This week, The Catholic New World recaps Pope John Paul II’s spiritual pilgrimage to the Holy Land, and features an interview with new U.S. House chaplain Father Daniel Coughlin. It also features two pages of health-related stories.

Cardinal's Column

News:
Chaplain appointment a surprise
By his own account, Father Daniel Coughlin’s appointment as chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives on March 23 took even Cardinal George by surprise.
But Cardinal George had more warning than the rest of the country that House Speaker Dennis Hastert, a Republican from Yorkville, Ill., was considering a Catholic priest for the post. Full text available.

Setting the table for prayer

The symbolism of breaking bread—sitting down and eating together—figures prominently in the Bible.
Now the archdiocese’s Family Ministries Office hopes to make eating together a more meaningful experience for families.
The office is selling placemats with the Grace Before Meals, two pre-meal prayers that can be sung and the Gifts of the Holy Spirit on the front, and several other prayers, plus a space for a child to write his own prayer, on the back. Full text available.

Jubilee celebrations hail ‘feminine genius’

As Pope John Paul II celebrated Mass in Nazareth on the feast of the Annunciation, Catholic women worldwide gathered to observe the church’s Jubilee Day for Women.
In the Archdiocese of Chicago, the Council of Catholic Women celebrated with speakers and prayer services at three parishes.

Features:

A spiritual unity: Pope’s pilgrimage an interfaith journey
Walking at last amid the ancient stones where Jesus lived and died, Pope John Paul II created a new pilgrim’s path by reaching out to other religions and to the divided peoples of the Holy Land.

Visit turned world toward Holy Land

Pope John Paul II turned the world’s attention to the Holy Land, not only to its political problems, but to its religious importance as well, said U.S. bishops accompanying the pope.

Anointing of the sick serves as source of healing

It was the evening before his scheduled back surgery. Paulist Father John Hurley was the pastor in 1994 of a thriving cathedral parish in San Francisco. There were so many loose ends not yet tied up. He was tired, anxious and more than just a little afraid, for risks were involved. He needed strength.
While he was already scheduled to receive the anointing of the sick, the full impact of what it would provide was just beginning to hit him. He had administered this sacrament to others. Now he himself was on the receiving end.

Don’t sleep on napping benefits

Winston Churchill took one. A parade of U.S. presidents from John F. Kennedy to Ronald Reagan admitted to stealing an occasional one. Even surreal artist Salvador Dali seized one when he could.
These famous figures are in good company, as more than 61 percent of adult Americans are guilty of the same, sometimes daily, theft. They admit to regularly taking a nap.
But is a daily nap really necessary?

Parents should encourage children to exercise

Hardly anyone ate tofu meat loaf a generation ago and health clubs were few. There were no soccer moms. Organized sports for children were limited and didn’t begin in kindergarten. The only pyramid anyone talked about in school was the one in Egypt, not the food-related one.
But according to information from the Fitness Partner Connection, “inactivity is becoming epidemic among children today,” and “there is a growing rate of obesity among children today.”

The Interview:
Fr. Coughlin focuses on the pastoral, not politics

In his first extended interview since his surprise appointment as chaplain to the U.S. House of Representatives, Chicago priest Father Daniel Coughlin talked with Catholic New World staff writer Michelle Martin March 28 between offering the opening prayer in the House and meeting with the Senate chaplain. Coughlin, 65, had little chance to reflect on his new role in the five days since being spirited to Washington D.C. for Speaker Dennis Hastert’s unexpected announcement. The appointment came only three days after Coughlin first met the speaker, who was embroiled in a political controversy and charges of anti-Catholicism after nominating the Presbyterian Rev. Charles Wright over Father Timothy O’Brien late last year. Full text available.

Commentary:
Reconciliation

Pope John Paul II’s epic Holy Land visit is over. His pilgrimage of faith, perhaps one of his last, surely was his most heartfelt.
The trip began in the ongoing controversy over lingering questions of culpability—about what the church and his predecessor Pius XII did or did not do during World War II.
The trip ended with a powerful and symbolic gesture that must not be overlooked: on his final day in the land of Jesus, Jews and Muslims, the pope tucked a tiny scrap of paper into a crack in Jerusalem’s ancient wall, a wall already overflowing with the hopes, dreams and prayers of many thousands of pilgrims before him.
The Wailing Wall, it is called, and such slips of paper fill every crevice of its 3,000-year-old stones.
What, in his prayer, did the pope seek? Repentance—again—for 2,000 years of Christian persecution of their brothers-in-faith, the Jews, a persecution that surely includes the Holocaust.
As we begin a new millennium, for Christians—and for Jews—it is time to appreciate reconciliation, and move on.

Briefs:
Bill would force hospitals to give ‘morning-after’ pill

Will rape victims treated in Catholic hospitals in Illinois be offered a “morning-after” pill to terminate pregnancy?
If House Bill 3201, sponsored in the Illinois Senate by Sen. Christine Radogno (R-LaGrange), emerges from the Senate Public Health Committee and is passed, Illinois’ 50 Catholic hospitals would be forced to make a contraceptive pill available to pregnant women on their request.
The Catholic Conference of Illinois, the statewide legislative arm of the Catholic Church, is “deeply concerned” about this proposed legislation.
“Our hope is that this bill will remain in committee. We can not accept the language of the bill as it is currently written because it would mandate that Catholic hospitals perform abortions—something that’s just never going to happen,” said Doug Delaney, executive director of the Catholic Conference of Illinois.
Currently, Catholic hospitals inform women who have been raped about their options, including the so-called “morning-after” pill, but do not provide women with the pill if it has been determined that they might be pregnant.

St. Xavier suspends student found with bomb materials

Bomb-making materials and manuals found in the Regina Hall dorm room of St. Xavier University sophomore James Lyon resulted in his arrest on March 27 by the Chicago Police Department and suspension from the university.
Student tips to resident hall staff resulted in a call to St. Xavier University campus security.
According to published reports, Lyon was charged with one felony count of unlawful use of a weapon and a misdemeanor count of reckless conduct. His bond has been set at $75,000.
Whether the chemistry major ever intended to use material found in his room to construct a bomb, the possession of explosive powder, electronic igniters and other items violated St. Xavier student policy.
“The student has been instructed not to return to university property for any reason,” university spokesman Bob Quakenbush told The Catholic New World.

Parish Pride:
SS. Peter and Paul Church
3745 S. Paulina St.

It isn’t by accident that in the most industrialized of work-a-day neighborhoods, immigrants took pride in building houses of worship worthy of royalty. Take SS. Peter and Paul, dedicated by Archbishop James Quigley in 1907. In graceful Roman Basilica style, six of its windows are “portraits” of Polish saints and fashioned of Tiffany glass. It was built on the site of Wrigley Gum headquarters and when the breeze is right, the aroma from its nearby factory still fills the air like an incense. Renovated throughout six years ago for its centennial, the old baptistry serves now as a Eucharistic Adoration Chapel dedicated to the Divine Mercy. On June 29, the feast of SS. Peter and Paul, Cardinal George will celebrate Mass here. Music from its two Johannus organs will fill the vaulted breadth, and the church’s three newly-restored bells will peal their alleluias for the first time since the 1960s.

Church Clips:

Turnover time — DePaul Blue Demon fans will say farewell to the university’s familiar 44-year-old athletic facility by bidding on pieces of its history at the “Alumni Hall Wrecking Ball.” Tickets for the dinner/auction on April 15 at Rosemont Convention Center are $50. Paraphernalia include doors from the men’s locker room, Blue Demon neon signs and sections of bleachers. The money raised will benefit the soon-to-open DePaul Athletic Center with its 2,800-spectator court and other facilities. A new student union will rise on the site of old Alumni Hall. Call (312) 362-6638 for reservations.

Entertainment

When Father Daniel Whiteside made a pilgrimage to Rome in 1998, he did more than bring home a few snapshots. He starred in a documentary about the experience.
“Pilgrimage to Rome: Journey into Jubilee” will air at 6 p.m. April 9 on WTTW-Channel 11. Full text available.

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