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Issue of November 10, 2002
Update
CCHD collection in November
Leaders of the Catholic Campaign for Human Development are hoping that Chicago-area Catholics will maintain their generous pattern of giving during the annual collection Nov. 23 and 24.
The Archdiocese of Chicago has led the United States in donations for the campaign for the last several years, a record that Father Robert Vitillo, the campaign’s executive director, attributes to the sense of solidarity area Catholics have with “their brothers and sisters in need” and to the leadership of the archdiocese’s Office for Peace and Justice.
Last year, local Catholics donated $834,495, a quarter of which was kept in the archdiocese for local projects. Another $235,000 came back to anti-poverty programs in the archdiocese in grants from the national campaign.
One feature of CCHD, the U.S. bishops’ official domestic anti-poverty program, is that it fights poverty by supporting the efforts of poor people to develop programs that help them help themselves.
That’s even more important given the current economic situation, Vitillo said. “In these hard economic times, people living in poverty have more difficulty than ever before,” Vitillo said.
According to federal statistics, 34 million Americans live below the poverty line. For more information, visit www.povertyUSA.org.
Minority minister scholarships set
The Archdiocese of Chicago and Loyola University’s Institute of Pastoral Studies have established the Rev. Raymond Baumhart, S.J. scholarship program.
The tuition program was created to foster lay ecclesial ministry among members of the African-American, Asian and Latino communities who participate in the Together in God’s Service program by providing them with the opportunity to complete their academic program requirements.
The scholarship is named after Jesuit Father Raymond Baumhart, former president of Loyola and now a consultant to Cardinal George.
News
Does ossuary bear name of Jesus’ kin?
Biblical scholars said they were interested in the ossuary linked to the brother of Jesus, but cautioned against the possibility of fraud.
The limestone ossuary, a container for the bones of the dead, surfaced in the collection of an antiquities owner, with little known about the item’s history. It is inscribed with “Jacob (Ya’akov) son of Joseph (Yosef), brother of Jesus (Yeshua).” Jacob is the Hebrew version of James.
Death penalty foes gather here
Even as sentiment to impose the death penalty on the Washington-area snipers gained momentum, capital-punishment opponents from around the United States gathered in Chicago Oct. 24-27 to encourage one another, to recognize their achievements and to make their voices heard in the state that has been become the epicenter of the national debate on capital punishment.
The annual conference of the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty came against a backdrop of roughly 140 clemency hearings for Death Row prisoners, hearings ordered as lame duck Gov. George Ryan considered whether to commute the sentences of some or all of the prisoners before he leaves office.
Pope’s week: Celebration, sadness and honors
Pope John Paul II celebrated his Nov. 4 name day, the feast of St. Charles Borromeo, by making a rare telephone call to exchange name-day greetings with Italy’s President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi.
The pope, born Karol Wojtyla, called Ciampi shortly after midday, reported ANSA, a major Italian news agency, citing non-Vatican sources. As he has in past years on his name day, a Vatican holiday, the pontiff also met with Polish pilgrims and lunched with about a dozen elderly cardinals who live in Rome.
USCCB to ponder decisions on liturgy
Several liturgy-related decisions face the U.S. bishops when they meet in Washington Nov. 11-14.
These include:
—Approval of an English translation, for use in the United States, of the Vatican’s 1989 Latin liturgical book, “Rites of Ordination of a Bishop, of Priests and of Deacons.”
Mass rules explained
Standing during the eucharistic prayer at Mass in U.S. dioceses is permitted “only on exceptional and extraordinary occasions ... and never on a regular basis,” the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Liturgy said in its latest newsletter.
The committee’s September newsletter, made public in mid-October, said “the only licit posture” during the eucharistic prayer is kneeling, unless Catholics “are prevented on occasion from kneeling due to ‘health, lack of space, the large number of people present, or some other good reason.’” The newsletter was quoting from the General Instruction of the Roman Missal.
ACCW gathers, hears cardinal
Communication-within the Catholic Church, among people of different faiths and from one generation to another-is what is needed in the world.
So said Cardinal George to several hundred women who gathered to offer him their love and support at the Archdiocesan Council of Catholic Women annual fall lunch at the Chicago Hilton and Towers Oct. 26.
On the eve of his second trip to Rome in two weeks, this time to work with other U.S. bishops and Vatican representatives to hammer out the details of a clerical sexual abuse policy, the cardinal said that the church must clearly spread the message that the meetings in no way mean the Vatican has rejected the work American bishops did in Dallas in June.
Anti-Catholic bigotry colors reporting on abuse: Greeley
Catholics shouldn’t be surprised at what Father Andrew Greeley called the media “feeding frenzy” over the past year’s clerical sexual abuse scandals because mainstream American culture still harbors a strain of anti-Catholicism.
In an Oct. 28 talk at the City Club of Chicago, Greeley, a sociologist and author, made it clear that he thinks the media did the church “a big favor” by exposing the scandals and forcing the church to confront the problem. At the same time, he said, much of the coverage has had a hostile tone toward the Catholic Church not seen in stories involving other religions.
‘Got milk?’ He sure does
Nebraska Catholic high school athlete joins the ‘moo club’
What do Pete Sampras, Martha Stewart, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and now Grand Island’s own Kenny Howard all have in common?
They have all sported milk mustaches for the well-known “got milk?” ad campaign.
Howard, a sophomore at Grand Island’s Central Catholic High School, was picked as the Hometown Rookie of the Year for the campaign after family friend Janie Hoch sent in his nomination. He was chosen by the ad agency that runs the campaign for the milk industry.
Charities honors Smyth; Lynch will lead board
After a year of challenges, Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Chicago honored someone who has weathered some of his own at its annual meeting and lunch Oct. 30.
Father John P. Smyth, executive director of Maryville Academy, received the second ever “Caritas Christi Urget Nos (The Love of Christ Impels us) Award” from Father Michael Boland, administrator of Catholic Charities.
Guiding women to life, values
Four of Chicago’s most powerful and successful women sat down to discuss a topic of interest to women everywhere: how to maintain their commitment to their values and keep their sanity despite never-ending demands on their time.
“You have to decide what’s important to you as a person,” said Mary Dempsey, commissioner of the Chicago Public Library. “You have to learn to stay with your core mission. With regard to personal life, that’s my top priority. But it’s a constant re-evaluation. Every single day, you have to evaluate.”
Catechism ‘update’ sought
New, smaller volume asked for ‘average’ Catholic
Ten years after publication of the “Catechism of the Catholic Church,” one of its main authors said the church needs a new and smaller version-a minicatechism able to guide the average Catholic.
At a recent Vatican conference, Cardinal Christoph Schonborn of Vienna, Austria, formally asked Pope John Paul II to approve the idea of a briefer catechism, saying the current volume of more than 2,800 articles of church teaching is too ponderous for many Catholics.
Understanding the identity, mission of Catholic schools
Esther Hicks of the Office for Catholic Schools has been named director of Catholic School Identity and Mission for the Archdiocese of Chicago.
Her job is to help teachers and principals deepen their spiritual and professional wealth as catechists; provide services and programs; enhance the mutual understanding of teaching as a vocation; and inform teachers and principals of opportunities for charitable action in keeping with Catholic social teaching.
‘New Catholic Encyclopedia’ brings us up to date
The Catholic world is not the same as it was in 1967 when the first edition of the New Catholic Encyclopedia was published.
Since then, liturgical changes instituted by the Second Vatican Council have swept through Catholic churches, scriptural scholarship has expanded and canon law has been revised.
Schedule for Our Lady of the New Millennium
Nov. 10-24: St. Andrew the Apostle, 768 Lincoln Ave., Calumet City, (708) 862-4165.
Nov. 24-Dec. 8: Queen of the Universe, 7114 S. Hamlin Ave., Chicago, (773) 582-4662.
Dec. 8-15: St. Denis, 8301 S. St. Louis., Chicago. (773) 434-3313.
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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Command performance — French actor Gerard Depardieu announced  that, at the pope’s request, he will recite passages of St. Augustine around the world. Zenit, a Rome wire service, quoted the actor as saying “it will not be a performance but a way of enriching the faithful worldwide.” Depardieu, 53, who played the Count of Monte Cristo in the 1998 film, said the idea came to him two years ago, during a meeting with the pope. “John Paul II saw me and immediately said, ‘St. Augustine,’ seeing what he thought was my resemblance to the saint of Hippo.” Depardieu is also considering plans for a film on the saint and has discussed it with the Pontifical Council for Culture. The readings of Augustine’s texts — his classic “Confessions” narrates his undisciplined youth and conversion — will begin Nov. 23 in Tagaste in Numidia, today’s Algeria, where the saint was born on Nov. 13, 354. Depardieu will also go to Hippo, ancient capital of Numidia, where Augustine was bishop and where he’s buried. “I will read in the squares and in sacred places, in churches and synagogues, carrying with me only four candles,” the actor said.
People — Errol Ortiz, who has been the school janitor at St. Edward Parish since 1984, recently hung up his myriad tools and opted for retirement. Ortiz was known for his “good-natured personality,” PLUS being a jack-of-all-trades. . . . Fenwick High School (Oak Park) Blackfriars’ benefit at Navy Pier Nov. 2 honored Sister Rosemary Connelly, RSM of Misericordia, Heart of Mercy. The school’s “Lumen Tranquillum” (“quiet light”) award recognizes persons who are shining examples of the title. . . . Emily Karp, who recently turned 98, continues to launder the altar linens for her parish, St. Martha’s in Morton Grove. For the perfect finish, she puts the moistened linens in the refrigerator before ironing.
Before you know it — The Christmas tree in St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican this year will be the gift of Croatia. The Croatian president will present the tree personally to Pope John Paul II. The pope has visited the 88 percent-Catholic country twice, and may travel there again in 2003. . . . There will be ongoing Polish Christmas ornament workshops from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Nov. 16-17 for adults and children at the Polish Museum of America, 984 N. Milwaukee. Cost nominal, call (773) 782-2720.
‘Crossing’ the ocean — Before bidding the faithful farewell at his Oct. 30 general audience in St. Peter’s Square, JPII gave a greeting in English to a delegation from the Port Authority Police Department of New York and New Jersey. The New York police delegation gave the Pope a cross made of metal from the rubble at Ground Zero. Among those killed in the Sept. 11 attack on the Twin Towers were 38 Port Authority police personnel.
Amazing grace — It’s traditional at the 157-year old Virginia Military Institute for cadets to have a nondenominational prayer read before the evening meal. The ACLU filed a suit last year in federal court after two cadets objected; other groups joined them in declaring the prayers unconstitutional and “disruptive to the school’s education process.” Eight months later a federal judge ruled in the complainants’ favor. The school made its appeal in September, pointing out that the military has chaplains, they have prayers on ships and elsewhere; reasonable people don’t think “grace” constitutes the establishment of a religion, and the students could have applied for “conscientious objector” status to be excused. Depending on the outcome, mealtime prayers could be banned at other military academies, including Annapolis and the U. S. Air Force Academy.
Catechism that keeps on giving — Since Vicki Quade and Maripat Donovan, creators and producers of “Late Nite Catechism,” opened their  show in 1993, audiences have enjoyed the interactive Catholic shtick of a “nun” on stage and the audience her classroom. More than $1 million has been collected and donated by the two Catholic school alums for retired nuns across the country. From Benedictines to School Sisters of Notre Dame, it’s been $10,000 here and $35,000 there, to the noble women who taught and lived the catechism. Besides parish performances, you can catch Late Nite locally at The Royal George Theater. Box office is (312) 988-9000.
Holy Souls express — The custom is 1,300 years old: having a series of 30 Masses offered on 30 consecutive days for the repose of the soul of one departed person. Pope St. Gregory the Great popularized what are called Gregorian Masses. (Not to be confused with Gregorian Chant.) He related in his Dialogues how, when he had finished a series of 30 Masses for a departed monk, the monk appeared and said he had finally “gained entry into glory.” (The Sacred Roman Congregation on Indulgences calls the tradition “a pious and reasonable belief of the faithful.”) If the series is interrupted for sickness or any other reason, it must be begun again, so priests in missionary outposts around the world are ideally suited to fulfilling the necessary requirements. The arch’s Catholic Missions Office, 721 N. LaSalle, Chicago, IL 60610, can arrange for Gregorian Masses to be offered, requesting a stipend of $5 a Mass or $150. Also the Franciscan Missions accept Gregorian Mass stipends of $5 a Mass or $150, at P. O. Box 130, Waterford, WI, 53185. Remember to include the name of the deceased as well as your own name, address and stipend. You may request a memorial card.
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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