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Issue of August 14, 2005
UPDATE
Lay movements getting support
Lay movements that enjoyed the strong support of Pope John Paul II believe they have an even stronger ally in Pope Benedict XVI.
One of the first meetings Pope Benedict has convoked on his own initiative is a Pentecost 2006 encounter with lay-movement representatives. Leaders of 29 movements and communities met in late June with officials of the Pontifical Council for the Laity to begin planning the encounter.
In Chicago, Cardinal George will meet Sept. 10 with members of lay ecclesial movements and third orders at St. Frances of Rome Church, Cicero, to mark the closing of the Year of the Eucharist. There will be a hour of Eucharistic adoration, followed by Mass at 10 a.m. and a reception. For information, call (312) 751-8217.
Center honored
St. Vincent de Paul Center’s Early Intervention Initiative program was recently recognized as a finalist for Catholic Charities USA’s 2005 Family Strengthening Awards.
The awardees will be honored at Catholic Charities USA’s Annual gathering in Phoenix Sept. 17. For information, visit www.catholiccharitiesusa.org/caseyaward.
Teacher suspended
Thomas Q. Marotta, 40, a music teacher at St. Bartholomew School, has been suspended without pay pending an investigation into allegations that he had inappropriate contact with a girl who just graduated from the school’s eighth grade.
Marotta was charged with criminal sexual assault against the 14-year-old after her parents allegedly discovered correspondence between the two. The suspension was according to archdiocesan policy.
Differences can’t halt Catholic-Muslim connection
When Cardinal George and Imam W. Deen Mohammed took the stage in the Joseph Cardinal Bernardin Auditorium at Holy Name Cathedral July 25, they were greeted by a warm ovation from a standing-room-only audience.
The presentation, billed as a conversation about “Faith and the Common Good,” seemed as remarkable for taking place at all as for what was said. The event, a result of six years of discussions of the Catholic-Muslim Interfaith Dialogue Group, was originally scheduled for April but had to be postponed because of the Vatican conclave to elect the successor to Pope John Paul II.
Cardinal George spoke first, alluding to a number of personal conversation he has had with the imam since being named archbishop of Chicago, and saying the topic for the public conversation was an apt choice.
Young people get ready for WYD activities
U.S. diocesan groups are preparing both spiritually and logistically for the coming World Youth Day celebrations in and around Cologne, Germany, Aug. 16-21.
More than 23,000 U.S. pilgrims will be joining 70 U.S. bishops at World Youth Day. They represent nearly all 50 states and 81 percent of dioceses and eparchies in the country, according to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. An additional 300,000 young people from around the world registered for World Youth Day this year.
Archdiocesan pilgrims pray, prepare
In the days leading up to World Youth Day in Cologne Germany, Maria Perez-Eraci had her hands full making sure that the more than 550 pilgrims for the Archdiocese of Chicago were prepared—spiritually, logistically and practically.
Perez-Eraci, youth ministry coordinator for Vicariate VI on the South Side and South suburbs, coordinated the pilgrimage for all teens and young adults from the archdiocese.
Groups from Chicago-area parishes, schools and colleges were planning to spend the week from Aug. 16-21 getting to know one another, their peers from around the world, their God and their faith, Perez-Eraci said.
Evolution ‘reveals God’ in life
The theory of evolution, rather than negating the need for God, helps believers understand that God’s relationship to the universe is that of a nurturing parent, said Jesuit Father George Coyne, director of the Vatican Observatory.
But there is a “nagging fear in the church” that evolution is incompatible with a divinely planned universe and this fear has historically created “murky waters” in the church’s relationship to science, he said in an Aug. 6 article in The Tablet, an independent Catholic newspaper published in London.
Interfaith gathering focuses on need for healing
Christian-Jewish council cites peace as common goal
Forty years after the publication of “Nostra Aetate,” in which the Catholic Church formally repudiated anti-Semitism as sinful and said Catholics must respect all that is true and holy in other faiths, interfaith dialogue is entering a new phase.
That was the conclusion of participants in the International Council of Christians and Jews annual conference held in Chicago July 24-27.
Now that dialogue partners have gotten to know one another and discovered many commonalities, they are starting to recognize points of friction as well, participants said, but partners must deal with difficult issues for relationships to grow.
Catholic families on fire with faith
The Catholic Family Movement (CFM) celebrated its triennial National Marriage and Family Life Conference in the Chicago area this year, with Holy Family Parish in Inverness hosting the 200-plus people who attended.
The July 15-16 conference, titled “Fanning the Fire of Faith,” included a variety of speakers and activities for parents, teens and children.
“We have been coming to every conference since 1991,” said Peter Buchbauer of Winchester, Va. Buchbauer and his wife and teenagers combine their vacations with the CFM events. “There is so much variety among the people who belong to CFM. It creates community in an environment that has become very mobile and lacking in extended family roots.”
HIV/AIDS ministers gather to make their voices heard
Silence can be deadly, but it also has the power to transform hearts and minds.
That was the message of “Transforming Silence,” the National Catholic AIDS Ministry Network’s national conference held July 21-25 at Loyola University Chicago’s Lakeshore Campus.
“Women make up half the people with AIDS, and there is silence,” said Adrienne Curry, the Archdiocese of Chicago’s director for Catholic Relief Services, in the opening talk that set the theme of the conference. “More people died from AIDS today than died in the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, and there is silence. Fifteen million children under 18 have been orphaned by AIDS, and there is silence.”
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a
column
of
benevolent gossip
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‘Dreimal Hoch’ — Hearty congratulations! When the German choir at St. Alphonsus Church (W. Wellington) planned a celebration for its 50th anniversary this summer they didn’t know our new pope would be a native of Bavaria, and that Cardinal George and 1,000 guests would offer the anniversary Mass with them. Alfred Schoepko has been the choir’s director since 1955. Historic St. Alphonsus is the only parish in the arch still offering a Mass in German (9:15 a.m. on first Sundays).
Milestones — The 8th Day Center will mark its 30th anniversary at a fund-raiser 2-5 p.m. Sept. 18. The Center’s steadfast “holy agitation” on peace and justice issues locally, nationally and worldwide persists in afflicting the comfortable and comforting the afflicted. Tickets for the program of music, silent auctions and refreshments are $50/person, at Teamster’s Auditorium, 1645 W. Jackson, RSVP to (312) 641-5151.
'I am your friend’ — The Vatican newspaper reports a life-sized bronze statue of Pope John Paul II was dedicated in the Cuban city of Holguin. The country’s bishops attended the event June 26. This first statue honoring the pope on the island recalls his visit there in 1998. The standing pope, with crosier and miter, giving a blessing, was done by Cuban artists Henry Wilson and Héctor Carrillo.
Give me a break — Now that the tasteful “Joan of Arcadia” is out at CBS, “Daniel” will soon be in at NBC. The plot’s promotional copy says it’s about a “contemporary, cool” Jesus who appears only to a priest. It’s a “pill-popping priest,” by the way. Garret Dillahunt of cable’s “Deadwood” fame will play Jesus. NBC calls it “out-of-the-box” entertainment, and “inspired” in part by the success of Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ.”
Parish Potpourri — Father Ed Pelrine of St. Celestine Parish (Elmwood Park) is now a 4th degree Knight of Columbus. As part of the St. Anthony de Padua Council 1949, he becomes a “49er.”. . . There’s door-to-door bus service from St. Isidore Parish (Blue Island) on Saturdays, about 5 p.m., for those wanting to play bingo at Ascension-St. Susanna Parish (Harvey). . . . Students from St. Therese Chinese School (W. Alexander) were one of the final acts in the Taste Of Talent Contest performing at Taste of Chicago this year, doing their fan and ribbon dances, plus handkerchief, kung fu and lion dances . . . . Visitors who wondered about the playpen outside the confessional at St. Edward’s (W. Sunnyside) can relax. So can those who saw the baby crib in the back of St. Viator’s (W. Addison). Parishioners were using them to hold gifts for recent baby showers benefitting the pro-life Women’s Center outreach. . . . St. Constance Parish (W. Strong) will dedicate its Divine Mercy Chapel and a plaque marking the pontificate of JPII at 1:30 p.m. Sept. 25. . . . Businessman Walter Sojka of Holy Innocents Parish (N. Armor) was honored by the Polish Museum of America at its summer ball benefit. He received the Polish Spirit Award for philanthropy in Polonia and the community. Among his accomplishments, Sojka was lay chairman of the welcoming committee for Pope John Paul II’s first visit to Chicago.
'Soul’ food — The women of St. Matthew Parish (Schaumburg) have had a funeral luncheon committee for about 10 years. It’s been able to accommodate 20-150 guests at a time if bereaved families opt for a homemade lunch at the parish. Judy Ambrose handles reservations, selections from a simple entree menu (roast chicken and Italian beef with peppers is a favorite), and then puts out the call for volunteer servers, cooks, salad makers and dessert specialists. There are 50-70 names on her list-of-the-generous, ranging from age 50 to 85. The parish charges a rockbottom per person fee. Because so many families come back for recipes, the committee published a cookbook. Now they add recipes once a month, printing them in the parish bulletin. . . . The smoke of battle has cleared in Palos Heights and the Rib Master champs this year at St. Alexander Parish’s picnic cook-off were Pat Scully and Dave Landis. Their village mayor was one of the judges. . . . Parishioners of St. Ann’s (Lansing) sign up to host a 6:30 p.m. Mass in their back yards on summer Mondays, followed by a light potluck dinner. It’s “bring your own lawnchair and a-dish-to-share” style. Sometimes they get up to 50 worshippers.
Tapping resources — St. Barnabas Parish (S. Longwood) is inviting parishioners with PR and marketing skills to join its new communications committee. . . . Santa Maria Del Popolo (Mundelein) continues to utilize parishioners who are professional statisticians and data collectors after completing a hum-dinger parish survey. (Just promise not to call it the PR Ministry or the Statistical Ministry.)
Quite a record — After 110 years serving St. Matthias Parish (W. Ainslie), the School Sisters of St. Francis are moving on. and recently said their good-byes at a reception after the weekend Masses. As of July 31, two of the sisters will retire, two will go on to other missions and one will continue to serve part-time at the parish. . . . Sister Mary Ann Dosen, OSF, math teacher and former golf coach at Mount Assisi Academy (Lemont) starred in the “Beat the Nun” competition at Catholic Charities’ golf outing July 27. She usually beats over 80 percent of the 150-plus stalwarts who give it a try for charity.
Send your benevolent gossip to:
Church Clips
721 N. LaSalle St.,
Chicago, IL 60610
or via e-mail.
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Movies at a Glance
Capsule reviews of movies from the U.S. Catholic Conference's Office for Film and Broadcasting, judged according to artistic merit and moral suitability. Go to reviews
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