Issue of March 18, 2007

The following items are condensed. For the complete article, please read the print edition of The Catholic New World. To subscribe, call (312) 655-7777.

NewsUpdate

Loyola hosts peacemakers
Loyola University Chicago will host a conference on "Peacemaking in an Age of Terror" March 20-22 at the Mundelein Auditorium at Loyola's Lake Shore Campus. A variety of speakers will address how we can push for stability, justice and peace in the world in the face of those pushing for extremist violence and militarism.

Some of the lecture topics include the Mid-East, the war on terror, the military industry, religion and violence, the Just War theory, torture and nuclear weapons.

Registration for the conference is required as seating is limited. Regular registration is free. Full registration with priority seating is $75. To register or for more information on the lectures and speakers, visit www.luc.edu/ethics.

Fr. Wall to lead Extension
Father John "Jack" Wall, pastor of Old St. Patrick's Church, has been appointed president of the Catholic Church Extension Society. He succeeds Bishop William Houck, who retired at the end of February. Catholic Extension serves over 80 mission dioceses in the United States. Father Wall will serve as the president of Catholic Extension while finishing his term as pastor of Old St. Pat's during the parish's 150th anniversary.

News

Pope reflects on Eucharist, makes concrete suggestions for Mass, calls for faithful actions
Catholics must believe in the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, celebrate the liturgy with devotion and live in a way that demonstrates their faith, Pope Benedict XVI said. "The celebration and worship of the Eucharist enable us to draw near to God's love and to persevere in that love," the pope said in his apostolic exhortation, "Sacramentum Caritatis" ("The Sacrament of Charity"). The 131-page document, a papal reflection on the discussions and suggestions made during the 2005 world Synod of Bishops on the Eucharist, was released March 13 by the Vatican.

Cardinal: Catholic universities must rely on Catholic intellectual tradition, faculty
Catholic universities face several challenges as they work towards instilling a Catholic moral life in their students, Cardinal George told an audience at St. Xavier University in Chicago March 8. The cardinal, who spoke as part of the university's 1060th anniversary Catholic Colloquium lecture series, said Catholic colleges and universities are challenged by the notion of academic freedom, as it applied by secular universities, as well as by a shift in the understanding and teaching of moral theology and moral philosophy. "Universities have as their primary goal the discussion and dissemination of truth," the cardinal said.

Ethics integral to Catholic health care's mission
The question about Catholic health care is not so much whether the church should do it as how the church can do it, according to the final speaker at "Catholic Health Care Ethics: the Tradition and Contemporary Culture." Michael Panicola, vice president for ethics at SSM Health Care in St. Louis, spent much of his talk on the challenges to Catholic health care discussing the myriad issues that make it difficult for institutions to provide health care in accord with Catholic values in contemporary American society.

25 percent of Catholics read paper
One-fourth of U.S. Catholics contacted in a national survey by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate had read their diocesan newspaper at least once in the past six months. By contrast, 1 percent of the Catholics surveyed had tuned in to a diocesan radio station in the same period and only 2 percent had watched diocesan television in that time, it said. Most dioceses do not have radio or TV stations.

Charismatics celebrate 40 years of following the Spirit
For 40 years, the Israelites wandered the desert in search of the Promised Land. For 40 days, Jesus fasted and prayed in the desert before beginning his years of ministry. And 40 years after the Catholic Charismatic Renewal began, Charismatics are secure in their confidence that the Holy Spirit will lead them where they should follow.

A Catholic Family Conference celebrated the 40th anniversary Feb. 23-25, when more than 1,000 Charismatic Catholics gathered at the Wyndham Hotel in Lisle to hear speakers and to pray, worship and sing together.

Archdiocesan schools' test scores above average
The Archdiocesan Office of Catholic Schools announced that students in Catholic schools continue to exceed the national norm on standardized tests, with slight increases in 2006 over 2005. All Catholic schools administer the TerraNova II nationally normed tests to third-, fifth- and seventh-graders in March each year. This year's testing sessions were to end March 16.

Bishop Sabatini celebrates 50th anniversary
As a Scalabrini missionary, Bishop Lawrence Sabatini has served different populations of people, including teenagers in New York, Native Americans in British Columbia and Mexican immigrants in Chicago. Bishop Sabatini, 76, is now pastor at Holy Rosary Parish on Western Avenue. He was to celebrate the 50th anniversary of his ordination with a special Mass at Holy Rosary March 18. Cardinal George was to be the main celebrant at this Mass.

Persistence-and patience urged for pro-life leaders
Chicago-area pro-life activists got some advice March 3 on what to do-and what not to do-if they don't see their pastors as sufficiently supportive of their efforts. "Well, one thing you don't do is get into a fight with the man. You'll lose every time. This is the Catholic Church," Cardinal George advised the more than 500 who turned out for the archdiocese's March 3 conference at Gordon Tech High School. Amen, agreed three members of the archdiocesan Respect Life Office's Priest Advisory Board.