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Issue of May 9, 2004
Life, death, feeding tubes Although some see Pope John Paul II’s message at a recent Vatican conference as closing the book on the question of whether nutrition and hydration may be withdrawn from patients in a persistent vegetative state, others in U.S. Catholic health care circles think resolution of the issue still remains elusive. “The administration of water and food, even when provided by artificial means, always represents a natural means of preserving life, not a medical act,” the pope said in a March 20 talk to more than 350 physicians and medical ethicists from 42 countries. Vigil draws prayers for all In the wee hours of the morning, while most people sleep soundly, a small but growing group is praying in a monthly all-night vigil in the chapel of Santa Maria del Popolo Parish in Mundelein. The vigil, which is intended to draw worshippers from all over the archdiocese, begins with a 10 p.m. Mass on the first Friday of each month. Eucharistic adoration begins right after Mass, with a combination of quiet reflection time and community prayers every hour or so. Community prayers include the Mysteries of the Rosary, the prayers of St. Bridget, the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, and Benediction at the conclusion of the vigil at 7 a.m. on Saturday.
Catholic educators face challenges, look ahead Abuse scandal frequent topic of discussion at convention The old adage of “you never stop learning” certainly held true for the 17,000 Catholic educators who attended the National Catholic Educational Association’s 101st annual convention in Boston April 13-16. The participants—Catholic school teachers and principals, religious education directors and teachers and diocesan officials — spent four days learning about how to teach better and how education involves far more than helping students master the basic subjects or tenets of the faith. These factors combined with the convention’s Boston location, the center of the clergy sexual abuse scandal two years ago, provided plenty of material for the educators to discuss.
Pope: Divine mercy needed The human heart, broken by violence and tempted by evil, needs God’s mercy more than ever, said Pope John Paul II. “In these times marked by growing insecurity and violent conflict, humanity needs so much to experience the effectiveness of God’s mercy,” he said in an address April 18 from his apartment window to pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square.
Forum promotes resources for postpartum depression When her daughter died from the effects of postpartum depression, Joan Mudd chose not to stand by and feel sorry for herself and her family. Instead, she began rallying efforts to help pregnant women who might become affected by the problem. “I lost my daughter, Jennifer Mudd Houghtaling, to this horrible disease three years ago last July,” said Mudd, a Holy Name Cathedral parishioner and organizer of a May 6 forum on postpartum depression at St. Martha Parish, Morton Grove.
The pope and other faiths Christian truth always at core of John Paul’s message When Pope John Paul II talks to and about members of non-Christian religious traditions, he always includes both the duty to proclaim Christ with respect for all people and for all things that are true in their belief systems, said Paul J. Griffiths, professor of Catholic studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago. That might be a difficult line for many people to walk, Griffiths said. But for Pope John Paul II, evangelization and maintaining a position of cooperation and respect are equally important and necessary. Griffiths gave the fourth and last lecture in a series celebrating John Paul II’s 25 years as pope at the John Paul II Newman Center at UIC on April 7.
Corporate scandals show firms’ failure to keep faith The spate of corporate scandals that has plagued the international business community in recent years is no less a failure of vocation than the clerical sex abuse scandal in the Catholic Church, Father Robert Sirico said April 14. “What we are dealing with here is either a misconception or a betrayal of the vocation of business,” said Sirico, speaking at an Acton Institute lunch in Chicago. He argued that capitalism and free enterprise are the natural outgrowth of the Judeo-Christian understanding of humanity, the idea that all people are made in the image and likeness of God. By understanding humans as self-respective, transcendent beings, possessed of eternal souls, it becomes natural for people to see the right to own personal property, to enter into contracts and otherwise participate in the marketplace, which is merely a system for assigning value to things, said Sirico.
Taking ministry ‘to heart’ Loyola speaker celebrates involvement of laity in church To the surprise of some and perhaps the bewilderment of others, thousands of lay Catholics under 40 are getting out of the pews and into homeless shelters, Indian reservations, hospices—wherever people need help—as part of a new approach to ministry unheard of only a generation ago, Loyola University campus minister Claire Noonan said. For “the first time in a long time, the Second Vatican Council told the laity” (ministry) wasn’t just for an ordained elite, but “was their job too.” And the younger generation has “taken it to heart, they’ve taken it personally,” said Noonan in an April 5 talk as part of Loyola University’s Chapel Series.
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