Catholic New World - News Digest

News Update

New school at DePaul

DePaul University is creating a new School of Public Service to educate students for management positions in the non-profit, nongovernmental and public sectors.

The university has offered a program in public service management since 1970s.

Alumni work in association management, fundraising, health care, cultural and arts institutions, city and village management, government agencies and service and political organizations, to name a few.

The program now attracts about 400 undergraduates and graduate students each quarter.

Guerin names male president

Terry John Malik, a retired partner in the law firm Winston & Strawn, has been named the first male president of Guerin College Preparatory High School.

Malik, 56, had a 28-year law career. He will assume his leadership role at the school March 1.

Malik is a graduate of the former Holy Cross High School, which closed in 2004 but is a foundation school of Guerin Prep. When Holy Cross closed, Guerin Prep began accepting boys for the first time.

Before becoming a lawyer, Malik taught junior high students at St. Raymond School in Mount Prospect and at St. Maria Goretti School in Schiller Park. He has served on Guerin Prep's board of directors since 2006.

Sister of Providence Nancy Nolan retired as Guerin Prep's president Jan. 31 after nearly nine years in that position. She was the school's longest-serving president.

News Digest

Cardinal Kasper defends reformed Tridentine prayer

A Vatican cardinal defended Pope Benedict XVI's reformulation of a prayer for the conversion of Jews and said he hopes it will not become an obstacle in Catholic-Jewish dialogue. Cardinal Walter Kasper, who heads the Vatican's Commission for Religious Relations With the Jews, said the Catholic Church cannot hide its belief that Jesus Christ is the savior of all peoples, including the Jews.

Survey looks at U.S. Catholics' practices, views on marriage

Although nearly three quarters of American Catholics say they are somewhat or very familiar with church teachings on marriage, many mistakenly believe that a non-Catholic spouse must promise to raise the couple's children as Catholic and that church teaching accepts divorce in cases of marital infidelity. Those were among the results of a nationwide survey commissioned in April 2007 by the U.S. bishops' Committee on Marriage and Family Life on U.S. Catholic attitudes and practices regarding marriage. The survey was carried out in June 2007 by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University via the Internet polling firm Knowledge Networks and was made public Feb. 11.

Each year, millions flock to Lourdes seeking physical, spiritual help

Every year, more than 6 million people - including about 500,000 American Catholics - travel to Lourdes, ask for healing and forgiveness, and often leave with a bottle of holy water. But without the spiritual and historical context, such journeys and their traditions can seem odd.

Looking at 'Challenge of Peace,' 25 years later

Twenty-five years ago, the world was a scary place, with the United States and Soviet Union aiming their nuclear arsenals at one another and fighting proxy wars in places like Central America and Afghanistan. The threat of "mutually assured destruction" has faded, but it has been replaced by new fears, of global terrorism, local gangs and home-grown abuse.

Operation Rice Bowl fights hunger around the world

Pravin Patkar sees firsthand the effects of hunger in rural India. His organization, called Prerana, works in one of the biggest red-light districts in Mumbai, sheltering young girls - 11, 12, 13 years old - rescued from brothels, sometimes after years of being forced to work in the sex trade. It also offers a place to stay during the night for children of prostitutes, as well as access to education and medical care.

Child-protection office proactive in prevention effort

What began as a response to the U.S. bishops Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People has grown into a resource for Chicago parishes and schools in their efforts to keep children safe from abuse. The Archdiocese of Chicago's Office for the Protection of Children and Youth continues to address its first purpose of investigating any allegations of abuse, ensuring that the archdiocese is in compliance with the charter through yearly outside audits and mandated training for staff and volunteers and helping victims of sexual abuse by clergy or other church personnel.

There's rich meaning within church walls

What do the Kennedy Expressway and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre have in common? Both are close, though in different ways, to the new Sanctuary of Divine Mercy that will be built next to St. Stanislaus Kostka Church, 1351 W. Evergreen Ave., in the heart of Chicago. On Feb. 2, Denis McNamara gave a presentation to a crowd of more than 1,200 in St. Stanislaus Kostka about the theological significance behind the sanctuary's design, which will resemble the Old Testament temple. Once the multi-million dollar chapel is complete, perpetual eucharistic adoration will begin inside.

Inaugural prayer event scheduled

Catholics from around the state will gather in Chicago on March 6 for the first Illinois Catholic Prayer Breakfast. This local event is modeled after the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast held in Washington, D.C., each spring, and gathers people together to pray for our nation and our leaders. Organizers of the nonpartisan event said they wanted to recreate an event similar to the national prayer breakfast in an effort to inspire Catholics who can't make it to Washington every year.

Children connect with Christ, history through song

Hundreds of children's voices sing notes strung together by holy people throughout history, their youthful innocence bringing new life to age-old church classics. This is happening all over the country as the American Federation Pueri Cantores makes its tour around the nation. On Feb. 23 at 4 p.m., Pueri Cantores, a national student choral organization of the Catholic Church, will gather children from the dioceses of Joliet, Peoria and Rockford and the Archdiocese of Chicago for a preliturgy concert and Mass at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church, 708 W. Belmont Ave. Benedictine Brother Paul Richards of St. John's University in Minnesota will guest conduct and Bishop Joseph Perry will preside.

'Champion' McKeon shares faith

Major League baseball manager who considered St. Therese of Lisieux his Most Valuable Player for her intercession during the 2003 World Series will be keynote speaker at a 9 a.m. Feb. 23, Champions of Faith screening at Holy Trinity High School, 1443 W. Division. Jack McKeon was not only the third-oldest manager in major league history (right behind Connie Mack and Casey Stengel) but became the oldest manager ever to win a World Series when he came out of retirement at 73 to transform the Florida Marlins from a club playing less than .500 ball into the powerhouse that defeated the New York Yankees at season's end.

'Faith Hall of Fame' honors George Halas

Sports Faith International will honor George Halas, founder of the Chicago Bears and one of the founders of the NFL, at its first induction ceremony Feb. 23 at Halas Hall in Lake Forest. Other inductees will be former NFL wide receiver and Bears assistant coach Danny Abramowicz and former NFL guard and Super Bowl champion Chris Godfrey.

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