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The Catholic New World
News Digest: Week in Summary
Issue of October 1, 2006

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

School award nominees requested

Archdiocese of Chicago’s Office of Catholic Schools is requesting nominations for its 2007 Heart of the School Awards. Any archdiocesan resident— including students, parents and co-workers—can nominate someone by going to www.archchicago.org and clicking on schools until Oct. 16, 2006.

“These award winners showcase the exceptional dedication, leadership and service that exists in our Catholic schools and are delivering on the archdiocese’s commitment to make schools Catholic in their identity, excellent in academics, and vital parts of their communities,” said schools superintendent Nicholas M. Wolsonovich.

Fourteen Heart of the School Awards are presented. Winners will receive a monetary award, a lapel pin and recognition by the Catholic schools leadership. Schools will also receive plaques for the honorees.

For more information, go to www.archchicago.org and click on schools.



St. Joseph moves forward

St. Joseph High School has acquired the former Immaculate Heart of Mary building and property adjacent to their current campus. The school plans to convert the building into a state of the art academic campus, while continuing to use the St. Joseph gymnasium, related facilities, parking lot and athletic fields.

The new academic campus will have 40 percent more classroom space and a 400-seat auditorium, upgraded music facilities, and a large, modern chapel. According to St. Joseph Principal Donna Kiel, “the working plan is to move classes into the remodeled structure in mid-January for the beginning of St. Joseph’s second semester. We want our young men and women to have every advantage, and we can do so sooner by moving forward with these exciting plans,” she said.







News

Breaking the cycle of poverty

For one night, Chicago’s diversity—its many neighborhoods, ethnicities and interest groups—came together to celebrate what they share in common: a fight to break the cycle of poverty.

Twenty-two Chicago area community organizations shared in a record $490,000 in grant money from the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD), the domestic anti-poverty program of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.



Students at Catholic Theological Union are back in class for the new academic year, traipsing up and down stairs, catching up on work or e-mail in a new lounge area, and visiting the library—this time, a library without bathtubs.

The Catholic graduate school of theology has moved into its new quarters at 5416 S. Cornell Ave., across the street from its previous facility at 5401 S. Cornell.

The $21 million, 95,000 square foot building includes a large room that can be subdivided for use as a chapel, auditorium or meeting rooms, along with a parking garage, classrooms and faculty offices.



Dominican missionary: dialogue must be lived

For Dominican Father Chrys McVey, Christian-Muslim dialogue was simple everyday life for the 44 years he lived and ministered to Catholics in Pakistan.

Living in a Muslim country, with only a tiny minority of Christians, McVey saw Muslim life in a way Christians in the United States never have—and saw the way living as a minority changed the identity of the Christian community.

He spoke at Dominican University Sept. 21, delivering a presentation called “Beyond Christ, for Christ’s Sake,” part of the Siena Center Matthew J. Lamb Dialogue Series on Muslim-Catholic understanding.

In a Sept. 20 interview, McVey—now serving in Rome as the Socius for his order—said that Pope Benedict’s recent quotation from a 14th century emperor calling aspects of Islam “evil” and “inhuman” has set dialogue between the two faiths back at least 20 years.



‘Bishop Wycislo Week’ to honor hometown boy

What Karol Wojtyla is to St. Mary Parish in Wadowice, Poland, Aloysius Wycislo is to St. Mary of Czestochowa Parish in Cicero: both outstanding native sons who served the church and made a difference.

Bishop Wycislo is being remembered in the parish of his birth by schoolchildren, parishioners, friends and dignitaries on the anniversary of his death in 2005 at age 97. Activities planned for Bishop Aloysius Wycislo Week Oct. 6-13 will call attention to the remarkable life of this prelate who was taught by the Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis, served Mass in the historic 110-year-old church, sat in the school’s classrooms and even acted in their school plays.

An ordinary kid after graduation, he hopped the streetcar at Ogden and Cicero and headed for Quigley each day, saving a seat for classmate Henry Roszkowski so they could do their homework together. They would be ordained at St. Mary of the Lake Chapel in 1934 by Cardinal George Mundelein.





Guerin Prep celebrates sainthood of its patron

Sister Marie Kevin Tighe took over as promoter of the cause for sainthood of Mother Theodore Guerin in 1996, 87 years after the cause was first opened. At the time, the Vatican had not yet accepted the first miracle attributed to Mother Guerin’s intercession—the healing of a nun in 1908.

Phil McCord, the director of facilities at for the Sisters of Providence at St. Mary-of-the-Woods, Ind., didn’t start working for the sisters until 1997. He never thought he would need a miracle, until 2000, when he found himself in need of a corneal transplant after suffering complications from cataract surgery.

McCord’s eye was healed, that was accepted as the second miracle attributed to Mother Guerin’s intercession, and the foundress of the Sisters of Providence of St. Mary-of-the-Woods will be canonized Oct. 15.



Students get first chance at exhibit

When Kristine Nader’s fifth-graders from St. Paul of the Cross School in Park Ridge led the way into the Field Museum’s new exhibit of the work of Augustinian friar Gregor Mendel, they were ready.

Nader, the science teacher at the school, had adapted high school biology curriculum on genetics and heredity for her 10- and 11-year-old students, and used a children’s book, “Gregor Mendel: The Friar Who Grew Peas,” to prepare them. The book was written by the museum’s own Cheryl Bardoe.



Court to issue notification rules

Illinois recently became the 35th state requiring parents to be notified if their teenage daughter is planning to have an abortion.

A parental notification law has been on the books in Illinois since 1995, but never went into effect because the state’s Supreme Court refused to rule on how minors could obtain waivers under certain conditions.

The law has been frequently debated in Illinois, and the American Civil Liberties Union helped contribute to the original court block.

All seven justices, four Democrats and three Republicans, agreed that it was time for the court to issue the rules Sept. 18.



College Outreach program: assisting Pro-Life students

College is a time for sifting through a ton of confusing issues, finding your voice and taking a stance. Well, and maybe a little bit of beer and pizza, too.

Beginning in 2004, College Outreach has provided support to pro-life student groups at both Catholic and non-Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Chicago and the Diocese of Joliet. The University of Chicago, University of Illinois at Chicago, Northeastern Illinois University, Northwestern University, Northwestern Medical School, DePaul University, Loyola University Chicago, Loyola Law School, University of St. Francis, Monmouth College, the College of DuPage, Benedictine University and William Rainey Harper College are all participants.

Alicia Torres, Loyola University Chicago Senior and College Outreach coordinator, explained that three main components make up the outreach system: prayer, ministry and community.



Pro-life leaders: ‘Contraception is not the answer’

A national conference held Sept. 23 and 24 in Rosemont examined the profound effects of contraception during the past half-century on individuals, families, society and the world. Sponsored by the Pro-Life Action League, “Contraception Is Not the Answer” brought 250 registered guests together to hear a panel of eight speakers.


Experts debate effect of media violence on youth

In 1967, President Lyndon Johnson appointed a commission headed by former Illinois Governor Otto Kerner to study the causes of racial riots. A revealing comment from the Kerner Commission’s report was that “violence is as American as apple pie.”

Americans do not need a commission to tell them that, though. A glance at crime statistics, a few minutes of the news, an afternoon watching an old western movie, or a 10-year-old’s pleas for the “Mortal Kombat” video game tell volumes about Americans’ deep association with violence.



Fall’s new TV series: More quality, less objectionable content

The good news about the new fall television season is that, with a few exceptions, the quality of the programs is exceptionally high, with far less gratuitous sex, violence and language issues than in recent years.

The networks may be reacting, in part, to fears of Federal Communications Commission recrimination in light of some recent cases of local stations being fined for “indecent” programming. Whatever the reasons, early indications are that the standards and intelligence of writing this season, for the most part, have been raised.

Hoping to follow in the success of hits like “24” and “Lost,” serialized shows are hot this year, with a crop that includes Fox’s “Vanished,” ABC’s “Day Break” and “Big Day,” CBS’ “Smith” and “Jericho,” and NBC’s “Kidnapped” and “Friday Night Lights.”



Scripture school opens second-largest class ever

More than 80 Catholic adults began a journey through the Bible in September as the Chicago Catholic Scripture School (CCSS) welcomed the second-largest Year 1 class in its seven-year history.

Students from all over the archdiocese, as well as a few from the Diocese of Joliet, came to St. Martha Parish in Morton Grove and Saint Xavier University in Chicago to start the CCSS Basic Biblical Studies program. For the next two years, these students will meet weekly or bi-weekly to study and reflect on the foundational books of the Old Testament and New Testament.

> Front Page

Church Clips by Dolores Madlener
    
Dolores Madlener
a column of benevolent
gossip

Last rose of summer story — A rose was planted and blessed this summer within the gates of Vatican City’s only convent, to remember the life and work of Pope John Paul II. (The cloistered nuns’ convent was established at JP II’s request.) Jackson & Perkins, a flower/garden company in Oregon, developed the commemorative rose. Ten percent of sales go to Africa’s poor, a cause close to the pope’s heart. The new John Paul II Commemorative Rose, available in J&P’s catalogue or on-line at www.jacksonandperkins.com, is already their best-selling rose of 2006.

Parish Potpourri — Former parishioners of the closed Little Flower Church (S. Honore) initiated a novena to St. Therese Sept. 23-Oct. 1, 2005. This year it was held at St. Rita High School Chapel. Principal Father Tom McCarthy, OSA, plans to add a shrine to St. Therese in the chapel in the future. . . . Maryanne Kattner is retiring as parish secretary at St. Lambert (Skokie). Everyone’s holding their breath to see if the parish can run without her. . . . St. Linus Parish (Oak Lawn) welcomed back its first associate to celebrate his 50th anniversary of ordination this month —Father Joe McGinnity. . . . St. Celestine (Elmwood Park) parishioners enjoyed Gary Edward’s concert on their new Rodgers Trillium all-digital organ in August. . . . St. Francis Borgia has opened its new Prince of Peace Adoration Chapel in the parish center, 8025 W. Addison. . . . Kate and Bill Walsh of St. Barnabas Parish (S. Longwood) are serving a three-year hitch under bare bones conditions with Mission Doctors in Nyakibale, Uganda. Recently Dr. Walsh saved a man in surgery who had lived through a hippo attack. They’re only as far away as e-mail, however.

Wings ‘n’ things — Immaculate Heart of Mary’s (N.?Spaulding) adult social group is going to the Angel Museum in Beloit, Wis. Oct. 14. Clips looked it up on the Internet, because who ever hoid of it? The site brags they have: “angels playing instruments; angels playing with devils; angels alone; angels with other angels; angel bride-and-grooms; holiday angels with hearts, shamrocks or turkeys; Hummel angels and Hummel look-alikes; miniature and larger angels; and almost any angel imaginable.” The museum has several hundred black angels donated by Oprah Winfrey. Oprah had asked her fans if there were any black angel collectibles. Their response was overwhelming. She finally had so many she didn’t know what to do with them. An Angel Museum trustee was watching and contacted her about donating them. So far over 600 black angels have been donated. Located in a former church along the Rock River, more than 51,000 visitors have come from every state and thirty countries to this world’s largest angel museum since 1998.

‘When our cause it is just’ — The Catholic League for Civil and Religious Rights is urging the Louisiana Recovery Authority to share some of its Hurricane Katrina relief funds with Catholic schools that were devastated by the disaster. The Archdiocese of New Orleans welcomed public school students into all-boys and all-girls schools in New Orleans after Katrina, and even made them coed to accommodate the newcomers.

Example paves the way — When St. Peter’s Church (W. Madison) looked around for a recipient of this year’s Pax et Bonum Award (Peace and Everything Good), they found Kathleen (Kate) Marshall. She delivers daily meals to homebound elderly and has cooked holiday meals and in general volunteered her time in various ways to the ministry of the Little Brothers-Friends of the Elderly. A parishioner at St. Barbara (Brookfield), Marshall also cares for elderly in her professional life. It all began when her dad brought her along to help deliver baskets in Chicago’s Uptown community one Christmas when she was 10.

Ironic? — Amnesty International was founded as a “grassroots organization for the purpose of securing basic human rights for people worldwide…” Guess the unborn aren’t “people.” Sadly the humanitarian organization, known for its efforts to gain release of innocent prisoners of conscience, won’t consider the “prisoner” in the womb. Prior to May 1, 2006, AI maintained an abortion-neutral position. It has now moved to support abortion rights “in all circumstances,” except “forced abortions.”

Power of one — Tom Livingston is an appreciative alum of the College of St. Scholastica in Duluth, Minn. He was affected in particular by one of the Benedictine nuns: author and pioneer of close-up nature photography, Sister Noemi Weygant. She once had an artist’s commune on a farm outside Duluth and Livingston became a member. Her faith and artistry sparked a desire in him to explore her life in a documentary. It ultimately became a film on the monastic adventure overall, which he co-produced. PBS aired “Sisters: Portrait of a Benedictine Community” at Christmastime 2005 and was inundated by responses from the public. Shot over two years, it follows the Sisters of St. Scholastica in their Duluth monastery. It’s an intimate and candid look “at the monastery’s growing pains through the eyes of elder nuns, who hold fast to traditions, and younger inductees who challenge the parameters of a monastic life.” It shows the trend of welcoming mature women who have had a career, or perhaps raised a family. In the film the women tell what it means to adapt to a life prescribed by St. Benedict in the 6th century. It is available for sale on DVD or VHS for $24.95 + $5 shipping. Call (218) 727-4112 to order, or visit Livingston’s Pro Video Productions at www.provideoproductions.com and find film clips and the story behind the story. We can ask Ch. 11 to air it again.

‘Why I’m a Believer’ — Here’s
another reason for Eucharistic adora-
tion from campus minister Bob
Kloska: “My wife likes what it
does to my attitude.”

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.