Update

CRS aid flows to Iraqi needy

The security situation in Baghdad remains a concern despite recent signs of progress, said a Catholic Relief Services official.

“We have received reports that there are signs of improvement being made and that people here have seen some sort of progress,” said Christine Tucker, CRS regional director for the Middle East and North Africa, who arrived in Iraq May 3 as part of a Caritas Internationalis humanitarian aid convoy.

Amate honors for volunteers

More than 500 people were on hand May 2 as Amate House, the archdiocese’s young adult volunteer ministry, marked nearly 20 years of service at its annual “Amate Magic” celebration.

Honored were young adult volunteers and Archdiocesan Young Adult Ministry Directors Father John Cusick and Kate De Vries who received the Bernardin Medal for their dedicated and long service to Catholic young adults aged 20-40.

This year, 31 young adults have served the local community by teaching in inner city Catholic schools in Little Village, Englewood and Edgewater and by assisting the homeless by working with Chicago Uptown Ministries, Deborah’s Place and Interfaith House and several other ministries.

Also honored were Steve Ruppert (Founders’ Award) and Father George Rassas and the Church of St. Mary, Lake Forest (Guardian Angel Award), for sharing their treasure with the Amate House ministry.

News

Sharing the faith
Honors due for catechetical ministers

Recipients of this year’s Archdiocesan Catechetical Ministry Awards Recipients will be honored at the 8th Annual Catechetical Ministries Awards Banquet, 6:30-9:30 p.m. May 15, at Lexington House in Hickory Hills. For information, call Elzbieta Chudzik at (312) 243-3700.

Honorees are: Aida Aracella Toldeo and Olga Cigarroa, catechists of adults, St. Cecilia, Mt. Prospect; Jacqueline Brennan, Our Lady of Victory pre-school program coordinator; Susan Eimerman, religious education coordinator, Our Lady of the Brook, Northbrook; Doris Jackson, St. Philip Neri primary level catechist; Sue Matousek, director of religious education, St. Mary (Fremont Center); Marie Seaman, director of religious education, St. Linus, Oak Lawn; Maria Katuara, Debra Rock, Don Killela, Frank O’Toole and Terry Stephens, confirmation team, St. Christopher, Midlothian; and Mary L. Wyatt, director of religious education, Our Lady of Hope, Rosemont.

Pope to youth: Spend lives serving others, Christ

An obviously aging Pope John Paul II made his fifth visit to Spain May 3-4, sharing his conviction that a life spent in the service of God and one’s neighbors is the only type of life worth living.

In a May 3 evening meeting with more than 700,000 Spanish young people and again at a May 4 Mass for the canonization of five Spanish priests and religious, the pope called on Spaniards to live their faith with courage, to sow harmony in their nation, to stand up for Christian values in the new Europe and to work for peace in the world.

Eyes turn to future of religious freedom in Iraq as war ends

As U.S. led efforts in Iraq turned from fighting to stabilizing the country, church leaders and politicians worried that the next phase could be more difficult than the war itself.

In a presentation to members of Pax Christi at St. Gertrude Parish, U.S. Rep Jan Schakowsky, a Democrat, said she and others who opposed the war are happy that it ended swiftly because that minimized the loss of life, both for coalition military forces and Iraqis, but said that doesn’t make the war right or the peace any easier to manage.

Lake County Catholics join social justice effort

Over the last five or six years, Ginny Mulligan has met with Protestant pastors in Zion and sat down for coffee at a truck stop along Route 41 in northern Lake County.

The Libertyville resident and member of St. Joseph Parish has met—and become friends with—people of different races and ethnicities, different ages and socioeconomic backgrounds.

The early organizing work she and dozens of other Lake County residents did came to a head April 27, when representatives of 15 Catholic parishes were among more than 1,700 people who gathered at Libertyville High School to celebrate the founding of Lake County United, a broad-based community organizing effort.

Jubilarians

Twenty priests of the Archdiocese of Chicago are marking the silver jubilees of their ordination in 1978. The Catholic New World in celebrating the service and ministries on this milestone. All were ordained May 10, 1978, except Father Denis Condon, who was ordained April 30, 1978.

Fifteen priests of the Archdiocese of Chicago are celebrating golden jubilees of ministry, marking the 50th anniversary of their ordination which took place May 1, 1953. The Catholic New World joins their friends, relatives and the people of the Church of Chicago in honoring them on this milestone.

Catholic educators praised, encouraged at convention

More than 14,000 Catholic school teachers, administrators and parish catechists gathered in St. Louis April 22-25 for inspiration and encouragement in their work; shared camaraderie; practical tips for the classroom, school board and parish; and souvenirs of giveaway markers, pencils, rulers and stress balls.

Their work influences millions of people, Bishop Wilton D. Gregory of Belleville, Ill., president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, told participants at the opening session of the National Catholic Educational Association’s convention.