Updates

CCI presses tax credit and more
A bill that would give corporations a tax break for contributing to scholarship funds for poor students passed out of the Illinois House's executive committee, despite opposition from public school teacher unions.

The bill, supported by the Catholic Conference of Illinois, would provide up to $50 million in tax credits each year to corporations that donate to not-for-profit scholarship funds. The funds could be used to benefit children who attend private or public schools if their families earn less than $50,000 a year, said Doug Delaney, the conference's executive director.

Out of SCC again
Citing a litany of abuses, racial incidents and other "disrespect," St. Sabina has again halted its participation in the Southside Catholic Conference.

The pullout is the latest episode in the confrontation between the parish and independent elementary school sports league going back to last May when the parish school sought admittance to the league and was refused. The SCC cited safety reasons, though charges of racism were raised. The league, not officially part of the Archdiocese of Chicago, admitted St. Sabina after a flurry of media attention and encouragement from Cardinal George and pastors.

The parish announced March 8 it "would no longer participate" over an allegation of a racial taunting incident in January against a St. Bede team and a rules question. Because the SCC is an independent body, there was no archdiocesan response.

News

Death penalty 'unnecessary, immoral': Cardinal George
Gov. George Ryan, Sister of St. Joseph Helen Prejean and Cardinal George all shared stories of journeys at Death Sentence 2002, a two-day conference dedicated to working for the abolition of capital punishment in Illinois.

While the governor and Prejean told of their personal conversions, the cardinal stood at the podium in St. Josaphat Church on the North Side and talked about how the Catholic Church had changed its position on the death penalty.

Parish sharing builds communion
It's no surprise that one of the cores of faith is sharing. "True parish sharing is about bringing people together to break down walls so that people can live in communion," said Bill Purcell, director of the Office for Peace and Justice. For more than 25 years, the archdiocese's Parish Sharing program has been replacing walls with bridges between parish communities that would otherwise be separated by race, class, culture and economics.

Conference probes deeper sense of human dignity
The phrase "begotten, not made" should describe the way all children come into the world, according to moral theologian William May, who gave the keynote address at a conference on "Human Dignity & Reproductive Technology" March 4.

The conference, organized by the Integritas Institute of the University of Illinois-Chicago and sponsored by the John Paul II Newman Center, the Catholic Medical Association and the Society of Catholic Social Scientists, examined the way new technologies have changed the way that babies are brought into the world, and the way society's thoughts about children have changed.

Bishop resigns in widening sex-abuse scandals
The widening scandal over sexual abuse of minors by priests took anew turn March 8 as Bishop Anthony J. O'Connell of Palm Beach, Fla., admitted past sexual misconduct with a teen-age seminarian in Missouri and submitted his resignation to Pope John Paul II.

At a press conference Bishop O'Connell said another victim from the same area and time frame might also come forward. He did not elaborate.

Faith helps 'singing cop' go on
Until six months ago, New Yorkers knew Officer Daniel Rodriguez as the city's singing cop. But since the Sept. 11 terror attacks that brought down the World Trade Center, America and the world also have begun to know the talents of the Catholic Policeman. "

Faith is how Rodriguez says he has gotten through the past half-year knowing that his growing fame is the result of a collective national tragedy - and thousands of individual tragedies.

Vatican: Use Internet wisely, creatively
Calling the Internet "an opportunity and a challenge and not a threat," the Vatican issued two documents encouraging the church to embrace the technology and help guide it to benefit all humanity. The documents said the Internet's interactive nature could help the church achieve the Second Vatican Concil's vision of couumnication between its members, moving away from the "one-way, top-dwon communication of the past."

On Dec. 16, 2001, the statue of Our Lady of the New Millennium was moved to Sacred Heart Parish, 8245 W. 111th St., Palos Hills, where it will remain throughout the winter months. The 33-foot-tall stainless steel sculpture has been traveling to sites in the archdiocese for two years. A final determination of its future has not yet been announced.

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