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Issue of January 16, 2005
UPDATE Gay-rights bill passes legislature Gov. Blagojevich was expected to sign into law a measure passed Jan. 10 and 11 by the Illinois House and Senate adding sexual orientation to the list of areas in which discrimination is illegal in housing and employment. Bob Gilligan, executive director of the Catholic Conference of Illinois, said he was disappointed by the vote. The church strongly opposes discrimination in any form, he said, including against gays and lesbians. However, he said, “this bill creates a separate civil rights category based on sexual behavior. We don’t think that’s necessary.” A CCI statement adds, “Homosexuals, like everyone else, should not suffer from prejudice against their basic human rights. They have a right to respect, friendship and justice. They should have an active role in the Christian community. … We especially deplore violence and harassment directed against (them).” CCI had sought to persuade legislators to vote against the measure. “Behavior is the problem,” said Gilligan. “How do we write a law separating sexual orientation and activities?” He said CCI, the public policy arm of the Catholic Church in Illinois’ six dioceses, will “evaluate (the law) based on federal laws in place to protect religious liberties.”
Donations asked for school fund The Cardinal’s School Fund continues to accept donations to help archdiocesan schools. The tax-deductible fund seeks donations from those who understand the value of a Catholic education. “The archdiocese has consistently felt itself committed to having Catholic education available to all,” Cardinal George said. “To help us meet this commitment, the entire Catholic community has shouldered the responsibility for the mission of education and, I am sure, will continue to do so. ... Right now, every dollar counts.” For info: visit www.archchicago.org.
NEWS Chicago’s ‘living saint’ buried Msgr. McDermott was 95; Cardinal cites life, service Msgr. Ignatius D. McDermott, the Catholic priest known for his lifelong ministry to those afflicted by the disease of alcoholism, died Dec. 31. He was 95. His funeral at Holy Name Cathedral, celebrated by Cardinal George and attended by many of Chicago’s past and present civic leaders, was Jan. 5. Cardinal George said, “Msgr. McDermott’s priestly heart reached out to those whom others might overlook or forget. We will remember him now before the Lord.”
Tsunami leaves wounds medicine can’t heal At St. Mary’s Catholic Church, they wait patiently to see the physician. Once inside the classroom turned medical-exam room, they sit down to tell Dr. Kamal Peiris their ailments. Many bear the symptoms of having struggled to escape the tsunamis; they have lacerated limbs and sore muscles. Others have wounds no physician can heal. Sudharmika Kumari weeps inconsolably when Peiris asks her what is wrong. “My daughter ...” she begins, then dissolves into tears. “We can prescribe medicines for medical problems, but we can’t find a solution for the tears of these people,” said Peiris, who has temporarily closed his practice in order to spend all his time voluntarily attending to the tsunami survivors who’ve taken refuge in this church and in other emergency shelters in this coastal town.
Pope’s monstrance visits Chicago to boost vocations A monstrance blessed by Pope John Paul II to stimulate prayers for vocations was scheduled to be in Chicago Jan. 14-16 for a Serra International event, Serra, a vocations-awareness group, is sponsoring a nationwide tour of the object. During 2005, U.S. and Canadian parishes will be able to display the monstrance, one of six blessed by the pope in November, said Father Edward J. Burns, executive director of the U.S. bishops’ Secretariat for Vocations and Priestly Formation.
Bishop Listecki migrates north When Auxiliary Bishop Jerome E. Listecki leaves Chicago to become the bishop of the Diocese of LaCrosse, Wis., it will be the first time he’s ever really moved away from his hometown. Bishop Listecki, a Chicago native, attended local Catholic schools and the archdiocesan seminaries before being ordained a priest of the archdiocese in 1975. Outside of studying in Rome for four years, the 55-year-old bishop has always lived in Cook or Lake county.
Diaconate community sees vicar installed Father Michael Ahlstrom was installed as Vicar for the Diaconate Community at Holy Name Cathedral Jan. 9. Many members of the diaconate community witnessed the ceremony, as well as a number of Ahlstrom’s family and friends. Though he has held the official title of vicar for only a short time, Ahlstrom spent a year learning “the ropes” as co-vicar with Father Edward Salmon before Salmon retired this summer. Ahlstrom has worked solo since then.
USCCB booklet encourages, explains eucharistic adoration The U.S. bishops’ Committee on Liturgy has issued a resource booklet encouraging and explaining adoration of the Eucharist outside Mass. Titled “Thirty-One Questions on Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament,” the 41-page booklet highlights the importance of eucharistic adoration and its relation to the Mass. It explains the difference between adoration of the Eucharist in the tabernacle and the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament.
Marching for life: teens, adults head to Washington For Dolores Rivera of Holy Rosary Parish, Chicago, the trip to participate in the annual March for Life Jan. 23 in Washington D.C. will be a family affair. Rivera and her husband will accompany their three teen-age daughters on the trip. It will be the first time for them to take part in the march, which marks the anniversary of the 1973 Supreme Court Roe vs. Wade ruling legalizing abortion.
Nuncio compares Indonesia’s Aceh province to Armageddon The Vatican’s nuncio to Indonesia, who toured the tsunami-hit Aceh province, compared the damage to Armageddon. “For me, it is like Armageddon,” Archbishop Albert Malcolm Ranjith Patabendige Don told UCA News, an Asian church news agency based in Thailand. The archbishop visited Aceh Jan. 1 and 2, and one of the first things he did in the provincial capital, Banda Aceh, was celebrate Mass for about 25 Catholics living in a refugee camp.
Miracles always needed to affirm a saint’s holiness From the earliest days, the Catholic Church would declare someone a saint only when there was a widespread reputation of holiness and some evidence that favors were granted through the person’s intercession, a Vatican official said. The official, Msgr. Robert J. Sarno of the Congregation for Saints’ Causes, said, “Graces, favors and miracles were always part of the process,” although the number and type of favors and the process for verifying them has changed throughout the centuries.
End Cuban embargo: pope Pope John Paul II called for an end to the U.S. economic embargo against Cuba so that adequate conditions for the Caribbean island’s development could be met. The pope made his comments Jan. 8 in an address to Cuba’s new ambassador to the Holy See, Raul Roa Kouri, as the diplomat presented the pope with his letters of credential. “The Holy See strongly desires that obstacles that hinder free communication and exchange between the Cuban nation and part of the international community be overcome as soon as possible,” the pope said.
Pope prods diplomats on life, peace, hunger, more The “enormous catastrophe” caused by the Dec. 26 tsunamis, terrorist acts in Iraq and Europe and continuing violence in Africa cast a shadow over the year 2004, Pope John Paul II said. While it would be easy to despair and fear for the future, he said, Christians must witness to hope and must rally all people of good will, “strengthening the common bonds of our humanity and ... making them prevail over all other considerations.”
Students honor ‘Studs’ author Studs Lonigan isn’t a name heard in many high school literature classes, even in Chicago, the fictional character’s hometown. But that’s not the case at St. Ignatius College Prep, where seniors in John Lillig’s “Chicago Authors” class get a sampling of the writings of author James T. Farrell. Farrell, a prolific author, enjoyed popularity in his heyday. Even so, his best-known work, the coming-of-age tale the “Studs Lonigan” trilogy, was criticized as being obscene, and many libraries refused to purchase the books.
San Miguel marks 10 years The San Miguel community is celebrating a decade of transforming young lives, many once tagged as hopeless. The two-campus Catholic middle school began with a dream and much faith. It is the kind of success story movies are made of, one with character struggles but a happy ending and sequels to come. San Miguel first opened its doors in 1995 in the Back of the Yards neighborhood, where only 30 percent of students graduate from high school. “The dream was to provide a human and Christian education for kids who don’t have a lot of options,” said De La Salle Christian Brother Ed Siderewicz, San Miguel president. Now, more than 87 percent of San Miguel students graduate from high school, Siderewicz said, and in 2002, the first San Miguel students entered college.
Evangelization 101 Students learn to spread faith in campus ministries An estimated 250 students from colleges and universities around the country gathered in Washington Dec. 29-Jan. 2 to meet other young Catholics, pray together and learn about spreading their faith through campus ministries at home. The theme of the National Catholic Student Coalition’s 21st annual leadership conference was “Ask me why I serve the church.” “For the students, (the conference) gives them a sense of the larger church outside their campuses,” said Kim Zitzner, a student at the University of Delaware who helped organize the Washington meeting.
Israel indicts five in ‘James ossuary’ fraud Israeli police have charged five people—including the owner of the so-called “James ossuary”—with 17 counts of antiquities forgery and fraud. A 27-page indictment was based on a two-year investigation involving the Jerusalem police and the Israel Antiquities Authority. The charges include forgery, receiving fraudulent goods and damaging antiquities.
Executions decline; author, death-penalty foe hopeful But she noted that “Texas is standing out more and more in its stark contrast to the number of executions it continues to do,” she said, “even as the rest of the country is starting to put ... away the machinery of death.”
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