Charities begins season of giving

Catholic Charities’ annual Celebration of Giving, a 57-year-old tradition that helps bring Christmas cheer to thousands of children and more than 600 families, kicks off Nov. 15.

The celebration includes Charities’ Toy Shower and Sponsor-a-Family programs geared to collect Christmas gifts for needy families in Cook and Lake counties.

Through the Toy Shower, new and unwrapped toys in their original packaging are collected from Nov. 15-Dec. 15. The goal is to provide gifts for nearly 15,000 children. For information, call (312) 655-7912.

The Sponsor-a-Family Program reaches out to families in need, providing basics, such as clothing, household items, books or school supplies. To sponsor a family, call (312) 948-6797 or visit www.catholicharities.net.

Also, Cardinal George will attend Catholic Charities’ annual St. Nicholas Ball Dec. 3 at the Chicago Hilton and Towers. Proceeds from the benefit will help provide aid for the more than 40,000 children served by Charities. For tickets or information, call (312) 655-7907.

Donor Sabbath is Nov. 12-14

Cardinal George has asked archdiocesan Catholics to mark National Donor Sabbath Nov. 12-14.

The annual event raises awareness of the urgent need for organ and tissue donations. In a letter to parishes, the cardinal said that the weekend “is a time to celebrate those heroes who have life through donation, while also rejoicing with those who have received the gift of life.”

More than 86,000 people nationwide are waiting for lifesaving organs on the national transplant waiting list, more than 4,500 in Illinois alone. He said, “We remind all Catholics of our faith’s support for donation and transplantation as one of the highest expressions of human compassion and giving.”

NEWS

2004 elections could signal changes for church in society

Whatever the outcome of the Nov. 2 election, there will be lingering effects on both religion and politics from the attention to Sen. John F. Kerry’s Catholicism and President George W. Bush’s use of religious rhetoric, according to observers who have expertise in church and political affairs.

“This election for the first time put Catholic leadership ... in the position of confronting a candidate who dissents from church teaching,” said Princeton University politics professor Robert P. George.

Bishops will consider new liturgical texts for Hispanic celebrations

Because of the growing Hispanic Catholic population, the U.S. bishops will be asked at their upcoming fall meeting to approve Spanish-language liturgical texts that would formally incorporate important Latin American rituals into U.S. church services.

These include a blessing ceremony for the “quinceañera,” a popular celebration among Hispanics that takes place when a girl is 15 to mark her passage from childhood to adolescence.

Also up for approval at the Nov. 15-18 bishops’ general meeting are additions to the marriage rite incorporating traditions popular mostly in Mexico, Central America and Puerto Rico.

Review board wants researchers to study crisis

The National Review Board, which monitors church compliance with child sex abuse prevention policies, has asked research organizations to bid on doing a comprehensive study on the causes and context of the clergy sex abuse crisis.

Aims include studying the effectiveness of current prevention procedures and examining additional methods for promoting safety for children, said an Oct. 29 announcement by the U.S. bishops’ Department of Communications.

More details about the proposed study are available on the U.S. bishops’ Web site at: http://www.usccb.org/ocyp/grantproposals.htm.

The study is a follow-up to two 2004 studies published by the all-lay board appointed by the bishops. One study was statistical information on the scope of the problem and the second was a report on the crisis based on interviews.

AIDS programs gaining in Africa

Perhaps the biggest problem fighting AIDS in Africa isn’t that there’s no money coming in from the rest of the world, but that there’s actually too much—often with strings attacked.

Dr. Gilbert Buckle, head of Ghana’s National Catholic Health Service, gave that perspective Oct. 28 at Dominican University.

“And that money is being given for what the rest of the world thinks Africa needs, not what Africa thinks it needs,” he said during a panel discussion on “The Catholic Response to the AIDS Pandemic” at Dominican University.

Church’s social doctrine: promote common good

The God-given dignity of humans and the obligation to promote the common good of all the world’s people require the Catholic Church to speak on social issues, said the new “Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church.”

The church’s social doctrine offers criteria for judging various aspects of public and social life and provides guidelines for “conforming them to the demands of Christian morality,” said the book, released Oct. 25 at the Vatican.

Parishes urged to respond with empathy to AIDS crisis

A new initiative is under way to help archdiocesan parishes respond to the HIV/AIDS crisis in the United States and become aware of the global aspect of the pandemic.

At the core of the new program is a DVD and an information packet which outlines how Christians can respond to the growing number of people infected with the disease. “The HIV/AIDS Pandemic: A Christian Response” was created by the Catholic Charities HIV/AIDS Task Force with the help of the Radio-TV Office of the archdiocesan Department of Communications.

English translation aims to restore Latin’s richness

While current English translations of liturgical texts give us modern, understandable phrasing, they may have lost the richness of the original Latin, according to some liturgical leaders. One of the tasks of the International Commission on English in the Liturgy is to restore some of that loss.

Though, it is noted, not at the expense of understanding.

This challenge was the background to the Oct. 27-29 conference “Authentic Liturgy” at Our Lady of the Lake University/ Mundelein Seminary in Mundelein. Sponsored by the university’s Liturgical Institute, it offered reflections on the project of a new translation of English texts for the Mass and the celebration of the sacraments.

Keynote speaker was Father Bruce Harbert, executive secretary of the Washington D.C.-based ICEL which is charged with preparing the translation for all English-speaking countries.

Winnetka parish reaches out—way out

other help provided by their twinned parish, Sacred Heart in Winnetka.

But what Mars and the people of Sassier appreciate more, he said on a four-day visit to the Chicago area, is the sense of fraternity and the sense of hope the relationship offers.

“The people, they feel more hopeful,” said Mars. “They feel like they have something to live for.”

For parishioners at Sacred Heart, St. Jean Baptiste Parish in Sassier provides a glimpse into the lives of people who have been blessed with great faith, but not with material goods, said Gerry Keenan, who coordinates the parish’s Haitian ministry.

Pope prods Europeans to recall Christian roots

he Vatican is finding that its positions on abortion, homosexuality, euthanasia and other issues are being constantly challenged in a Europe that is struggling to forge a common set of rules while keeping national identities intact.

On the eve of the historic signing of the European Constitution, Pope John Paul II met with outgoing European Commission President Romano Prodi to remind him that Christian values are at the base of the European identity.

Social justice workers worry about global needs

Catholics are at the forefront of trying to bring about social justice worldwide, but much more needs to be done, said justice workers gathered in Rome.

More than 300 representatives of organizations working for social justice met to discuss the role of Catholics in a world marked by poverty and violence, newly challenged by globalization and horrified by terrorism.

Cardinal George ordains 17 men to diaconate

Archbishop who returned home identifies with missionary priests

Jan Gnoinski of Podborze, Poland, crossed a continent and an ocean to attend the ordination of his son Piotr, one of 17 men ordained to the transitional diaconate Oct. 30 by Cardinal George in the chapel of Mundelein Seminary.

The younger Gnoinski came to Chicago as a response to Cardinal George’s invitation to Polish seminarians to serve as priests here.

Confirmed in faith

OFC responds to challenge of preparing adults for confirmation

Last winter archdiocesan episcopal vicars met with Maruja Sedano, director of the Office for Catechesis, and Todd Williamson, director of the Office for Divine Worship to discuss concerns over lack of consistency in parishes about how adults asking for Confirmation were being prepared.

As a result of the bishops’ meeting, responsibility for catechesis for adult Confirmation is now part of OFC’s mission, while working closely with ODW.

A pilot Confirmation preparation program culminated when 36 adults from 16 parishes were confirmed Nov. 1 at St. Matthias Church, Chicago, by Bishop Kane presiding. Each of the newly confirmed adults met the criteria of “catechized.” All were active Catholics, participating in weekly Mass and sacraments, and had received religious education beyond their First Communion.

Hunting for help

Students ‘scavenge’ to feed the hungr y

Students at Inverness’ Holy Family Academy have proven that one individual can make a difference.

They began the Scavenger Hunt for the Hungry, their way of participating in a national Make a Difference Campaign sponsored by a local daily newspaper. One year later, the students’ program has grown to include 22 Catholic schools in the archdiocese.

Students get an education in the ‘how’ of voting

Guerin Prep’s Tom Stein wants his students to feel in control of their lives. Stein, dean of Global Studies at the newly co-ed school, believes the process begins in the voting booth. Each election, he gives students the opportunity to take their first step in learning how to make a difference.

“The leadership of our country sets a direction. We can either be a part of that decision-making or just a follower,” Stein said. “Allowing someone else to make decisions for us without our input is bad.”

Stritch Junior League finds summer service eye-opening

It’s 5:30 on a Tuesday afternoon at St. Thomas of Canterbury Catholic Church community center in the heart of Chicago’s Uptown. Rows of tables are set with dishes, salads, fresh fruit and dinner rolls. Two huge pots of hearty beef-and-vegetable soup await the 250 or so hungry souls already lining up under the midsummer sun outside.

Before the doors open and the controlled chaos of the twice-weekly parish supper begins, soup kitchen director Jim Eder gathers around him 12 teenage volunteers who will be serving his guests this evening. They are members of the Stritch Junior Service League. Organized through Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine, league members are committed to a summer of service during their junior and senior year in high school.

Fund offers chance to ‘lend a shoulder’ to schools

Big Shoulders event gets donors into classrooms

When Cardinal George stepped to the door of St. Hyacinth Basilica School Oct. 26, he was greeted by three students bearing a tray with the traditional Polish welcoming gifts of bread, salt, wheat and grapes, along with keys to symbolize the keys to the school.

The students—eighth graders Cathy Frackowiak, Diane Nguyen and Alejandra Santana—then formally welcomed him in Spanish, Polish and English and led him and several guests from the Big Shoulders Fund into the school for an accordion serenade and a chance to participate in classroom activities.

Galileo’s ‘son’ probes science for the truth

Jesuit Father George Coyne wears many hats. He has been a member of the Society of Jesus for the past 50 years, a research scientist in astrophysics and a dedicated teacher at Arizona University.

However, he has yet another title, one that might seem unusual for a man of the 21st century who works for the Vatican. Coyne is one of “Galileo’s sons.”