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11/26/00
This week, The Catholic New World contains coverage of the annual
fall bishops’ meeting, Catholic Charities toy shower and AIDS
in Africa.
News:
Bishops adjourn after votes on church art, immigration
The U.S. bishops made quick work of a complex document on church
art and architecture and a resolution urging sweeping changes
in the U.S. immigration system on the last day of their fall general
meeting Nov. 16.
The Nov. 13-16 meeting of the National Conference of Catholic
Bishops and U.S. Catholic Conference at the Hyatt Regency in Washington
adjourned about an hour earlier than scheduled after considering
some 18 action items over the four days.
Bishops adopt new art, architecture guidelines
The U.S. Catholic bishops Nov. 16 overwhelmingly approved new
national guidelines on art and architecture for places of worship.
The 108-page document, titled “Built of Living Stones,” is the
first set of guidelines for building or renovating churches to
be issued by the entire body of bishops since the Second Vatican
Council. They passed it by voice vote, with only a few voices
saying “no.”
No troublesome chads for bishops’ vote
One by one, the counting teams flipped through the stack of ballots.
One vote for this candidate. One vote for that one.
As a team finished counting a stack, another team recounted the
same pile. If the second total didn't match the first, the votes
were added up again and again until two tallies had the same and
higher authorities signed off on the results.
‘Sister Mary Chromosome,’ genetics pioneer
Washington University in St. Louis is part of the Human Genome
Project, the publicly funded consortium that has helped to decode
all genetic information in the human body.
But how many people know who taught Washington University about
a successful method to produce and analyze chromosomes, the study
that set the school on its path to ultimately helping decipher
the human genetic code?
That would be Sister Leo Rita Volk, a Franciscan Sister of Mary.
Feature:
AIDS in Africa: Hope against the odds
World AIDS Day, Dec. 1, reminds us of our responsibility to care
for and about those infected with HIV. Red ribbons adorn the lapels
of people throughout the United States as a sign of solidarity
and a search for a cure, but there is a pervasive and muted awareness
that separates people here from the day-to-day realities of the
disease.
In the East African country Tanzania, one of the world’s poorest
countries, there is no such luxury. For Tanzanians, among whom
one in every five people is HIV-positive, AIDS is as real and
as immediate as the ground beneath their feet.
Commentary:
Working poor not feeling prosperity
Father Michael Boland, administrator of Catholic Charities, writes:
As Catholics and Americans, we find ourselves in the midst of
a great paradox. In a period of unprecedented economic prosperity
marked by profits and productivity, we see increasing numbers
of people seeking help with the most basic threads of human survival:
food, clothing and shelter.
At Catholic Charities, we have seen a 47 percent increase in the
number of requests for emergency assistance over the past two
years. In suburban Cook County, there has been a 104 percent increase;
in Lake County, one of the wealthiest counties in the state, there
has been a 60 percent jump.
Briefs:
Chicago-born friar named a bishop
Franciscan Father Henry Chowaniec, a Chicago native who has been
serving as apostolic administrator of Almaty, in south-central
Kazakhstan, since Sept. 26, 1999, will be ordained as bishop of
Almaty on Nov. 26.
Bishop-designate Chowaniec was born in Chicago Feb. 14, 1931,
to John Chowaniec and Apolonia Zdebska of St. Casimir Parish.
He attended Sacred Heart School and St. Joseph High School, both
in the Back of the Yards neighborhood.
Since 1993 he has been engaged in pastoral ministry in Almaty,
the ancient capital of Kazakhstan, where five friars serve the
church in activities ranging from pastoral care to the management
of an orphanage.
Parish Pride:
St. Philip the
Apostle Church
1962 Old Willow Road
Northfield
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A weekly
column of
benevolent
gossip
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Advent Yo-del-lay — Everyone attending the 9:15 a.m. German language Mass Dec. 3
at St. Alphonsus Church (W. Wellington) will be treated to music
by a Mixed German Chorus. The beautiful Alpine folklore Mass by Annette Thoma will include a sacred yodeler! Lederhosen optional.
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| Kevin Costner |
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Chicago connection — St. Ita Parish (W. Catalpa) turned 100 last week and its school children had
15 minutes of fame when Hollywood cameras paid a call this month.
Actor Kevin Costner filmed a segment of his latest movie, “Dragonfly” on the school playground with about 70 kid “extras.” While Costner
wouldn’t sign any autographs, he did “high-five” the kids or praise
them after a take. The plot has him returning to his alma mater
to visit a former teacher, actress Linda Hunt (from “Law & Order”) who plays a nun. New Hollywood scouts are already scoping out
the church buildings for other possible films.
Switch-eroo — Augustinian Sisters in a Liverpool, England, convent have switched from running a
nursing home to operating a bed and breakfast in order to make
a profit. The community of 22 sisters, 12 of whom are “quite elderly,”
had to employ outside staff for the nursing home and costs were
rising. Right now their enterprise is bustling.
Inquiring minds want to know — The Good Shepherd Sisters owned and operated the “Illinois Technical School for Colored Girls” from 1911-1953 (49th Street and Prairie Avenue). Its active
auxiliary, the St. Euphrasia Guild, served the school from 1939 through the 1940s. Author-historian
Suellen Hoy from the University of Notre Dame is seeking information on the guild, its members, photos and/or
its activities. Some of the women members of the illustrious guild
were: Ethel Ford Stewart, Margaret Cope, Anna Lee Mitchell, Ouida Kilbourne and Ann Milsapps. If you have any info on these or other members, contact Hoy
at 1080 Mission Hills, Chesterton, IN 46304.
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| Party-goers, 1999 |
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Big as life — Last year 1,400 babies (in 400 families) showed up at two local
sites for the Women’s Center’s client Christmas party. It’s just one part of the pro-life outreach
to courageous young women who have chosen life despite many hardships.
The center collects gifts from area churches and solicits donations
of food and other useful items. Volunteers serve a meal, make
sure each family gets a visit with Santa Claus (including an instant
family picture) and distribute a gift bag of goodies. In most
cases, this is the only Christmas cheer the families will receive.
Many have older children. Originally founded as Des Plaines Pro Life in 1983, it is now a four-center operation in the arch that reaches out to love both mother and child year-round. They
could use donations of lunchmeat, bread, rolls, candy, cookies,
desserts, chips, and even volunteers for this year’s North and
South Side parties Dec. 21 and 22. Call Ann at (773) 794-1313.
To Lith with love — Learn more about Lithuania or relive memories at a Christmas experience,
6:30-9 p.m. Dec. 6 at the Balzekas Museum, 6500 S. Pulaski. Program includes a video on Christmas traditions,
choral music, an exhibit of historical religious cards, photos
of wayside crosses and shrines, paintings and prints of Lith winters
and even a traditional Lith Christmas meal and drinks, RSVP by
Dec. 1 to (773) 582-6500. Exhibit will be open through Jan. 7. . . . Tadas Kulbis is executive director of Baltic Jesuit Advancement, an educational foundation based in the arch, that financially assists two Jesuit-operated schools in Lithuania.
He was an honored guest recently for the 430th anniversary of
the Jesuit’s oldest high school in Vilnius, Lithuania. With a
fitting theme of “The Middle Ages,” festivities started at St. Casimir Church in the capital city with kids dancing and proudly showing their
school’s decorated classrooms. Jesuits operate a much newer Lith
public school as well. Long-time Chicago resident Father Antanas Saulaitis,
Jesuit Provincial for Lithuania and Latvia, sent greetings to
all his friends back in the arch.
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