itinerary, prices and conditions contact Margaret Oliverio.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CALL

Margaret Oliverio @

781-762-2029 or 781-344-2073

6

Friday, March 26, 2004

Christian debt after bankruptcy PubliCity Chairmen are asked to submit news items for this column to The Ancho~ P.O. Box 7, Fall River, 02722.

Name of city or town should be included, as well as full dates of all activities. DEADLINE IS NOON ON FRIDAYS. . Evei'tts published must be of interest and open to our general readership. We do not carry notices of fund-raising activities, which may be advertised at our regular rates, obtainable from our business office at 508-675-7151.

CENTERVILLE - The final boys' ECHO of the season will be held at Craigville Conference Center, April 2-4. The retreat weekend . is open to high school juniors and seniorS. For more information, contact Mary Fuller at fullerm@massed.net.

CHATHAM - The Celebrate Life Committee will meet Sunday at 1:30 p.m. at Holy Redeemer Church. It will include the Stations of the Cios~.

FALL RIVER - The Hudner Oncology Center at Saint Anne's Hospital invites area cancer patients to participate in an education and support program held from 5-6 p.m. ~very Wednesday in room 220 of Oemence Hall. For more information call Mark Theodore at 508-6745600 ext. 2279.

FALL RIVER - The Interfaith Council of Greater Fall River will begin its 28th year with a .video program entitled "Walking God's Paths: Christians and Jews in Candid Conversation," March 29 at 7:30 p.m. at Holy Trinity Parish Religious Education Center, 550 Tucker Street. All are invited.

FALL RIVER - Several special television programs will be aired on the Portuguese channel in the next few weeks as follows: "Caminhos Para aPascoa," March 29-April2; "Holy Thursday;' April 8; and "Good Friday," April 9. All shows begin at 9:30 p.m.

HYANNIS - First Friday adoration is held following the noon Mass at St. Francis Xavier Church.

Benediction ofthe Blessed Sacrament will be held at 3 p.m. The sacrament of reconciliation will be available. For more information call 508-775-0818.

MASHPEE - The next meeting of the Cape Cod Creche Society will be held at Christ the King Parish Center April 1 at 7 p.m. Presenters will be Fathers AI Croche and Joe Viveiros. The topic will be the Old World custom of egg decorating and the forgotten tradition of the family Easter Garden. All welcome.

NORTH ATTLEBORO Christian recording artist Liz Boehmke is the special guest at a First Friday celebration at Sacred Heart Church, 58 Church Street, on April 2. Her presentation of Psalms will offer a special way to reflect during this prayerful season. Intercessory prayer is at 6:30 p.m.; Mass at 7; the program runs from 8-9; adoration and closing Benediction - 9 p.m. to 12 a.m. and 5 a.m. to 3 p.m.

NORTH DARTMOUTH A Separated-Divorced Support Group will meet March 29 from 79 p.m. at the Diocesan Fm:ni!y Life Center, 500 Slocum Road. Refreshments will follow. For more information call Bob Menard at 508673-2997.

NORTH EASTON - The public is invited to participate in the praying of the 20 mysteries of the rosary on Sundays at 5 p.m. in the chapel of the Father Peyton Center at Holy Cross Family Ministries, 58 Washington Street.

Daily rosary is recited at 9 a.m. and Mass is celebrated at noon every weekday.

ORLEANS - The SeparatedDivorced Catholics Support Group will meet Sunday from 1-4 p.m. in the ·parish center of St. Joan of Arc Church for the workshop "God in Unlikely Experiences;' by Ernie Colamatti. A pot-luck sl,lpper will follow. For more information call Father Richard Roy at 508-255-

Q. Seven years ago I filed bankruptcy, and my debts were discharged.' Am I required to pay these debts in order to forgive the sin of being careless with God's blessings?

I will not likely have the money to pay them off; it amounts to a great sum, and my salary now is just enough to live on.

Other people in my life think I have an obligation to go back and take care of these debts. (Ohio) A. First, if you took reasonable care of your finances before your bankruptcy and did not plan to defraud your creditors, there is no sin to forgive. Recent years have seen a great increase in personal and commercial bankruptcies. I'm sure in most of them the individuals responsible say to themselves, with hindsight: "If only I had done this, or that, results would have been different."

Harsh as it may sound, however, bad financial ju.dg-. ments, incompetence or just "bad luck" may result in a lot of pain, but they are not sins.

After b~ptcy is declared,

all possessions are disposed of according to the requirements of civil law. These dispositions, including ~ny properties the insolvent individu.al is allowed to retain for personal and family support, for example, are morally binding, as long as

Questions and Answ·ers

By Father John J.; Dietzen there is nothing intrinsically sinful involved.

In the United States, the common juridical opinion is that all debts are contracted with the implied condition that they will be canceled in case of an honest bankruptcy. In other words, a voluntary forgiveness of the person's debts is assumed.

The common language in the law is that "a discharge in bankruptcy shall release a bankrupt from all his provable debts." This language, and the practice of our courts in applying it, gives solid basis for the moral opinion that after a legitimate bankruptcy all debts

are canceled in conscience as well as in law.

Again, malicious or "arranged" bankruptcy that deliberately defrauds someone else does not excuse from restitution. Such sinful intent, however, is never to be presumed without weighty evidence.

Q. May homemade wine be used at Mass?

(New York) A. Yes. Wine for the Eucharist should be pure, natural, unadulterated grape wine, that is, with n.o preservatives, flavoring or other additives. As long as it is made this way, it makes no difference whethetit is produced commercially or at home. (General Instruction of the Roman Missal,322) A free brochure on ecumenism, including questions on intercommunion and other ways of sharing worship, is available by sending a stamped, self-addressed envelope to Father John Dietzen, Box 325, Peoria, IL 61651.

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

How Catholic children particip·ate at Mass

In the late 1970s Delia Ephron wrote a delightful book about how children do things 0170~ from eating and watching television to pet care and joke ·SEEKONK - The local food telling. pantry, Doorways Inc., is in need For example, here's her of volunteers to stock shelves and "chapter" on children telling assist clients on Saturday mornings. jokes from "How to Eat Like a For more information call Katie Child and Other Lessons in Not Malo at 508-761-5491.

Being a Grown Up": "Wanna hear a dirty TAUNTON - A centennial joke? A pig fell in the celebration themed "Forever We mud. Get it? (ImmediWill Sing the Goodness of the ately repeat 10 times.)"

Lord;' will be held Sunday at 10:30 : While Ephron a.m. at St. Jacques Church, 249 included about 90 words Whittenton Street. It will begin with on children's prayer, the celebration of a liturgical French there was not an entry Mass and music will be provided on how they attend by the St. Jacques Church Choir. church. Had there been, A crepe brunch will follow. For however, I cannot help but more information call 508-824- wonder if it might have gone 7794. something like: On the way to church: Ask, TAUNTON - During Tues- "If I pull my coat over my head days in Lent from 7-8 p.m. Our at Mass, can God still see me?

Lady of the Holy Rosary Church OK, what if I was totally will host the rosary and prayers for underneath mom's coat and lying healing and vocations to the priest- under the pew? OK, then, what if hood. It includes Benediction ofthe the coat was made of lead? Do Blessed Sacrament. you think God is afraid of kryptonite?"

YARMOUTHPORT - FaEntering the pew, if you are ther Roger Landry will lead a his- five-and-a-half: Run out in front torical and medical examination of of your parents, and try to find the Passion and Sufferings ofChrist an empty pew. Reach in and pull April 4 from 6-8 p.m. at the Sacred down the kneeler. Put your .

Heart Chapel. For more informa- hands in the air and tippy-toe on tion call 508-775-0818. it like it is a balance beam. Bow

to the man in the pew behind you, and say "thank you very much" when he says "good job, young lady, you must be headed to the Olympics."

During the readings: Lean against your father, then lean against your mother, then lean forward and see if your elbows fit into the missal rack. Play with

The offbeat world of ,Uncle Dan

By Dan Monis

the pew· pencil. Find an appeal envelope in the rack and start writing on it. Fill in the spaces on the "Os" and "Ps" and "Ds." When your mother takes the pencil away and puts it back into the pencil hole, ask, "How come all the pencils are so short and none of them have erasers?"

During the homily, if you are four: Tell your mother you are hungry. You know she has a ZipLock of Cocoa Puffs in her purse.

Spill the Cocoa Puffs onto the pew. Say, "Oops." Quickly jump onto the floor to chase the ones that rolled under the pew. When you mom says "Hand those to me;' put the ones off the floor

into your mouth. Jump back onto the pew; see if you can sit on all the other Cocoa Puffs at once. .

During the Offertory, if you are three: Cry when the basket zooms past because no one ever lets you see, hold or play with it. If you are five, make sure you are allowed to pass the basket by yourself with no one else's hands touching it because you are big enough. If you are 12, wonder secretly if you could snag a couple of the money bills without . anyone seeing you; feel guilty.

During the Sign of Peace, if you are two-anda-half: Cry because all these strange people are poking at you. If you are five, stand on the pew and see how hlanypeople you can get to give you a "high five." If you are eight, close your eyes and put your hands into your pockets.

At the end of Mass: Ask, "Was I good?" Then, "Can we go to the restaurant where they put ice cream and strawberries on waffles?" Put your finger in the holy water font, then taste the water. Ask, "Well then, can we stop at the store and buy some ice cream and strawberries, and make waffles?"

Comments are welcome. Email Uncle Dan at cnsunc1eOl @yaboo.com.

the anch~

Friday, March 26, 2004

The Gospels and anti-Semiti路sm During Pope John Paul II's that I had. Why, I asked.

Holy Land pilgrimage in 2000, Because, he replied, the kind of I had breakfast in Jerusalem theologically enriched dialogue with an immensely learned and John Paul II envisioned was kindly rabbi, an American who impossible. When I asked why had moved to Israel and was that was the case, he replied, the friend of an NBC colwithout rancor, "Because your league. The rabbi, author of a beautiful Jewish defense of natural family planning, admired the pope greatly and asked what I thought John Paul had in mind for the next

By George Weigel phase of CatholicJewish relations. I said that the pope was grateful for the achievements sacred text is anti-Semitic." of the post-Vatican II period, The obvious next question which had cleared out the was what that meant, and the accumulated rubbish of centurabbi, again without rancor, ries, and now wanted to move cited the Gospel of John and its the conversation to a new, references to "the Jews" in their confrontation with Jesus. I theological level.

The rabbi seemed uncomreplied that contemporary fortable. I asked whether I had biblical scholarship had taught just heard alarm bells going off us that parts of the Gospel in his mind; he smiled and said accounts were formulated in

The Catholic Difference

the polemical context of a bitter family quarrel, a deep and passionate disagreement that eventually led to the "parting of the ways" between w~at became Christianity and what became rabbinic Judaism.

Moreover, I suggested, the phrase "the Jews" in John's Gospel couldn't be read as if this were the minutes of a 1928 blackballing in an upscale New York men's club. The rabbi seemed struck by this way of putting it, but then said that, while he accepted what I just reported, surely this was not the way the majority of Catholics read the New Testament. I assured him that, when the people of my parish heard "the Jews" during the Good Friday liturgy, they weren't hearing what he feared they heard. The rabbi seemed intrigued, if not completely persuaded, and the conversation

A personal memory of Captain Kangaroo He believed the new Rockville In late January when I heard that Captain Kangaroo, a man Centre diocese - just split off from the Brooklyn diocese who brought positive teaching to our children for three decades, should have its own Catholic had died, I felt a personal sadness paper. He believed the press, by as I recalled a wonderful memory. presenting good reporting on the Bob Keeshan, the Captain, and important work of the Church, his wife Jeanne, invited me into their home on Long Island back in 1962. I was a brand new feature writer for a new Catholic newspaper, and they were willing to talk to inexperienced me.

By Antoinette Bosco They were the first celebrities I ever interviewed, and they from parishes to the Vatican, truly helped me get off to a good could energize Catholics in their start! faith.

The meeting came about When I told him about the through a coincidence. I met a admiration I had for Captain woman who had been Jeanne Kangaroo, who was wholesomely Keeshan's classmate at the entertaining and educating Catholic College of New Rochchildren every moming on his TV elle. She offered to suggest the show, and that I thought I could interview to the famous couple. get an interview, Msgr. Hanley At the same time, I met a fellow said, "Go!" member of St. Joseph's, the I met with the Keeshans in parish the Keeshans attended in their white colonial home, also Babylon, the Long Island town meeting their three children, two where they lived. She also parakeets, three cats and two suggested I interview this fine dogs. I was surprised how young couple, so devoted to their faith the Captain was, then 35, since he and family. looked rather grandfatherly on I feared that people in importelevision. "We decided upon a tant positions weren't exactly gray-haired, mustached Captain clamoring to be interviewed for because there is a basic warm my paper, The Long Island relationship that exists between Catholic, which was then only a an old person and a young child," few months old. It had been he explained. started by Msgr. Richard Hanley, They talked about how a charismatic priest, enthusiastic important it is for parents to really about Vatican Council II.

The Bottom Line

connect with their children when their work requires them to be away from home a lot. They both also had a record of doing community service, saying they believed it is important for Catholics to bring their training into the community. ''The average nonCatholic will not approach a clergyman, but he will talk to a layman," Keeshan said. "On my school board work, I believe I did more good there as a Catholic than I could have done working for a Church organization."

My own children always were a bit proud of me for having interviewed the Captain. Then my son Peter also had the privilege of meeting this television icon of his childhood memories. Bob Keeshan was the commencement speaker in 1988 when Peter graduated from Western Connecticut State University. Peter shook his hand, told him his mother once had interviewed him, and, to his surprise, the Captain said, "Oh yes, I remember."

To this day I remember the courtesy of the Keeshans, Jeanne, who died in 1990, and Bob, now with her, for trusting an untried young reporter to come into their home and probe their life story.

They gave me affirmation and confidence and a lesson: that we never know the ways in which we affect another person.

7 moved on to other matters. among his people. To recognize I've thought about this thatJesus, a Jew, was perceived exchang~ a lot recently, because as a threat, and in some some of the more intemperate . instances a mortal threat, by reactions to Mel Gibson's "The some of his people is not to Passion of the Christ" suggest indulge in anti-Semitism; it's to that my Jerusalem recognize historical fact. interlocutor's fears were not The settled teaching of the idiosyncratic. Were I to meet Catholic Church - which the Jerusalem rabbi again, I'd does not date from the Second suggest that he - and indeed Vatican Council but was everyone who shares his fears vigorously expressed by, - take the trouble to read a among others, the 16th century small book by the Anglican Council of Trent - is that the biblical scholar, N.T. Wright, sinfulness of all humanity was The Challenge of Jesus. the cause of the death of In The Challenge of Jesus, Christ. Vatican II made a Wright explains that Jesus related, if more specific, point conducted his ministry at a by insisting that the Jewish time of greatly heightened people could not be held messianic expectation in the corporately responsible for the Roman-occupied Holy Land. death of Christ; that some The expectation was not of an Christians had held this was a imminent end of the world, but defect of their faith, not an of a lib~ration of the Jewish expression of core Christian people from their bondage. conviction.

Some expected this liberation An extraordinary number of to come through a purified people are talking about the Temple cult; others, through a meaning of the death of Jesus of Nazareth these days. Jews rigorous observance of the Mosaic law. Jesus's proclamaand Christians alike might read tion of a different kind of Dr. Wright's book as a primer liberation - one that was for continuing the conversation breaking into history right now in a way that advances, rather through his message, his than retards, the Jewishgathering of disciples, his Christian dialogue.

George Weigel is a senior distinctive way of living fellow of the Ethics and Israel's faith, and, ultimately, Public Policy Center in himself - was a profoundly Washington, D.C. disturbing challenge to some

HOLY APOSTLES PARISH CRANSTON, RHODE ISLAND COORDINATOR OF YOUTH MINISTRY POSITION FULL TIME Holy Apostles is a very young community with close to 40 percent of its 5,800 members under 18 years of age. The Youth Minister would be responsible for coordinating all parish-based youth programs/activities including the Life Teen program. Both full- and part-time personnel staff the Parish's School of Religion. Applicants are required to have a college degree in Youth Ministry and/or experience in parish youth ministry. Salary and benefits are negotiable.

To request an application, call 40 1-946-5586. Application deadline is April 23 with a start date of July I.

Let's Come Together For Prayer & Praise at a

Diocesan Prayer Meeting Saturday, April 3 9:30 am Guest Speaker

Ms Barbara Wright St. Anthony's Church 126 School St, Taunton Sponsored by the Diocesan Service Committee For more info call Mary Leite @ 508-822-2219

the ~..

18

Friday, MardI 26, 2004

Europe's Christian roots: Pope puts his stamp on the subject

By JOHN THAVIS CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

lics as a percentage of the population increased from 43 percent to 51 percent. : VATICAN CITY - After dozens of speeches In almost all West European countries, the raand a couple of book-length documents on tio of priests to Catholics is falling; the opposite is Europe's Christian roots, Pope John Paul II is tai- true in almost every East European country, where loring his message to fit a smaller medium: post- vocation rates are almost twice as. high as in the age stamps.

West.

This week, the Vatican is issuing a new series Those are all reasons the pope is counting on of stamps dedicated to the pope's eight visits to heavily Catholic countries of Eastern Europe, like Poland. Each block of stamps includes special seals Slovenia, Lithuania and his native Poland, to imwith papal q u o t a - ' 1 pact policies when tions designed to . . . ...,.. . . . . . . . . .I!II..........,...........~. . . . they are admitted to tweak consciences EMISSIONE the European Union in Eastern a n d . . : : : May 1.

Western Europe.

•.....,.. ·~~~·· The pope is not "Europe should :. .:. :. :")'":1/,':. giving up on West~. 2./J ~ seek unity for its fur~':· &i/. :~\l~: ern Europe, howture and for the .- ~ ~ ~ '" ,.. ".2 ~ ever. In recent talks ~: L·/iuropo,dl.""."..6 : .,' : V' : to bishops from good of the whole ~ : C'U$(f1't d/ tweo,..10 IUD :::~. : Wal'uawo - Cn'u1to : human family by u."blond.....'.,., : ····c.. : <::!'!""Io""";......-Kroli~~: ~ France and Belgium • th~ rh;oI~ • ,'> - ualrru dlJtr_q. Z returning to its own : 01_,1....1... : :•KOlllofQr II'ad.wI",: two countries ~ ~.;z..-..t?J..~- ~ CITTA' DEL VATICANO mwl~~='; Christian roots," ..O : ~;8; ••••••••: r ,.. 0.. that have experireads one miniL..o' • • .;:t enced a real drop in ["' " " : : : : 0 the practice of the message.

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BOTANISTS AT Ben Gurion University in Jerusalem will send a bouquet of specially produced Madonna Lilies to Pope John Paul II for Easter. Similar to the Easter Lily, the flower grows naturally in only two places in Israel - Galilee and near the Carmel mountain range in the North. (CNS photo courtesy Ben Guriofl University)

Israeli team hopes to send special Madonna lilies to pope for Easter

By JUDITH SUDILOVSKY CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

JERUSALEM - Israeli scientists are hoping to send a bouquet of specially raised Madonna lilies to Pope John Paul II for Easter.

The pure white lily, whose Latin name is ''Lilium candidum,"is traditionally known as the flower the angel Gabriel gave to Mary at the annunciation. It can be seen in Renaissance paintings depicting the event, said Michele Zaccai, a botanist at Ben Gurion University's Institute for Applied Research, who led the team that helped the flower bloom for the Easter season.

Normally the plant, which grows naturally in two locations in Israel - Galilee and near Mount Carmel in the North - blooms in late April and May, Zaccai said.

It is likely that during the time of Jesus the ''Lilium candidum" also grew near Nazareth, Zaccai said. The Madonna illy also grows in Lebanon, Syria, Turkey and Greece, she said.

The flower is characterized by a late blooming period and is difficult to grow. For those reasons, the ''Lilium·longiflorum,'' whose origin is in Japan, became known as the more popular Easter Lily, she said. ''Lilium candidum"imlbs are sold in specialty garden shops or grown in gardens but are not sold

as cut flowers, Zaccai said. Because the wild ''Lilium candidum" is a protected species in Israel, Zaccai works with bulbs purchased from nurseries.

Zaccai said her department has a few dozen plants that have begun to bud and should be in full bloom

by Easter.

The scientists are working through the Israeli Foreign Minis~ try to arrange delivery of a small bouquet of the flowers to the Vatican in time for Easter April 11 , she said. The cut flowers have a vase life of about two weeks since the buds do ·not bloom simulta~ neously, she said.

"It is an important flower. It is a very, very pure white and has a beau~ tiful seent," she said. "It is connected to all that is pure and celestial."

Zaccai said the researchers are . interested in gauging the interest of the Catholic world in the flower.

"We want to see if people will be happy to have this flower from the Holy Land;' she said. ''We want to see if this plant moves people as a cut flower."

Zaccai's team is working to preserve the illy in Israel. She said that in time she hopes to work with scientists in other countries to help preserve the flower there.

"It is usually a very rare flower.

It is not something that you see a lot," she said.

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- Catholic laity pal concern over CItrA' DEL VATICANd> _ POLO:~IA are better instructed the moral and s p i r i - : : : : in Church teachings tual direction of a and become more unified Europe. aware of their evangelizing role in society; . For months the pope-has been complaining ....:- pastors tap into the energy and generosity of loudly about a draft European constitution and its young people and awaken in them a personal relafailure to even mention Christianity's role·in the tionship with Jesus. formation of its culture. It's not just missing The pope has not painted a completely dark picphrase in an official document that bothers the pope ture in these countries. He and the bishops have :...,:.. it's the trends that lie behind the omission. . noted that in many places there are signs of deeper '~" What the Vatican sometimes refers to as the "de- interest in spiritual renewal, along with renewed .:Christianization" of 'Western Europe is reflected interest in retreats, pilgrimages, lay movements.and . in the Church's own numbers. From 1978, when adult catechesis.

Pope John Paul was elected, to 2001, the latest year One way the pope has tried to mobilize the' Qf official Vatican statistics, Catholics as a per- troops is through his pastoral visits, Even while tentage of the population in Western Europe de- many of his aides would prefer that he hang up his [elined from about 60 percent to about 54 percent. traveling shoes, the frail pontiff is looking at three ',: Over the same period, in the East European . potential visits this year, including Austria, Swit- . countries outside the former Soviet UnIon, Catho- zerland and Strasbourg, France.

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Workshop for Pro-Life health care workers set for October 13-17 ST. JOHN'S, Newfoundland (CNS) - MaterCare International and the World Federation of Catholic Medical Associations will hold their third international workshop on obstetrics· and gynecology October 13-17 in Rome.

The sessions are designed particularly for Catholic and Pro-Life obstetricians and gynecologists,

nurses, midwives, anesthetists, bioethicists, neonatologists and administrators.

Topics will include breast cancer and abortion, breast cancer and the pill, ethical approaches to infertility, scientific foundations of natural family planning, experience in China with the Billings ovulation method, and distance

learning technologies and meth.ods for education in obstetrics and gynecology.

MaterCare International, based in St. John's, is an intemational association dedicated to improving the health· of mothers and their unborn children around the world. The federation, made up of about 80 national bodies, is based at the Vatican.

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Black theology means understanding the blues, says Catholic theologian

LYNETTE BOUDREAUX places bread in the shape of a saw on the St. Joseph altar in the home of Margo Battaglia in Thibodaux, La. Other items placed on the altar include fruit, figs cookies, cakes and seafood. The custom reportedly originated in the Middle Ages in Sicily during a famine. Altars were set up and prayers were said in St. Joseph's name. When famine ended, Sicilians gave thanks by making offerings of their most precious possession - food. (CNS photo by Lawrence Chatagnier, Bayou CatholiC)

'Properly formed' conscience called essential to participate in political life

By TRACY EARLY' CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

ment.

"I ask parishes, schools, agencies and organizations in BROOKLYN, N.Y. our diocese to respect this conBishop Nicholas A. DiMarzio of cern and review carefully the Brooklyn told the people of his records of public officials, esdiocese that Catholics have "a pecially Catholics, before exbasic obligation" to participate tending invitations to them to in political life, but must particiChurch events," he wrote. pate with a "properly formed" Identifying other issues, the conscience. bishop said that "education, proWriting in his diocesan tection of minors, political freeweekly, The Tablet, he said the doms, especially religious freeAmerican principle of churchdoms, fostering a just state. ~eparation had "pereconomy and working for haps led some to avoid forming their consciences "Catholics may choose among world peace are also values that should be upheld properly" in accord with political parties and may choose within democratic societChurch teaching and "the true good willed by God." strategies for promoting the com- ies."

"As we follow our civic "Catholics may choose mon good, but may never promote among political parti~s laws which are incompatible with obligations, we put out and may choose strategies the faith and with natural law," he into the deep to transform the world with values that for promoting the com- said. are rooted in the truth," he mon good, but may never said. promote laws which are However, Bishop incompatible with the faith and with natural law," he cal principles and a proper DiMarzio said that "moral and said. philosophical understanding of cultural relativism" led some Americans to claim "complete Noting that Americans will the nature of man." be going to the polls in NovemBishop DiMarzio said he was autonomy in their moral ber, Bishop DiMarzio quoted "always troubled when a choices" and allowed politicians from the Vatican's "Doctrinal Church institution or group to "enact laws which ignore the Note" in 2002 that pointed out grants a place of prominence, or principle of natural ethics, as if the obligation to "uphold funda- accords an honor, to路 an indi- every possible outlook on life mental human dignity in all vidual in public life whose were of equal value."

He said the Church had "long democratic activities" and to in- record shows opposition to the form the conscience "by sound Church's clear and consistent upheld the prima<:y of conCatholic doctrine." teaching on human life and science and freedom in making decisions," but an unformed "Respect for the human per- other moral issues." son and commitment to the comReporting that he had heard conscience could "lead one to mon good are two fundamental concern expressed in the Brook- errors of judgment."

The right to vote in a demoprinciples on which Catholic so- . lyn diocese as well as elsewhere cial teaching is based," he said. regarding such acts of recogni- cratic society carries with it "the A democracy can be successful, tion for public officials, he said responsibility to exercise it in a he said, only when there is "a they could cause confusion way that is compatible with correct understanding of the hu- about the Church's commit- Christian values," he said. man person."

Among specific issues of concern, he identified respect for human life, euthanasia, stem-cell research, drug abuse, prostitution and protection of the family, "founded on the union of a man and a woman."

Citing abortion as an example, he said that much of the Church's moral teaching was "not a matter of faith or belief," but was "based on natural ethi-

NOTRE DAME, Ind. (CNS)Singing the blues is a good way to understand theology from an African-American perspective, said a leading black Catholic theologian at a University ofNotre Dame conference.

Black theologians should put the black vernacular culture at the heart of the Christian message of salvation, said M. Shawn Copeland, associate professor of systematic theology at Boston College.

"The blues contain every element of life ... brought together and paid for at a tremendous price;' blending such elements as sex, religion, folk philosophy, elegy and lament - and allowing the singer to "come back strutting from adversity," she said.

Copeland, convener ofthe Black Catholic Theological Symposium and president of the Catholic Theological Society of America, gave the keynote address at a conference called "Uncommon Faithfulness: The Witness of African-American Catholics."

The three-day conference attracted more than 300 scholars, clergy, diocesan directors of black Catholic ministries and parishioners.

Speakers and 路moderators included Bishop Wilton D. Gregory of Belleville, president of the U.s. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

In her address, 'Theology at the Crossroads: Ebony Word, Dark Hope," Copeland linked the traditional African image of the crossroad and blues music which she described as best learned from a dark stranger at a crossroad at midnight.

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Africans understand the crossroad as a place where earthly and spirit world intersect, she said. "Everything that is important happens at that spot where they meet. Blues narrate the black struggle. The woman or man who stands at the crossroads must expect risk..

'This is not the first time African-American Catholics have been at the crossroads," Copeland said.

She said black theologians bring a fresh approach to the solving of U.S. and world problems.

In the United States millions of people live without adequate housing, health care or jobs and black men are a disproportionate number ofthe more than two million people jailed, she said.

In the world AIDS has left millions dead and millions more orphaned, and rich nations block poor nations and threaten culture through international economic agreements, Copeland said.

Sister LaReine-Marie Mosely, a Sister of Notre Dame de Namur who is studying for her doctorate in theology at Notre Dame, said black Catholics suffered "segregation at the hands of clergy, prelates and the laity," market-based closing of black Catholic schools and parishes, and systemic racism in the Church.

"We failed to find ourselves treated like the children of God we are," she said. "A graced sense of self characterized African-American Catholics in the face of invisibility and struggle.

"Our Mother of Africa knows our history and our stories and loves us as only a mother can;' she added.

"She has been our intercessor."

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DARRYL MCKENNA, five, wears the colors of Ireland on his face during St. Patrick's Day celebrations in Belfast, Northern Ireland. (CNS photo from Reuters)

Friday, March 26, 2004

'Therese' film struggling to find its niche

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ROCKVILLE CENTRE, N.Y. (CNS) -:- Absent the star power of Mel Gibson, who directed, produced and co-wrote 'The Passion ofthe Christ;' other privately funded Christian films are struggling to get into theaters.

One such movie is "Therese," the story of St. Therese of Lisieux, also known as the Little Flower, who lived a short life in a French Carmelite monastery doing little things with great love.

"Therese" had been scheduled for release last autumn, but it's been postponed until October to drum up public and monetary support. '''Therese' is a different kind of film, filled with the innocence of simplicity and reveals the incredibly rich interior life of the human soul," said director Leonardo Defilippis, whose nonprofit firm, St. Luke's Production Co., produced the film.

Although the 19th-century period production garnered a standing ovation from Catholic dignitaries associated with mission work at a private Vatican screening last May, it has not yet created a stir among the public.

"There have been difficulties," said Defilippis. He estimates the company still needs $2 million to open in select theaters.

'This movie is a total work of charity. It has been done the 'Little Way' with all these little people scattered all over the world, trusting in this project." . 'Therese" is relying heavily on publicity from a Website called www.theresemovie.com and efforts from grass-roots religious volunteers to push the film into theaters.

"It's just how the Gospel started," Defilippis told TheLong Island Catholic, Rockville Centre's diocesan newspaper.

"Christ told the people around him and then the word just spread." ''Many miracles were needed to make this dream路a reality," said Defilippis. Although St. Therese is a popular saint, St. Luke's Production Co. would need another miracle to drum up just a fraction of the attention ~The Passion

of the Christ" has achieved. .

"Our movie, I have heard someone say, is like opening up a door and looking into a very private world. It's like looking into someone's soul," he said. St. Therese's adventures were mental, emotional and spiritual so "how do you go inside a young woman's heart and mind? That's the challenge. St. Therese is like the Blessed Mother, very hidden in the Gospel; there is not the drama of the crucifixion."

St. Therese of Lisieux's story is a bittersweet one. She fell into depression after her mother died when Therese was four. Her sister, who was like a second mother to her, left to join a Carmelite monastery a few years later. At 14, Therese fell in love with God, traveled to the Vatican and successfully petitioned the pope to allow her to enter a Carmelite religious order, although she technically wasn't old enough.

Although she died of tuberculosis when she was 24, Pope John Paul IT proclaimed her a doctor of the church in 1997 - one of only three women to hold that honor -largely due to her philosophy of the Little Way. ''What matters in life, is not great deeds, but great love;' she wrote in her autobiography, "Story of a Solil," published after her death.

"She was not a Joan of Are, not a Mother Teresa, she did not do dramatic things," said Defilippis. Yet the saint's Little Way resonates with many people including Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta, who took her religious name in honor of the Little Flower and borrowed the saint's philosophy, "Do small things with great love." ''A lot of us haven't done anything so dramatic that it will appear in the press and that's OK," said. Defilippis. "You don't need to climb Mount Tabor or save a multitude. If you have love, help your mother, a stranger; you have _ given a great gift."

It's God's providence that the 'Passion' go first; Therese would want it no other way. The master should lead and the servant will follow," he said.

'Passion' actor meets with pope VATICAN CITY (CNS)U.S. actor Jim Caviezel, who plays Jesus in 'The Passion ofthe Christ," had a private audience with Pope John Paul II, the Vatican said.

Caviezel, a Catholic, along with his wife and in-laws, met the pope on March 15 before attending a screening of the film for Vatican officials and other Catholic prelates in Rome, said Passionist Father Ciro Benedettini, vice director of the Vatican press office. ' Father Benedettini said he found the film "disturbing."

Cardinal Walter Kasper, a former professor of Christology and president of the Pontifical Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews, also attended the screening, but declined to talk to reporters about the film.

The screening was held in the .

43O-seat auditorium of the seminary of the Legionaries of Christ.

The Legionaries hosted two. more screenings March 16 for students from other seminaries in Rome.

The film opens to the public in Italy April 7.

ANGELINA JOLIE stars in a scene from the psychological thriller ''Taking Lives." The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is L - limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is R - restricted. For a brief review of this film see CNS Movie Capsules below. (CNS photo from Warner Bros. Pictures)

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(CaIIP~UIII~e~ NEW YORK (CNS) - The following are capsule reviews of movies recently reviewed by the Office for Film & Broadcasting ofthe U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

''Dawn of the Dead" (Universal) Ultraviolent remake ofGeorge A. Romero's splatterfest about a mysterious epidemic that turns most of a Milwaukee suburb's populace into flesh-hungry zombies, leaving only a handful of survivors (including Sarah Polley and Ving Rhames) holed up in an abandoned shopping mall fighting for survival. Director Zack Snyder's re-imagining of the cult classic deviates little from the apocalyptic original's recipe of excessive and gratuitous gore peppered with pretensions of social commentary. Pervasive graphic violence, sexual encounters with shadowy nudity, and much rough and crude language. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is 0 - morally offensive. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is R - restricted.

''Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" (Focus) Oeverly conceived and executed love story about an introverted loner (Jim Carrey) who has all his memories of his former girlfriend (Kate Wmslet) erased from his brain after learning that she had recently undergone the same procedure, orily to discover midway through the operation that he still loves her and ends up fighting to retain precious recollections of their relationship. Despite an intentionally convoluted script, director Michel Gondry crafts an ingenious and emotionally resonant film - 'buttressed by a subdued, against-type performance by Carrey

---: about regret and the value of memories in defining our personality. Implied sexual encounters, fleeting rear nudity, some drug content and recurring rough and crude sexual language, as well as profanity. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcastingclassification is A-illadults. The Motion Picture As-. sociation of America rating is R -

restricted. '~Uves"

(Warner Bros.)

Smart and stylish thriller about an FBI profiler (Angelina Jolie) called in by Canadian authorities to help solve a string of grisly unsolved murders stretching back 20 years . and who becomes emotionally involved with a witness (Ethan Hawke) in danger of becoming the

serial killer's next victim. Despite a formulaic cat-and-mouse premise and cookie-cutter creepiness, director DJ. Caruso keeps the action briskly paced and viewers on the edge of their seats, crafting a suspenseful screamer which, though not without some graphically disturbing images, shows restraint in depicting the lurid crimes. Recurring gory violence and associated autopsy images, a sexual encounter with partial nudity, frequent rough and crude language. The USCCB Office for F~ & Broadcasting classification is L - limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is R - restricted.

British Catholics express concern over BBC cartoon 'Popetown' LONDON (CNS) - Catholics in Britain have expressed concerns about plans to broadcast "Popetown," a television cartoon program that portrays a corrupt Catholic Church.

"Popetown" is scheduled to be aired by the British Broadcasting Corp. in May and is said to feature the pope as a childish pensioner whose every fickle whim must be indulged. Thousands of Catholics already have written to the BBC to protest.

Archbishop Mario Conti of Glasgow, Scotland, said in February that plans to broadcast "Popetown" were "socially irresponsible."

As Britain's main public service broadcaster, the BBC has a 44 percent share of radio and TV audiences and is funded by a license fee 路system to which all British taxpayers must contribute.

"It is no wonder Britain's Catholics are saying enough is enough," Archbishop Conti wrote in the Scottish .edition of the Daily Mail newspaper.. ''To be mocked is bad enough.

To pay to be mocked through the license fee adds insult to injury.

I bear no grudge against the BBC. Indeed, it is because I

value it and care about it that I am speaking out," he said.

The corporation is the most powerful shaper of British culture, Archbishop Conti wrote, but is not accountable to those who fund it.

David Amess, a Catholic member of Parliament, presented a motion in the House of Commons supporting the archbishop's comments.

The motion, which was not for debate but merely for other members of Parliament to support if they wish, "notes with concern the BBC's bias related to antireligious views, particularly in relation to the Roman Catholic Church."

Catholic human rights activist James Mawdsley of Burscough, England, who spent a year in jail in Myanmar for distributing pro-democracy literature, said he would refuse to pay his TV license fee and risk going to jail if the cartoon were broadcast.

The BBC said that "Popetown" was a 10-part animated sitcom looking at the daily nuisances that exist in any workplace, except this workplace is the Vatican and the chief executive is the pope.

FrIday, March 26, 2004

11

Lawmakers address Catholic school parents

DELEGATES AT the inaugural convention of the National Catholic Educational Association are pictured in 1904 in St. Louis. The association, which represents Catholic educators and educational institutions in the United States, is marking its 100th anniversary this year.

(CNS photo courtesy NCEA)

NCEA's centennial: More th~n just a celebration, says group's leader

By CAROL ZIMMERMANN CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

ments together to prepare a vi- tors need to look at what educasion statement for the future of tors did in the past, to see what WASHINGTON - For the Catholic education. works and what might not for That vision statement, which the future. past year, the National Catholic Educational Association has Guerra describes as "NCEA's For example, he said it is been marking its 100th anniver- gift to the future," will be pre- "simplistic" to say that religious sary with celebrations, publica- sented at the NCEA convention orders just assigned people to tions and a fair amount of soul April 13-16 in Boston. various schopl positions. searching.

But Guerra w.as quick to acFor schools and parish 'proTo pull off a year like this knowledge that the statement grams to remain "authentically took about six years of planning, didn't mean the work was fin- . Catholic," he said, they need the according to Michael Guerra, ished. right kind of people which NCEA president.

"It would be naive to say this means: "Find the right people He said those involved in the is on auto pilot," he said, add- then hold onto them and train them." centennial planning proGuerra added that it also cess saw the anniversary means, on a practical level, as more than an opportuSo over the past year, the NCEA providing teachers with nity to celebrate the history of Catholic educa- sponsored more than 100 regional fair compensation, a chaltion. Instead, they looked and diocesan meetings where par- lenge not just for the fuat it as a means to get ticipants primarily focused on three ture, but right now.

The nationwide meetCatholic educators across issues for the future of Catholic eduthe country reflecting 'on ings this year were not just the past as a way to cation: how to maintain the Catholic for Catholic school teach"gather the wisdom we identity of schools and parish pro- ers, but administrators, dineed to talk about the fu- grams; how to look for, train and sup- ocesan leaders,' students, ture." port educational leaders; and how parish catechists, directors .So over the past year, Catholic schools and programs can of religious education programs, and college and the NCEA sponsored more than 100 regional play an active part in today's soci-. seminary leaders.

"We need to improve and diocesan meetings ety. the quality of our religious where participants primaeducation and find ways to rily focused on three issues for the future of Catholic ing that now the work of ad- attract students," he said, pointeducation: how to maintain the dressing these challenges be- ing out that in the United States Catholic identity of schools' and gins.

2.5 million students attend According to Guerra, the .Catholic schools, 4.5 million parish programs; how to look for, train and support educa- whole process of looking at participate in parish. programs, tional leaders; and how Catho- where Catholic education has and several million school-age lic schools and programs can been and the direction it should Catholics aren't in any type of play an active part in today's go was helpful because as he school or parish program, parpoints out, "we need consensus ticularly in their high school society. years.

The ideas from these small to make a difference." groups, attended by more than "The people who went before Looking ahead, Guerra 15,000 people, were presented us were loyal and faithful," he doesn't see Catholic education at a January symposium in said, adding that he didn't mean simply resting on its laurels.

Washington, where about 200 they were without mistakes.

"There is a lot we can do across Guerra said Catholic educa- all levels," he said. participants put all of the com-

BOSTON - The Parents Alliance for Catholic Education (PACE) held its annual Advocacy Day at the State House, March 16, to hear from lawmakers and advocate for issues important to the Catholic school community. Approximately 750 parents participated.

Featured speakers included House Speaker Thomas Finneran, Senate President Robert Travaglini, Senate Education Committee Chairman Robert Antonioni, Senate Health Committee Chairman Richard Moore, House Education Committee Chairwoman Marie St. Fleur, House Commerce and Labor Committee Chairman Michael Rodrigues, House Ways and Means Chairman John Rogers and House Ways and Means Assistant Vice Chairman Peter Larkin.

Advocacy Day guests and honorees were entertained with special performances by the Pittsfield Catholic School Chorus and students of St. Pius V School in Lynn.

"It's a day to showcase the wonderful accomplishments of our students, hear from key elected officials and make our case with legislators as to the critical importance ofkeeping Catholic education strong in the Commonwealth," said Steve Perla, executive director, PACE. Adaitionally, PAGE presented

awards to leaders and organizations who made a significant impact in supporting Catholic school student.,.

Catholic School Health Award was presented to State Representative Mary Jane Simmons (DLeominister) for her leadership and tenacity in ensuring that all students in Massachusetts have access to school health services.

Friend ofCatholic Schools Award was presented to Frederick M. Kalisz, Jr., Mayor of New Bedord. Mayor Kalisz wa., responsible for funding necessary nursing services to enable Catholic school students with chronic illness and special health problems to remain in school and continue to make significant educational gains.

PACE Collaboration Award was presented to the Office of Child Care Services for its collaboration with PACE in providing early education and out-of-schooltime services for low-income, at-risk Catholic school students.

Additionally, PACE offered special recognition to its chairman, Charles McManus, Superintendent ofSchools for the Worcester diocese as he retires from that post later this year.

PACE is a non-profit advocacy organization dedicated to serving Catholic Schools in Massachusetts.

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PRACTICE THE DEVOTION OF THE FIRST SATURDAYS, AS REQUESTED BY OUR LADY OF FATIMA

On December 10, 1925, Our Lady appeared to Sister Lucia (seer of Fatima) and spoke these words: ''Announce in iny name that I promise to assist at the hour ofdeath with the graces necessary for the salvation oftheir souls, all those who on the first Saturday of five consecutive months shall: 1. Go to confession; 2. Receive Holy Communion; 3. Recite the Rosary (5 decades); and 4. Keep me company for 15 minutes while meditating on the 15 mysteries ofthe Rosary, with the intention of making reparation to me."

In a spirit of reparation, the above. conditions are each to be preceded by the words: "In reparation for the offenses committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary."

Confessions may be made during 8 days before or after the first Saturday, and Holy Communion may be received at either the morning or evening Mass on the first Saturday.

Ftiday. March 26, 2004

Two men file lawsuit against Bishop Dupre alleging sex abuse

By CATHOLIC

NEWS SERVICE

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. Two men who say they were sexually abused by retired Springfield Bishop Thomas L. Dupre filed a civil lawsuit against him in. Hampden County Superior Court.

The complaint by the men, now 39 and 40 years old, largely repeats the story they - have told to the media through their attorneys.

It alleges that then-Father Dupre engaged in sexual activity with the men when they were minors in the late 1970s and 1980s.

Within hours after Bishop Dupre's early retirement for health reasons was announced February 11, the local daily newspaper, The Republican, reported that it had submitted detailed written questions to him February 10 about the two men's allegations.

Bishop Dupre left the diocese February 10 to enter a clergy. treatment center 'in Maryland and has not been available for comment since then.

Unlike most clergy sexual abuse lawsuits, the one filed "March 11 names only Bishop Dupre as a defendant, not the diocese or any other diocesan officials.

The plaintiffs are named in the lawsuit, but their attorneys have asked the media not to publish their names in order to . protect their privacy.

Robert Sherman, a lawyer with the Boston law firm Greenberg Taurig, said he intends to subpoena the former pastor at the parish where Bishop Dupre lived during the alleged abuse. He also said he RESIDENTS OF the Spanish city of Alcala de Henare gather for a march of mourning to recall will subpoena Father Francis E. those killed in the commuter train attacks. At least 40 of the 202 people killed in the bombings Reilly, a friend of the bishop, retired .Worcester Bishop came from the community located about 50 miles outside Madrid. (CNS photo from Reuters) Daniel P.. Reilly and Boston Archbishop Sean P. O'Malley.

A week before the civil law. . suit was filed, Hampden County District Attorney William Bennett announced that he was convening a grand jury to 1,600 were injured. investigate whether the bishop MADRID,' Spain (CNS) Spaniards to pray for those who carshould face criminal charges in Spain's bishops have published a In a televised Mass, Cardinal ried out the deadly attacks. connection with the alleged prayerfor victims ofthe Madrid rail- .Antonio Rouco Varela of Madrid ''This event has awakened the way bombings. . abuse .. said the attacks were "a horrendous Christian soul of our city and its inhabitants;' the cardinal said. "TerThe bishops said they turned to crime in the eyes of God." "The tragic attacks of March 11 rorism can take our lives, snatch God in Spain's "hour of trial and tribulation" on behalfofthe "victims have sunk us all into deep pain;' away our loved ones, inflict intense of this brutal attack."

Cardinal Rouco said. and inexplicable pain. But it will They called on 路God to "help "To kill your own kind, to kill a never take away the certainty of life Spain and all people suffering the brother, is to attack God himself;' that comes from God." wounds of violence and terrorism." he said.

Spanish police arrested five more "They are your children and our About 5,000 people, including people March-18 in connection with brethren, and they should not have Queen Sofia, attended the memorial the rush-hour bombings, bringing died in such circumstances," the Mass in Madrid's Our Lady of the total in custody to 11. bishops smd.

Alrnudena Cathedral.

The Spanish bishops have not The bishops also released a stateCardinal Rouco also thanked commented on the elections that saw _ment that condemned all acts of ter- Spaniards who responded to calls of Jose Rodriguez Zapatero oust currorism' but did not refer specifically help for the victims and called on rent Prime Minister Jose Maria to the Basque separatist group ETA, all citizens to "show that the deadly Aznar or on Rodriguez's announceinitially believed to be behind the nihilism on' which terrorist acts are ment that he would withdraw SpanMarch 11 Madrid bombings. fed is not the last word in human ish troops from Iraq unless the . United Nations takes over peaceFunerius continued for the more existence." than 200 victims of the bombings; Cardinal Rouco also called on keeping there by midyear.

Spanish bishops call for healing in afterlDath of terrorist attack

. Head of Russian bishops urges Putin to. ensure路 religious freedom

A YOUNG Haitian girl eats a school lunch provided by the United Nations' World Food Program in Cap-Haitien. Unrest in Haiti since the departure of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide prevented the delivery of food and other assistance, but the agency says deliveries will resume. (CNS photo from Reuters)

MOSCOW (CNS) - The head ofthe Russian bish~ fessionalism and diligence, as well as your capacity ops' ~onference urged President Vladimir Putin to en- . for finding a way out of difficult situations and your sure full religious freedom after his March 14 re-elec- diplomatic talents," Archbishop Kondrusiewicz said. tion in Russia.

The Catholic Church in Russia has been under pres''During the five years in which you have stood at sure since. the Vatican created four new dioceses in the helm of Russia's executive power, church-state re- Russia in February 2002. In the months following the lations have gained a new impulse," said Archbishop announcement, a Polish-born bishop and four CathoTadeusz Kondrusiewicz of Mos,?ow, conference presi- lic priests were expelled from the country. dent.

Cardinal Walter Kasper, head of the Pontifical "In the name of all Russians of the Catholic faith, I Council for Promoting Christian Unity, visited Moshope greater attention will now be paid to the consti- cow in late February; he and Russian Orthodox Patritutional right to religious freedom. This will undoubt- arch Alexei II discussed several divisive issues. edly contribute to maintaining peace and concord in Patriarch Alexei, head of Russia's largest church, our society," the archbishop said. reiterated accusations of Roman Catholics evangelizPutin was re-elected to a second term after garner- ing baptized Orthodox, converting Russian orphans ing 71 percent ofthe votes in March 14 elections. Some to Catholicism and ignoring the Second Vatican independenfelection observers criticized Russian me- Council's commitment to better Orthodox-Catholic dia for giving little attention to Putin's opponents. relations.

In a telegram, Archbishop Kondrusiewicz said he The patriarch also criticized plans for a Catholic hoped to meet Putin in the near future._He said Putin's Carmelite convent at the Russian city of Nizhniy meetings with Pope John Paul II in June 2000 and Novgorod and the possible creation of a patriarchate November 2003 had shown the president's "openness for the Ukrainian Catholic Church. and readiness to discuss pressing problems facing the The Catholic and Orthodox churches also agreed world community." to form a joint commission to investigate complaints ''The fact that citizens have placed their trust in you: of Catholic expansionism as well as to develop a code a second time shows how highly they value your pro- of-conduct in Catholic-Orthodox relations.

Friday, March 26, 2004 Editor's note: Massachusetts Catholic Conference urges Catholics to support an amendment that would split the issues oftraditional marriage and same-sex unions and allow the Massachusetts voters the right to vote on each separately. MCC also urges Catholics to contact their state senators/representatives and voice that opinion. The; also suggest contacting those politicians who have voted with MCC-supported amendments and thank them for their support. Below is a breakdown of the votes of February 11 and 12. MCC supported a Y Y N vote. Highlighted below are those representatives who voted that way.

Voting of state senators and representatives in the diocese The following is a breakdown of the votes taken on February 11 and 12 regarding the Marriage Affirmation & Protection Amendment. A Yes vote (Y) indicates support for the proposed amendment; a No vote (n) indicates non-support for the proposed amendment; an x vote indicates Did Not Vote. .

Amendment A (Travis proposal) - Reaffirming marriage as that between one man and one woman, and indicating neutrality on same-sex civil unions. MCC supported Yes. Amendment B (Finneran proposal) - Reaffirming marriage as that between one man and one woman, but not mandating same-sex civil unions. MCC supported Yes. Amendment C (Travaglini-Lees proposal) - Reaffirming marriage as that between one man and one woman, and mandating same-sex civil unions equal to marriage. MCC supported No. Note: A list of the parishes falling within the districts of the following Representatives and Senators appeared in the February 6 edition of The Anchor.

Representative Demetrius Atsalis Antonio ED. Cabral Christine Canavan Robert Correia James H. Fagan David Flynn Thomas N. George Susan W. Gifford Shirley A. Gomes Patricia Haddad Mark A. Howland Robert M. Koczera John A. Lepper Matthew D. Patrick Jeffrey D. Perry Elizabeth A. Poirier Michael 1. Rodrigues William M. Straus David B. Sullivan Philip Travis Eric T. Turkington Senator Brian Joyce Joan Menard Mark Montigny Therese Murray Robert 0' Leary Mark Pacheco JoAnn Sprague

Vote of February 11-12 A

B

C

Contact Information

Y n Y Y x Y Y Y Y n Y Y Y n Y Y n n n Y n

Y n Y Y Y Y Y Y Y n Y Y Y n Y n n n Y n

n Y n n Y Y n n n n Y n n n n n Y Y Y n n

617-722-2692 617-722-2140 617-722-2323 617-722-2810 617-722-2575 617-722-2017 617-722-2487 617-722-2090 617-722-2803 617-722-2692 617-722-2460 617-722-2240 617-722-2100 617-722-2090 617-722-2090 617-722-2976 617-722-2030 617-722-2230 617-722-2230 617-722-2430 617-722-2210

Vote of February 11-12 A

B

C

Contact Information

n n n n n Y n

n n n n n Y n

Y Y Y Y Y Y n

617-722-1643 617-722-1114 617-722-1440 617-722-1481 617-722-1570 617-722-1551 617-722-1222

Y

Rep.DemetriusAtsalis@hou.state.ma.us Rep.AntonioCabral@hou.state.ma.us Rep.ChristineCanavan @hou.state.ma.us Rep.BobCorreia@aol.com RepJamesFagan@hou.state.ma.us Rep.DavidFlynn@hou.state.ma.us Rep.ThomasGeorge@hou.state.ma.us Rep. SusanGifford@hou.state.ma.us Rep. ShirleyGomes@hou.state.ma.us Rep.PatriciaHaddad@hou.state.ma.us Rep.MarkHowland@hou.state.ma.us Rep.RobertKoczera@hou.state.ma.us RepJohnLepper@hou.state.ma.us Rep.MatthewPatrick@hou.state.ma.us RepJeffreyPerry@hou.state.ma.us Rep.ElizabethPoirier@hou.State.ma.us Rep.MichaeIRodrigues@hou.state.ma.us Rep.WilliamStraus@hou.state.ma.us Rep.DavidSullivan@hou.state.ma.us Rep.PhilipTravis@hou.state.ma.us Rep.EricTurkington@hou.state.ma.us

-.

BJoyce@senate.state.ma.us JMenard@senate.state.ma.us MMontign@senate.state.ma.us TMurray@senate.state.ma.us ROLeary@senate.state.ma.us MPacheco@senate.state.ma.us JSprague@senate.state.ma.us

Op-Ed: This is a compromise?

By MARIA C. PARKER, MBA ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR FOR PUBLIC POLICY MASSACHUSETTS CATHOLIC CoNFERENCE

BOSTON - This article is an assessment as to where we are in our efforts to preserve traditional marriage in Massachusetts.

Here is the language of the Marriage Affinnation and Protection Amendment, or MA & PA, which reads as follows: "It being the public policy of this

Commonwealth toprotectthe unique relationship of maniage in order to

Marriage Continued from page one

the House Clerk at 617-722-2356.

The clerks will forward your calls to your senator/representative's office. E-mail: Find your senator's/representative's E-mail address listed online at http:// www.state.ma.us/legis/.

To identify your state senator/ representative call your Election Department at your local town hall, or enter your street address online at http:// www.wheredoivotema.com/bal/ myelectioninfo.php. .

promote, among othergoals, the stability and welfare of society and the best interest of children, only the union of one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as marriagein Massachusetts."

Compare MA & PA to the language of the FinneranlTravaglini Amendment that states: "It being the public policy ofthis Commonwealth to protect the unique relationship of marriage, only the union of one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in Massachusetts.

"1\\'0 'persons of the same sex shall have the right to form a civil union if they meet the requirements set forth by law for marriage. Civil unions for. same sex couples are established hereunder and shall provide entirely the same benefits, protections, rights, and responsibilities that are afforded to couples married under Massachusetts law. All laws applicable to marriage shall also apply to civil unions."

If you compare the language of the two amendments, it is hard t6 understand how the Finneran/ Travaglini Amendment could possibly be considered a compromise by any reasonable person in the Commonwealth. This puts the vot-

ers in a place where the two choices open to them are a sham! In essence, the choices put the voters "between a rock and a hard place." If they vote "No" on the FinneranlTravaglini amendment, traditional marriage is not affinned and same-sex marriage becomes law. If they vote "Yes," they are accepting a gutted version of the definition of marriage and, in so doing, establish civil unions with all the benefits and protection afforded two married people. Civil' union is nothing more than marriage by another name. And thus, we oppose civil unions for the same reason that we oppose same-sex marriage - they both undermine and attack traditional marriage as a social and civil institution.

On Nov. 18, 2003, the Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) of Massachusetts issued a decision, which defined marriage as the ''voluntary union of two persons as spouse." The only option open to the citizens of Massachusetts is via the legislature to try to amend the state constitution through aballot initiative. So in what way do we, the people of Massachusetts who were dealt this radical blow by the SJC, have an opportunity to vote on the matter? We have no recourse other than to try to

amend the constitution of the Commonwealth. It is a pretty sad state of affairs when our legislature offers the above as a "compromise response" to that irrational decision.

This choice is totally unacceptable to those who believe in traditional marriage. Many regard it as a slap in the face to the people of the state who look to their legislators, their elected officials, for an opportunity to have a say in this decision, one of the most importantdecisions to come before us in our lifetime.

On March 29, 2004, the next session of the Constitutional Convention reconvenes and the process will continue along with the political maneuvering. As far as we have been able to determine, there are another four or five amendments to be presented. It is no surprise that same-sex marriage advocates will offer the first two amendments.

If the first two amendments were passed, it would preclude consideration of other proposals to split the FinneranlTravaglini language into two amendments. It is unconscionable to play political football with an issue as important as marriage for the future of our culture and society.

Our opponents have attempted to frame our efforts to protect marriage

as discrimination against homosexuals and lesbians. At a time when state benefits to the poor, elderly and disabled are being slashed by lawmakers on Beacon Hill, these same legislators are being urged to vote in favor of benefits for a special interest group, comprised ofrelatively affluent households, which would possibly cost the Commonwealth millions of dollars. Giving a special preference to same-sex couples unjustly discriminates against those who care for a disabled or elderly person, or those who are raising children and living in poverty. This would be shortsighted on the part of our legislators.

We hope our elected officials stand tall and offer us the opportunity to vote on reaffirming marriage 2006. As put so well by Archbishop Sean O'Malley: '"The amendment reaffmning marriage as the union between one man and one woman must be approved on its own merits. Joining this amendment to the issue of civil unions deprives the people an opportunity to express their views on marriage. Citizens have that right. Linking the two coerces people in a way that is unfair.

Voting on them separately respects the will of the public."

.

"

Friday, March 26, 2004

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Local teens' will fast to help others . FALL RIVER '- This weekend high school students from four loc'al parishes are participating in the annual World Vision 30-Hour Famine. They will go 30 hQurs without food to experience real hunger and participate in activities thai help them understand life in a developing country.

Teens gathered sponsors for each hour they go without food . and those participating represent St. Anne's, St. Mary's Cathedral, St. Stanislaus parishes

and SS. Peter and Paul Parish at Holy Cross Church. During the weekend they will take part in contests, games and service projects to help others.

Funds raised duTing the event will feed the hungry children and families in many countries.

Last year more than 600,000 teens participated in the event nationwide raising $8 million through community donations.

For more information about the event call Sarah Morin at 508-678-5322.

FIRST-GRADERS from Saint Mary-Sacred Heart School, North Attleboro, enjoying dressing as if they were 100 years old to celebrate the 1OOth day of school. Seated from left, Emily O'Heir, Gianna Desrochers, Alex Texeira, Deegan Lee and Rosie Dearie. Standing, Jack Roman, Kay LaBelle, Madeleine Sweet, Tara Reed and Colleen DeBold;

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CHESS CLUB students at Holy Family-Holy Name School, New Bedford, get ready for a game. The group is moderated by teacher Elaine Hayes. BeJow, a judge looks on at a game in progress. o

BROTHER OF Christian Instruction Daniel Caron displays the coveted Robert Bradbury Memorial Trophy won by the Bishop Connolly Hockey Team. From left are, head coach John Ledo, Robert Hoeg, Brother Caron, Matt Oliveira, assistant coach Ken Sebastiao and Jacob Sebastiao. Brother Caron, a chemistry teacher at the school, was made an honorary member of the team this yea,r. Gonnolly defeated Durfee High School to win the trophy.

~ BISHOP STANG senior Kristen Oats of North Falmouth receives congratulations from Principal Mary Ann .Miskel for earning the 2004 Prudential Spirit of the Community Award for exemplary volunteerism. Oats earned the award by organizing The Kids Carnival which raised $9,060 for the Carriage House, a shelter for homeless women and children.

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Colorado couple finds prayer the best parenting tool

By NADIA POZO CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE PHILADELPHIA - After years of parenting advice from pop psychologists, Wayne and Dede Laugesen discovered the true key to successful parenting is prayer - specifically the rosary before the Blessed Sacrament.

It was this discovery, reinforced by Pope John Paul II's call to instill prayer in children during the Year of the Rosary of 2002, that inspired the Colorado couple to launch the Rosary Project, a Catholic family media company that creates and distributes prayer tools for parents to use with children, "All of the little tricks we had tried - timeouts, tough love, cool relating, intense structure, relaxed structure - this stuff had nothing but short-term results at best," said Dede Laugesen in a telephone interview with The

Catholic Standard and Times, Philadelphia archdiocesan newspaper.

"Yet, when we started spending a few minutes a day in formal family prayer, it seemed to bring sustainable peace, order and love to our family," she added.

According to Wayne Laugesen, the couple sought the advice of a priest to help them discipline their four bickering and insubordinate sons.

"I wanted parenting tips from the priest, and instead we got, 'Pray.' Frankly, at the time I viewed it as a cop-out," he recalled.

He would soon see the wisdom.

Dede Laugesen, founder of an sary in the living room where the adoration program for her par- boys could still hear them. ish in Boulder, Colo., had prayed "They knew they shouldn't many hours before the Blessed interrupt us while we were praySacrament alone, but never with ing," Dede Laugesen said, "so her family. One day as the couple they'd fall asleep hearing us pray drove the boys to school, she sug- the rosary. We were so amazed gested they visit the school's adoration chapel for a few minutes before The Rosary Project class began. _ (ยง "The boys r fought us," she re% called.

"They 2.. didn't want to be . ~ bored, and they sat there fidgeting in f) the pews. But we cr noticed something ([:- Sights and sounds to delight and that night after educate your child schoo1. We noticed "'_ less back talk, less . . fighting among the boys, and a lot more respect toward us. They were happier and more at peace, than we had remembered ever seeing them.

Prayer, it seemed, had an immediate effect."

The couple also noticed the power of prayer when it was time to put their to bedan sons event that L..-

tuality of their children at an early age fosters balance and discipline in children.

They also discovered studies that showed children's ability to learn and understand concepts began sooner than once believed.

"God made infants as information sponges," Wayne Laugesen , said. "The scientific and medical communities are discovering that we learn more in the first five years of life than in the rest of our lives combined.

"The world will bombard our children with information, and they will soak it up," he added. "We have an opportunity, as Catholic parents, to expose them to Catholic prayer, Catholic music and Catholic art - to fill them with the order and peace of God.'" After launching the Rosary Project in May 2003, the Laugesens teamed ...J up with longtime friend Scott Weiser, an awardwinning photojournalist, to produce "Holy Baby! Seven Prayers in Seven Languages," a 30minute DVD with music, sound effects and a parade of toys and Catholic artifacts that entertain children while they hear seven

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Wayne Laugesen described as "messy, noisy, and confrontationa1."

The couple began by praying and reading a bedtime story on the life of a saint to prepare the boys for bed. Then they would leave the boys and begin the ro-

to discover how prayer totally transformed the bedtime routine and introduced peace where before there was mayhem."

The Laugesens soon discovered that countless studies already existed supporting their theory that developing the spiri-

prayers in seven languages.

The prayers featured are the sign of the cross, Apostles' Creed, Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be, 0 My Jesus and Hail, Holy Queen.

"Because ofDVD technology, children can listen to 'Holy Baby!' in mixed languages, so that each prayer is said once each time in a different language," Wayne Laugesen explained. "Or, the show can be played so that each of the prayers repeats seven times injust one ofthe languages, which are English, French, Spanish, Latin, Vietnamese, German and Portuguese."

Denver Archbishop Charles 1.

Chaput reviewed the program upon its release and called it "a wonderful aid for families who want to begin their children on a walk with the Lord."

EWTN producer Stephanie Elson said the show transcends most other children's media, because it educates, inspires and evangelizes. An edited version currently is airing on EWTN with a special presentation set for 4 p.m. Eastern time April

5.

The Laugesens also are writing a book about family prayer called "The Rosary Effect," and future DVD projects will include a show for infants and children devoted to the Eucharist, as well as shows on St. Francis, Noah and others.

The "Holy Baby! Seven Prayers in Seven Languages" DVD can be ordered online at: www.TheRosaryProject.com. or by calling: (800) 511-1514. llt can also befound at Catholic religious and book stores.

Living in a world of fear

By KASE JOHNSTUN CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE The river raft guide said jump off, and we jumped off. Then he said to stay in the middle of the river because crocodiles tend to stay close to the shore. Before he could blink, eight of us were sitting on the rubber seats in the raft, shivering. Fear rampaged our desire to swim in the Costa Rican waters.

Fear, according to Webster's dictionary, is a feeling of agitation and anxiety caused by the presence or imminence of danger. We looked up at our guide as he laughed at us, knowing he had sent a bolt of fear through a bunch of students. He laughed, getting a

good kick out of our fear.

"I was just kidding," he said.

Gaining our guts again, we jumped back into the river. We waded into the water in our life jackets. For a brief moment, the river took us away from our stuqies, from our tragic attempts to study Costa Rican literature, from our angry parents who never received phone calls from us and from the most recent fear of crocodiles.

"I was just kidding. The crocodiles swim in the middle of the river too," he said.

Again, eight of us were sitting on eight seats in less than eight seconds. This time no one was going to believe what he told us.

Imminent danger provokes

the emotion of fear. So, although knowing there was some chance of some sort of running into a crocodile, everyone got back into

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flge the water. Faces didn't shine with smiles like those at a water park drifting in the wave pool, worrying about nothing except the eight-year-old next to them smiling for personal reasons. Theirs were hesitant smiles, like children holding back giggles dur-

ing Mass. Hesitant smiles.

We sifted through the water like floating pebbles in a stream as our eyes scanned the water beneath us; the guide floated next to us on the boat.

How many times during the day do we face imminent danger? During the week? During the month? Rarely. But we let fear into our hearts.

The time came when we jumped back into the boat, exhilarated, laughing and conquerors of fear.

Later, doing research, I found that it is very rare that a crocodile in that Costa Rican river even bothers a human by brushing past a foot in the deep water.

A swell of fear in my heart al-

most took away the thrill of bobbing down the river as a minor adventurer.

We live in a world offear. You do. I do. Our parents do, and so do our nieces and nephews. It is difficult to turn on the news at night and not see the reason why fear creeps into our thoughts during a moment of silence.

There are good reasons to be fearful at times. Fears can playa positive role in our lives. Exaggerated and misplaced fears are what concern me.

We may need to jump into the water from time to time to realize that the cool water and the drift of the river are worth that tinge of fear that makes our smiles hesitant.

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Friday, Mardl26, 2004

Lenten Reflection - The Crowning With Thoms

By HOLY CROSS FATHER THOMAS FEELEY

A VICTORIOUS Christ is depicted in "The Resurrection," an oil painting by Pietro Perugino in 1499. The work, which hung in the private library of Pope John Paul II, was recently restored and is part of a Vatican Museum exhibit of Perugino's art. (CNS photo by Alessia Giuliani, Catholic Press Photo)

Bioethicist: All patients have right to hydration, nutrition

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VATICAN CITY (CNS) - Patients who are in a persistent vegetative state have a right to hydration and nutrition even though it must be provided through artificial means, said a leading Vatican bioethicist.

Bishop Ello Sgreccia, vice president of the Pontifical Academy for Life, said that "with all these tubes in the veins, the nose and the stomach" too many people think of nutrition and hydnition as a form of medical treatment.

'These interventions are simply care, which is obligatory to the moment of natural death,': he Said at a Vatican press conference.

The bishop was introducing a four-day congress, "Life-Sustaining Treatments and the Vegetative State: Scientific Advances and Ethical Dilemmas."

The recent gathering of more than 350 physicians and medical ethicists from 42 countries was cosponsored by the academy and the World Federation ofCatholic Medical Associations. . "Some say that when a person loses the use of reason, he or she ceases to be a person, leaving the possibility ofdiscontinuing nutrition and hydration to allow them to die;' Bishop Sgreccia said.

But Catholic teaching emphasizes that as long as a human being is alive, he or she is a person with a right to receive care.

"As long as they are absorbed by . the body and are beneficial to the patient;' he said, nutrition and hydration must be provided.

Bishop Sgreccia said the congress would update participating physicians on scientific and clinical research on patients in a persistent vegetative state and would look for ways to help the physicians explain the ethical issues involved - including the Catholic Church's standpoint - in a way that the genei"al public can understand.

'The Church's message is getting hammered by propoQents of euthanasia;' he said.

Dr. Gianluigi Gigli, president of the Catholic medical federation, said the withdrawal of nutrition and hydration from patients who are unconscious and unresponsive, but not in immediate danger of death, amounts to "therapeutic abandonment."

A diagnosis ofpersistent vegetative state "has nothing to do with brain death;' he said. There is some brain activity and some tests have showed increased activity in reaction to painful stimuli.

"We cannot exclude that they perceive pain in some way, and so we cannot say, as some people do, that they do not suffer when nutrition and hydration are withheld," Gigli said.

He said that especially in the United States, Great Britain and Australia there h~lVe been efforts to extend the possibility of withholding care to patients suffering from severe dementia and severely disabling strokes.

In addition, Gigli said, there is a very fine line between active euthanasia and withholding care.

After the Jewish Sanhedrin had condemned Jesus, they led him to Pontius Pilate, the Roman procurator. Among their other accusations they said Jesus claimed to be the Messiah, a king. Pilate asked him, "Are you a King?" Jesus told him, "My kingdom does not belong to this world." But even though he could find no case against Jesus, Pilate had him scourged.

Christ was alone, surrounded by enemies. No legions of angels, no disciples, no one came to his defense. The soldiers who were told to scourge Christ were coarse and brutal men. They had no knowledge of Jewish faith, laws and customs. Nor were they interested to learn. Theirs was the fury of savage beasts surrounding fallen prey. Their savagery made them creative. They pleated a crown of thorns and pressed it on his head and mocked him, "All hail, King of the Jews!" St. Mark's Gospel tells us that ~iiiii the whole cohort II joined in the mockery.

Christ submitted to this barbarous ill treatment with . quiet dignity.

Wincing no doubt when they beat him around the head and pressed the thorns into his scalp, he nevertheless remained calm, self-composed and silent as they heaped scorn and derision upon him.

Afterwards, Christ, wearing the crown of thorns and the soldier's scarlet J. . . . . . . cloak, was brought f'I out before his own people among whom he had gone about preaching and healing the sick. "Behold your King," said Pilate in mockery. "We have no king but Caesar," the Jews replied. His own people rejected him, disowned him, and dismissed him and his teaching. They wanted rid of him, preferring a violent murderer to him who was the way, the truth, and the life.

We have all experienced rejection and mockery. We have all felt embarrassment and shame when we were the object of someone's brilliant flash of biting wit and sarcasm. But mockery and rejection hurts most when coming from those we love, from those to whom we have opened our hearts and with whom we have shared our deepest thoughts. Before them we are most vulnerable. Christ had done that, "Whatever I have heard from my Father I have made known to you," he had said. Those who rejected and mocked him had listened to him speak.

Certainly the recent. scandals in the Church the defection of priests,religious, and laity th~ theologians who have held the Church and her doctrine up for ridicule have confused if not scandalized many devout and faithful Catholics. How many religious communities have been torn apart by division and discouraged by the defection of many from their ranks. How could Christ's faithful disciples not have felt profoundly the scorn and derision heaped upon the Church. Yes, Christ

continues to be rejected and mocked, and since we are his Mystical Body, the Church, we share in his passion too.

But are we not also responsible for mocking him? We who claim to be his disciples mock him by our failure to follow his teaching and his example. We mock him when he offers us his love and friendship and we pay no attention because our lives are filled with noise and distraction. We do not hear him though he stands at the door and knocks. He calls us to be his friends and we have no time for him. We. turn away to pursue what is more important to us~ our careers, our blisiness, our pleasures. We mock him and his preaching when our behavior' reveals that we in fact find our security in material things and are unwilling to entrust oUr lives to our heavenly Father in whose image we are made. Yethe' feeds the birds of the air, adorns the lilies of the field, and cares for us because we are his . children. We mock .him and his teaching when we ignore the plight of the poor and the lowly and fail to come to their assistance when we are able to. For did not Jesus tell us that what we neglected to do to the least of his brethren we neglected to do to him.

If in our inflated opinion of ourselves we are proud arid haughty, expect others to be at our beck and call and refuse to do tasks we think are beneath our dignity, do we not mock the lesson Christ gave us when he washed the feet of his apostles? He told us explicitly to learn of him because he is meek and humble of heart. Whenever we allow ourselves to be puffed up with self-importance we join with those who placed the crown of thorns upon his head. For Christ has told us to love one another as he loved us, but we fail to practice Christian charity when we put on airs, when we are rude, self-seeking, or snobbish, as St. Paul reminds us. In brief, when we fail in charity we mock Christ because we claim to be his disciples though we hold his basic teachings in contempt.

If we reflect upon the meekness and humility Christ manifested when he was crowned with thorns in mockery. of his teaching and his claim to be king, we should be resolved to be more like him, meek and humble of heart. Then even in the midst of our own trials we will find rest for our souls.

Father Feeley is the vice postulator of the Cause for Canonization of Servant of God Father Patrick Peyton, CSC. Holy Cross Family Ministries, which carries on the works of Father Peyton, is headquartered in North Easton, and serves Jesus Christ and his Church by promoting and supporting the spiritual well-being of the family in 15 countries worldwide. For more infonnation call 800-299PRAY or log on to www.hcfm.org.