NEWS UPDATE
Aug. 2, 2001, 3:00pm
St. Sabina-Southside Conference talks succeed
At press time for The Catholic New World, an agreement to settle the long-running dispute over St. Sabina’s inclusion in the Southside Catholic Conference was reached. Go to story

Between ice and port-a-potties
On a clear summer evening, parents and children lined up for their favorite Italian delicacies and ride tickets at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish in Melrose Park, shouting to make themselves heard over the din of carnival music.

At the same time, others passed into the quiet church, where parishioners prayed on the seventh day of a novena.

July 12 was the first day of the 108th festival in honor of the July 16 Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, and it aimed to offer something for everyone, said John Battisto, a member of the organizing committee. There were carnival rides, music, lots of Italian food and other specialties. Go to story

The Peruvian earthquake and a Chicago priest
Chicagoan's ministry goes on amid rubble of Peru

No matter where Father Kevin Hays looks, he sees devastation and destruction. The Chicago native describes it almost with a sense of incredulousness, or shock. There is so much.

Hays, a Chicago priest serving the poor in a rural area of Peru, is lucky to be alive. He survived the June 23 Peruvian earthquake, at 8.1 magnitude, one of the largest on record. It destroyed 80 percent of the homes in the mountainous Peruvian area where he serves as pastor. Read the Bishop's column

Thanks for the memory
Experts tell how to keep brain active

No matter what one’s age, happy, humorous events help memory while loss, stress, fatigue, interference, poor nutrition and some medications do not.

“[Memory] games make your heart pump [blood to the brain] faster, so the answers come much more readily,” said Marianne Eckstein, a member of the senior studies faculty at Triton College in Maywood. “Humor is a great healer.”

“Memory and aging” was the topic when Eckstein joined Dr. Hilliard Slavick for a recent panel discussion at St. Joseph Hospital. Go to story

Lawmakers pad own projects at expense of poor
Never have I been more disappointed in our government leaders than I am today.

Year after year, government agencies contract with Catholic Charities and other non-profit human service providers to care for the state’s poor and vulnerable residents. Go to story

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