Update

Citing years of declining membership, the Archdiocese of Chicago suppressed (closed) Christ the Redeemer Bielarusian Parish July 21.

The parish, founded in the late 1950s to minister to Chicago’s small cadre of Byzantine Catholics from Belarus, was located in a renovated firehouse at 3107 W. Fullerton, Chicago. Never a large parish, at the end it usually had fewer than 20 worshippers at Sunday Mass.

The administrator since 1995 was Father John J. McDonnell, recently appointed pastor of St. Mary Star of the Sea Parish, Chicago.

Christ the Redeemer was the only parish in the United States serving Belarusian Byzantine Catholics. The parish was founded as members of the immigrant community gathered together for Mass, first at Josephinium High School and later on Fullerton. In recent years, however, the number of parishioners had drastically declined, ending with the closing of the parish. The parish shared the Fullerton location with the Ss. Peter and Paul Romanian Catholic Mission which will continue meeting there.

Lay orders meet

Local members of various lay orders will gather Aug. 9 in Our Lady of Sorrows Basilica to celebrate a Mass of Thanksgiving.

The 11 a.m. Mass will be celebrated by Cardinal George. The Liturgy of the Hours and the Rosary begin at 10 a.m. The event brings together members of the Dominican Laity, the Secular Servites, the Carmelites, the Secular Franciscans and the Oblates of St. Benedict.

News

Implementation, education begins for changes in Mass

In coming months, parishioners across the Archdiocese of Chicago can expect to hear more about some modifications that are being made to various parts of the Mass.

“The modifications, while important in that they deal with the celebration of the Eucharist, are not major,” said Todd Williamson, director of the archdiocesan Office for Divine Worship (ODW). He said they come as a result of revisions and clarifications made to the Introduction to the Missal, called the General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM). It is the collection of norms and guidelines that govern the celebration of Mass in the Roman Catholic Church.

Report details years of abuse in Boston

A 91-page report detailing the sexual abuse of at least 789 children by 250 priests or other workers of the Archdiocese of Boston since 1940 documents a “massive, inexcusable failure of leadership” in the archdiocese, Massachusetts Attorney General Tom Reilly said July 23.

“But that leadership is about to change, and we hope this report will draw a clear line between the past and a hopeful future,” said Reilly at a Boston press conference held a week before the July 30 installation of Archbishop Sean P. O’Malley to head the Boston Archdiocese.

Review board touts actions
Members promise continued independence

Members of the National Review Board for the Protection of Children and Young People issued a progress report of sorts at a Chicago press conference July 29.

Just over a year after the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops called for the board’s creation at their meeting in Dallas in June 2002, the board has at least begun all of the projects assigned to it by the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, first approved by the bishops at that meeting, said member William R. Burleigh, and they remain committed to ensuring the safety of children in the Catholic Church. The board now is led by interim Chairwoman Anne M. Burke, an Illinois Appellate Court justice, after the resignation of its first chairman, former Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating.

Pope to promote U.N.’s international relations role

Pope John Paul II, concerned about U.N. weakness demonstrated by the Iraqi war, will dedicate his next World Peace Day message to the importance of international law in promoting harmonious relations between countries.

The theme of the pope’s message for World Peace Day 2004, celebrated the first day of the year, will be: “International Law, a Way to Peace,” the Vatican said. “The recent war in Iraq, in fact, showed all the fragility of international law, particularly with regard to the functioning of the United Nations,” the Vatican said.

Reaching out
Jewish-Catholic effort aids Christians in the Holy Land

The Archdiocese of Chicago and the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago will try to make the world a little smaller for Arab Israeli Christians and strengthen the already close ties between the two faith communities here in the process.

In a July 21 press conference, Cardinal George and Jewish Federation President Steven B. Nasatir announced the joint Fassouta Computer Literacy Project which will provide $100,000 over three years to create a computer lab and training classes in the community center in Fassouta, a Melkite Catholic village in northern Israel’s Galilee region.

Same-sex unions opposed

In a new document, the Vatican offers detailed arguments against legal recognition of same-sex unions and asks Catholic lawmakers to fight growing movements to legalize “gay marriage.”

Design exhibition seeks to guide redevelopment

St. Boniface Church, closed in 1989 by the Archdiocese of Chicago, is the star of a four-week long exhibit at the CitySpace Gallery in the Chicago Architecture Foundation’s ArchiCenter.

The exhibit, July 31 though Sept. 1, includes design proposals for the property from four local architecture firms. The buildings are expected to be sold this fall.

Gibson talks of ‘Passion’ at USCCB

Actor-director Mel Gibson paid a quick visit to the U.S. bishops’ headquarters building in Washington July 21, a month after the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and Gibson’s Icon Productions were involved in a spat over Gibson’s new movie, “The Passion.”

Gibson met with Msgr. William P. Fay, USCCB general secretary. “It was a surprise visit,” said Fay, who had been notified of Gibson’s arrival an hour before it happened.”