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Issue of November 23, 2003
THE UPDATE: St. Michael to close St. Michael’s Parish (24th St.) will close by the end of November. A closing liturgy was scheduled for Nov. 23. Bishop John Manz, episcopal vicar of Vicariate III, announced the decision Nov. 8. It had been anticipated for some time. “It saddens me to confirm what you have likely expected for some time,” Bishop Manz said in a statement, “Cardinal George has accepted my reluctant request to close St. Michael Parish.” The parish, which celebrated its 100th anniversary this year, has 300 registered families, according to archdiocesan records, but regular Mass attendance has been much less and diminishing. The parish was formed in 1903 to serve Italian families. Although a small cadre of Italian worshippers remains, most families are Hispanic. Bishop Manz said three other parishes less than a mile away are “eager” to welcome St. Michael’s parishioners.
Catholic radio expands airtime Catholic radio programming is hitting the airwaves virtually full-time beginning Dec. 1 as Starboard Network’s Relevant Radio goes sunrise to sunset on WCSN, 820AM. The Archdiocese of Chicago’s “Catholic Community of Faith” radio programming will continue to be heard from 9-10 a.m. Monday through Friday right after Starboard’s flagship “Morning Air” show with Jeff Cavins. In addition, Starboard Eastern Region president, John Bitting, said the network has acquired WWCA, 1270AM, serving southern Cook County and Northwest Indiana. It will begin broadcasting its Catholic programming Nov. 26. For information on Catholic radio, visit www.relevantradio.com or www.archchicago.org, or check listings in The Catholic New World.
NEWS: Big Shoulders, big dreams Visits from VIPs, donors spotlight inner-city Catholic schools Thirteen-year-old Seaton Crosswell helped a teacher staple photographs of smiling kindergarten and first-grade students to a bulletin board in the teacher lounge at St. Malachy School on the West Side of Chicago. The construction paper sign placed next to the board read: “Thank you for our smiles!” The decorations were intended for some very distinguished guests: Msgr. Kenneth Velo, president of the Big Shoulders Fund, and John and Sally Endries from the Carmel Valley area of California, who have been donating to West Side parishes and schools for years. The Nov. 17 visit was one of nearly 100 scheduled at inner-city schools throughout the Chicago area for the annual “Lend a Shoulder Day,” giving donors to the Big Shoulders Fund an opportunity for a first-hand glimpse at where their money goes and giving schools and students a chance to show their appreciation—and perhaps show off just a bit.
Bishops begin work on relations with politicians The U.S. bishops have begun work on a set of guidelines for themselves on how to handle relationships with Catholics whose actions in public life are not in accord with church teaching. The goal for the guidelines is to help bishops make distinctions between “respect for the office and approval of the officeholder ... to distinguish between fundamental moral principles and prudential judgments on the application of those principles, between essential substance and tactics,” said Bishop John H. Ricard of Pensacola-Tallahassee, Fla., chairman of a new task force charged with addressing the issue.
Same-sex union not a ‘marriage’ The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops overwhelmingly approved a short teaching document Nov. 12 on why same-sex unions should not be given the social or legal status of marriage. The bishops adopted the statement, “Between Man and Woman: Questions and Answers About Marriage and Same-Sex Unions,” by a vote of 234-3.
Popular devotions get bishops’ OK The U.S. bishops Nov 12 approved a pastoral statement encouraging popular devotions but cautioning that they should never supplant the liturgy, the primary form of the church’s worship and sacramental life. The statement is called “Popular Devotional Practices: Basic Questions and Answers.”
Bishops urge help for migrants and family farms The U.S. bishops conference took stands in support of some undocumented workers and in support of family farms at their fall meeting, Nov. 10-12. Pending legislation to grant legal status to some undocumented farmworkers should be supported and made into law, said a Nov. 12 statement from the president of the U.S. bishops’ conference, Bishop Wilton D. Gregory of Belleville, Ill. At the request of Los Angeles Cardinal Roger M. Mahony, Bishop Gregory’s statement was drafted during the bishops’ fall general meeting in Washington.
Pope praises charity at beatification of five The church is made up of faithful who are bound together by charity and who reject modern culture’s tendency to give value only to money, Pope John Paul II said after beatifying five European religious. During the Nov. 9 Mass in St. Peter’s Square, the pope beatified a Spanish priest and nun, a Belgian priest, an Italian brother and a French nun.
Pope urges support for people with depression Depression is a spiritual trial, and those suffering from the illness should receive special support from their priests and parish communities, Pope John Paul II said.
‘Stewardship way of life’ encouraged The U.S. bishops Nov. 12 agreed to issue a new call to stewardship for Catholic young adults. The document, to be published in the form of a brochure, is aimed at interesting 18- to 35-year-olds in “the challenges and satisfactions of the stewardship way of life,” explained Bishop Sylvester D. Ryan of Monterey, Calif. It was approved in a 212-0 vote, with two abstentions.
Making soap, making strides Non-profit uses business to teach employment skills The can of coconut oil has run dry, so Aja Robinson moves out of soap-making kitchen and into the assembly room at The Enterprising Kitchen to help wrap bars of sweet-smelling soap for sale. Robinson, who started working at the company 13 months ago, is now chief soap-maker, overseeing the blending of various solid and liquid vegetable fats, lye and essential oils, lavender and other ingredients that go into The Enterprising Kitchens high-end, all-natural soaps and bath salts. But at TEK, as the small, not-for-profit company is known, the main product isn’t the soap, it’s women like Robinson: women who come in with few employment skills and leave on the path to getting a job and becoming self-sufficient.
Parishioners across the Archdiocese of Chicago and all over the United States will be asked to pull their wallets and checkbooks out once again for the special Catholic Campaign for Human Development collection Nov. 22-23. Organizers hope that Chicago-area Catholics, who have long topped the list of donors to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops anti-poverty campaign, will prove their generosity yet again. Last year, the archdiocesan parishioners gave $800,698 to the campaign. Of the total collection, 10 percent pays for administration, fundraising and educating Americans about poverty in the United States. Of the rest, 75 percent goes to the national CCHD office for distribution around the country, and 25 percent stays in the archdiocese to fund local projects that work to empower poor people to change the structures that perpetuate poverty.
Only God can grow a Christmas tree Benedictine ‘farmer’ just adds water, care For the past 33 years, the Christmas trees at Marmion Abbey, Aurora, have kept Benedictine Father Bede Stocker in shape. He returns the favor with the help of students from nearby Marmion Academy, who work to pay off some of their tuition. “The Lord made trees for lumber,” he explains. “They grow too shaggy for Christmas trees, so you have to shape them.”
The stuff of life: Bread, books, theater Jesuit brother’s many ministries all nourish the soul Whether he is baking bread, simmering soup or producing a play with disabled actors, Jesuit Brother Rick Curry always is nourishing people. “Emotional, spiritual, physical … it’s all nourishment,” said Curry, chatting in a Magnificent Mile hotel lobby before giving a talk at Loyola University Chicago as part of a series of book discussions. “It’s all giving, and that’s not something you can meditate on for long without wanting to do that for someone else.”
Prayer, care and listening House chaplain calls on lessons from Bernardin When Father Daniel P. Coughlin ministers to members of the U.S. House of Representatives, he often finds himself calling on the lessons he learned from Cardinal Joseph Bernardin—a mentor, a colleague and a friend. Coughlin, a Chicago priest who in 2000 became the first Catholic chaplain of the House, said the country and its leaders need the kind of pastoral care that Bernardin exemplified. Coughlin offered the sixth annual Bernardin Memorial Lecture Nov. 12 at Catholic Theological Union. The cardinal died Nov. 14, 1996.
Neuhaus: vibrancy returning for youth Just ‘good enough’ not enough There are far too many “good enough” Catholics and not enough Catholics insisting on moral and spiritual excellence in their lives—as well as the world around them, Father Richard John Neuhaus told a Loyola University audience last week. At the same time, the most vibrant stirrings of faith seem to be coming from young people around the world responding to Pope John Paul II’s call to be more than “cultural Catholics,” said Neuhaus, the editor of “First Things” magazine and president of the Institute on Religion and Public Life, Nov. 10. He spoke at part of Loyola University’s Chapel Series lectures at the Madonna Della Strada Chapel.
Cultural exchange More than half-hour bus ride separates inner-city, suburban Catholic schools What do the students at St. Dorothy School, on the South Side of Chicago, and the suburban St. Thomas More School, in Munster, Ind., have in common? Quite a bit, it turns out—including a healthy interest in lunch. When about 270 mostly African-American students from St. Dorothy took a half-hour bus ride to visit St. Thomas Nov. 5, the thing most talked about first was lunch: corn dogs and peaches and pretzels and a choice of white, chocolate or strawberry milk. The next thing they talked about was church. Front Page | Digest | Cardinal | Observations |
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do best. Our own Poor Clare Nuns of the Immaculate Conception on Cook Road in Lemont will benefit from a dinner on Dec. 7 hosted by Mrs. Michael O’Malley with Cardinal George as guest speaker at Palos Country Club. For tickets, call Mike at (708) 385-7994. Through the years, at one monastery or another, they have been praying 24/7 for the world. . . . The prayers of the Poor Clares in Arlington, Va., were praised by Father James Gould for a marked increase in priestly vocations in that diocese during a national vocations drought. Gould, ordained in 1981, is the priest commentator seen with Ray Arroyo on EWTN’s telecast of the bishops’ meetings in Washington D.C. He was Arlington’s vocations director (1985-2000) with the blessing of the late Bishop John Keating. In an article about Gould in November’s “New Oxford Review,” he tells of the impact his uncle, Father Dudley Day, OSA, of Chicago, had on his work. Day taught him what he had discerned as the “four marks” of a vocation: “prayer, hard work, generosity and sacrifice” in that order. Gould’s approach to finding such candidates was to hit the bricks himself. He preached about vocations at parishes on Sundays, and tirelessly addressed schools, colleges, Scout retreats, Knights of Columbus councils and even military bases. October is usually Clergy Appreciation Month, but affirmation of our religious leaders who demonstrate those “four marks” would be welcome throughout the year.
Color in Killarney — Mary McSweeney, an alum of the Cork School of Art, is bringing her oil-on-canvas scenes of landscapes and everyday life in Ireland back for exhibit in the Chicago area. Scenes of the Irish at work and play, soda bread and all, evokes the same nostalgia as a Norman Rockwell. The exhibit is 3-9 p.m. Dec. 13 and 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Dec.14 at Gaelic Park, 6119 W. 147th St., Oak Forest, (708) 687-9323.