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7/21/02
Updates
Housing project gets started
Cardinal George and other religious and community leaders gathered July 16 to announce a project aimed at bringing 10,000 new homes to Chicago.
EZRA Homes for Working Families will begin by building 125 three-bedroom, 1,400-square-foot homes in the Lawndale neighborhood, where the first two model homes have been completed. The homes will cost families $105,000 to $135,000, depending on household income.
The Archdiocese of Chicago contributed $3 million of the $5.2 million raised by religious groups to start the building project.
The project also is supported by United Power for Action and Justice and Mayor Richard M. Daley’s New Homes for Chicago program.
Protesters jailed
Two Chicago women were among 29 activists who trespassed at a Georgia military base in 2001 and will serve time in federal prison. Eight others received probation.
The women were protesting at the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, formerly known as the School of the Americas, on the grounds of Fort Benning. They say the school teaches Latin American military officials to terrorize their own people.
“I promised myself that I would keep doing this until they closed the school or they arrested me and put me in jail, said Providence Sister Kathleen Desautels, who works at the 8th Day Center for Peace and Justice in Chicago. Desautels will serve six months in federal prison.
Mary Dean of Chicago also was sentenced to six months in federal prison, along with a $1,000 fine.
News
Abortion occupies officials in U.S., abroad
As pro-life members of Congress moved to end the partial-birth abortion procedure in the United States and to safeguard the right of hospitals to decline to perform abortions, Catholics in other parts of the world were fighting efforts to expand access to abortion in Europe.
22 years later, ‘Tap’ touching young adults
If God can forgive us, what’s your problem?” That’s one message Father John Cusick tries to convey whenever he talks at Theology-on-Tap, the popular program of the archdiocese’s Young Adult Ministry now underway at 48 parishes through Aug. 11.
Day of prayer Aug. 14
Lake County pastor resigns, denies abuse
As Catholics of the Archdiocese of Chicago and their bishops prepared to participate in a national day of penance, prayer and fasting Aug. 14, one more archdiocesan priest stepped away from ministry while proclaiming his innocence on claims of sexual abuse.
Father Raymond F. Skriba, 70, asked Cardinal George for an indefinite leave of absence from his post as pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Round Lake Beach while he faces allegations brought by two women. He announced the request in a letter to parishioners read by Auxiliary Bishop Jerome Listecki at weekend Masses July 13 and 14.
‘Back to the future’ in Panama
When Fathers Leo Mahon and John Enright and Auxiliary Bishop John Manz traveled to Panama in June, it was a homecoming of sorts.
The group visited San Miguelito, the site of an archdiocesan mission from 1963 to 1980, in June to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the ordination of the first permanent deacons in Panama, all of whom came from the mission.
Holy Family school gets OK; Lake County H.S. studied
Holy Family Catholic Academy soon will fulfill the needs of Inverness and other Northwest suburban families when it opens doors this fall in the existing parish complex.
Also needed in Lake County-particularly the North Chicago and Waukegan area-is a Catholic high school, according to Father George Rassas, pastor of St. Mary Parish in Lake Forest. He and his parishioners are spearheading a feasibility study for a college prep high school based on a work/study model also known as the Cristo Rey model, named for the successful Pilsen neighborhood high school.
World Youth Day
Area young people make final preparations
The shout echoes after Mass: “Help us go see the pope in Toronto!”
These are familiar words following recent Masses at St. Matthew Parish in Schaumburg and elsewhere as excited teens peddled donuts and undertook other efforts to raise funds for their trip to World Youth Day this month.
All told, about 1,400 archdiocesan teens and young adults were making their final preparations for the journey to Toronto for the July 23-28 event.
‘Believer vs. skeptic:’ Media-religion ‘conflict’ aired
The media have a difficult time reporting on religion because, as Rabbi Jack Moline explained, “Journalists are professional skeptics, while the religious community are professional believers.”
Mix that dichotomy with events as severe as the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on America, the clergy sex abuse scandal in the Catholic Church and the warring and upheaval in the Middle East, and the result is a recipe for conflict.
Connecting faith and the film industry
Act One rolls the credits on first Chicago screenwriting program
Throughout June, a group of 30 Christian students gathered at Loyola University to participate in Act One Chicago: Writing for Hollywood, a one-month screen-writing workshop with a twist. It was for Christian believers. Inter-Mission-a network of 3,500 professionals from the entertainment industry, who profess “a love for Jesus Christ, a passion for excellence, and a desire to effect moral change on popular culture,”-has offered the workshop in Hollywood since 1999, but this was its first stop in Chicago.
Our Lady of the New Millennium
The Our Lady of the New Millennium statue will be at the following locations:
July 22-Aug. 4: St Rosalie, 4401 N. Oak Park Ave., Harwood Heights, (708) 867-8817.
August 4-18: Casa Italia, Stone Park, IL.
Aug. 18-Sept. 1: St. Eulalia, 1851 S. 9th Ave., Maywood, (708) 343-6120.
Sept. 1-15: St. Frances of Rome, 1428 S. 59th Ct., Cicero, (708) 652-2140.
Movies at a Glance
Capsule reviews of movies from the U.S. Catholic Conference's Office for Film and Broadcasting, judged according to artistic merit and moral suitability. Go to reviews
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a column of benevolent gossip
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Wall to wall halos — Anyone in the vicinity of the Pope John Paul II Cultural Center in Washington D.C., now until Aug. 31 are in for a special  treat. An unprecedented exhibit of relics and art pieces (most never available for public viewing before) connected with Carmelite saints and spirituality will be on display. Friends of The Little Flower will see her chair from her monastery cell, a first-class relic, some of her hair, fabric from her pillow and her habit, original letters, photos of a drawing she made, a painting of St. Therese done by her sister and other paintings. The exciting exhibit includes relics of St. Teresa of Jesus, the 16th century mystic and first female doctor of the church, saints Elijah, John of the Cross and Edith Stein (Teresa Benedicta of the Cross). Call (202) 645-5434 for other events, lectures and a musical program through the end of August. . . . Locally, a remarkable one-woman show, “Therese: The Story of a Soul,” will be performed at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 27 at St. Linus Church, 10300 S. Lawler, Oak Lawn. Tickets for the national St. Luke Productions drama are $12 for adults and $5 for students grade four and up. Call (708) 422-2400 for tickets.
Prayers answered — Verdine Buford of St. Laurence Parish (S. Dorchester) took some comfort at her mom’s funeral May 12. Corrine Virginia Allen at age 94 1/2, was the oldest member of the parish when her Mass was celebrated not long before the church locked its doors June 30 in the arch’s most recent economic down-sizing. Allen had been a parishioner for 40 years and always hoped to be buried from St. Laurence.
‘Men called Knights’ — John Chirarelli of St. Francis de Sales Parish (Lake Zurich) is a fourth-generation Knight of Columbus. Grand Knight Chirarelli’s nomination letter describing the good works and outstanding attributes of fellow knight Joe Witkins of Rockford was instrumental in the recent selection of Witkins as Illinois’ Grand Knight of the Year. It isn’t easy to choose from a thousand nominees, but Witkins is a one-man-band of faith, fraternity and service. Most Catholics only see Knights as honor guards with swords drawn, in dress uniforms. That’s not the half of it! Past Grand Knight Witkins, for instance, as a youth leader and certified high school CCD teacher, designed a multi-media presentation that combines true science, the sacraments, the catechism and the Bible. It’s a hit. He gives retreats and talks in his diocese, is active in his parish, enrolled in the diaconate program, plays the guitar, works the bar or kitchen at Irish and Octoberfests, and counts the 100,000-plus pull tabs for bingo at his council each week. An engineer by profession, Witkins helped remodel Queen of Peace Council’s hall, fixed the roof and will scrub floors. He married his high school sweetheart 33 years ago, has four adult children and grandkids. It ain’t all about gold buttons!
World Youth Day or bust — Five vans of young people from the Chicago area, part of the Focolare Movement’s Gen branch (new generation of Christians) will be leaving for World Youth Day in Toronto. They’ll bump into other Gen from around the USA and across the world!
Making waves? — Anyone considering a cruise might be interested in the October 19-26 Caribbean adventure hosted by a national Catholic magazine. “Crisis,” a monthly publication, is peppered with controversy from theology to politics, with banter on books, film and music. Its readers are eclectic and contemporary. Not everyone’s cup o’ tay, maybe, but some cardinals and U.S. Rep. Henry Hyde of Illinois are boosters. Crisis articles get quoted in the Wall Street Journal as well as by Drudge, and it’s a Catholic Press Association award-winner. The tropical cruise on the Sea Princess has daily Mass, confession, a concert pianist to entertain, several interesting speakers, a cabaret night and, as they say, lots more. Phone Joanne or Darren at (800) 707-1634. Space is limited.
House-warming — On Aug. 12 monks will move into the first monastery to be opened in the Czech Republic since the fall of Communism. Six monks are Czech; six are Western European. Still under construction, the buildings are being incorporated from an ancient farm in Bohemia purchased 10 years ago by the monks of Sept-Fons Abbey in France. The new superior of the Trappist monastery will be the 48-year-old French prior of Sept-Fons. The men will follow a contemplative life of prayer, community life and manual labor. Serra International and Serra Italiano (not “Sierra”), some private foundations as well as the Czech Ministry of Culture are helping with funds.
Win some, lose some — OK, The Vatican Web page, www.vatican.va was a nominee but not a winner last month in the 2002 Webby Awards, the Internet’s Oscar. The International Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences declared Beliefnet, a multi-faith e-community, the official winner. Since acceptance speeches in any of the 30 categories are limited to only five words, theirs was: “Christians, Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, talking.” The “people’s voice” winner in the spirituality category, unfortunately was the Web site for “The Witches’ Voice, Inc.” Yikes!
On a mission — The arch needs American Airlines frequent flyer miles to send a medical or pastoral person to minister to the poor of Bolivia. The minimum number of miles needed from each American Advantage member would be 40,000 miles.
(There’s no way to add a lesser
number of miles together for a
ticket.) Please call (847) 328-7748
if you can help.
. . . . The Italian Cultural Center in Stone Park, is a source for all things Italian, from straightening out pension papers with the old country to sponsoring Italian classes for 600 kids in 15 locations in Chicagoland.
Quilters of St. Catherine/St. Lucy Parish, Oak Park
They make it for the Christmas bazaar, starting in the summer.
If you want to learn, get lessons from the experts, if you know how, bring your thimble. Wed. mornings in the rectory after Mass at 9 a.m.
(708) 386-8077 or 7755
Send your benevolent gossip to Church Clips, 721 N. LaSalle St., Chicago, IL 60610 or via e-mail to: [email protected]
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