Issue of January 4, 2004

“With deepest sadness and dismay,” the Vatican confirmed the death of its ambassador to Burundi, Irish Archbishop Michael A. Courtney, who was shot three times during a Dec. 29 ambush while on the road to the nation’s capital. He died Dec. 30.

Press reports said the archbishop, a veteran Vatican diplomat, was targets for death by Burundi insurgents.

Upon learning of the archbishop’s death, Pope John Paul II immediately went to pray, “entrusting to Christ, the good shepherd, the soul of this faithful and generous servant of the church and the Holy See who died in the exercise of the difficult mission entrusted to him,” according to a Vatican statement.

The pope sent his condolences to Archbishop Courtney’s family, the Vatican said. One of the bullets hit the 58-year-old archbishop in the head, said MISNA, an agency sponsored by Catholic missionary orders.

H.S. placement tests Jan. 10

Placement tests for Catholic high schools across the archdiocese are Jan. 10.

Eighth-graders who plan to enter any of the 41 Catholic secondary schools in Cook and Lake counties should take the test. Advance registration is not necessary. Students should report to the school they wish to attend at 8 a.m. Jan. 10 with a check for $25 and two No. 2 pencils. Test results will be mailed to students by Feb. 15

Nicholas Wolsonovich, archdiocesan superintendent of schools, said the test is the “first step” in the admission process. More than 90 percent of students who take the test are accepted into the schools of their choice, he said.

For more information, visit www.archchicago.org/schools.

 

NEWS:

‘Goodness’ honored

Cardinal cites 120-plus for dedicated service

More than 120 lay people were honored by archdiocesan officials Dec. 21 and cited for their “goodness” in offering their time and talent to parishes across the archdiocese.

“As one could imagine, there are thousands upon thousands [of people] who provide service and ministry which shapes the faith life and witness of this local church of Chicago,” said Bishop Edwin M. Conway, the vicar general. “The archdiocese, through the person of Cardinal George, has accepted the challenge to publicly recognize the goodness of parishioners across the Chicago area who have partnered with their parishes in providing this ministry and service.”

 

Pope pleads for peace, opposes unilateral war

Vatican City — Presiding over Christmas celebrations at the Vatican, Pope John Paul II pleaded against war and terrorism and urged the world to accept Jesus’ message of peace.

At his annual midnight Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica early on Dec. 25, the pope lamented that “too much blood is still being shed” across the globe.

In a Christmas Day blessing some 12 hours later, he invoked Christ’s help in overcoming wars and “the scourge of terrorism” at the start of the third millennium.

 

Language on homosexuals hit; cardinal responds

Twenty-three Chicago-area priests released an open letter in December criticizing the language some church officials and documents have used regarding homosexuals.

“In the recent past, individual bishops, bishops’ conferences and the Vatican have assumed a tone of such violence and abusiveness toward these sons and daughters of the church, we can no longer remain silent,” the letter said, going on to cite language from a recent Vatican document opposing gay marriages. The document calls homosexuality “a troubling moral and social phenomenon” and a serious depravity” and characterizes movement towards gay marriages as “approval or legalization of evil.”

 

A century of service

Jesuit chaplains mark 100 years at Cook County Hospital

In 1903 Chicago was quickly becoming Carl Sandburg’s “Stormy, husky, brawling, City of the Big Shoulders.” An influx of industry and immigrants changed the face of the city. The immigrants, for the most part, had steamed to the Untied States hoping to land jobs and eventually live the American dream.

Life in Chicago, though, was not always easy. The winters were long and cold, the summers long and hot. Living conditions were tough. Jobs were even tougher, and very often quite dangerous. Serious illness and injury all too often interrupted pursuit of the American dream.

 

Ah, retirement ... sort of

Three bishops keep busy despite official farewells

In 2003, three long-serving auxiliary bishops for the archdiocese retired. Well, sort of. Bishop Raymond Goedert, archdiocesan vicar general, Bishop John Gorman, episcocal vicar of Vicariate V, and Bishop Thad Jakubowski, episcopal vicar of Vicariate IV, remain active with other archdiocesan tasks. As part of our annual year in review, Catholic New World staff writer Chris Spoons paid brief visits to the three in their “retirement.”

 

Church response to clergy sex abuse dominates news of 2003

For the second straight year, the scandal of sexual abuse of children by priests dominated much of the religious news for U.S. Catholics.

In 2003, however, there was a significant difference. Instead of 2002’s almost uninterrupted flood of daily new revelations of past clerical crimes, more of the news in 2003 concerned developments in the church’s response to the crisis.

There were new allegations, new lawsuits and new criminal investigations. But there were also major financial settlements of hundreds of lawsuits, diocesan and religious-order policies being strengthened, safe environment and sex abuse education programs being implemented.

 

Vatican insists: No papal comment on Gibson film

Although Pope John Paul II watched at least part of Mel Gibson’s film, “The Passion of the Christ,” he made no comment about the film, said a senior Vatican official close to the pope.

“The Holy Father saw it, but he made no comment. He watched in silence,” the official told Catholic News Service Dec. 24.

 

Former prosecutor builds case against execution

Author and attorney Scott Turow explained the route that led him to oppose the death penalty in a recent talk at Catholic-run Seton Hall Law School in Newark.

“Unlike most legal issues, which the public is removed from, all Americans have opinions about the death penalty,” said Turow, best known for his novel “Presumed Innocent.” “I don’t criticize anyone’s opinion on this issue because I’ve held all of them.”

 

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