Issue of May 14, 2006

The following items are condensed. For the complete article, please read the print edition of The Catholic New World. To subscribe, call (312) 655-7777.

NewsUpdate

Second school to close its doors

Our Lady of Loretto School in Hometown will close its doors in June. The archdiocese earlier announced that St. Stanislaus Bishop & Martyr School also would close this year.

Our Lady of Loretto was faced with continuing declining enrollment, despite intensive efforts to register more students, and a projected $300,000 deficit for next year. With 12 Catholic elementary schools within a three-mile radius of the school, all of the students can be accommodated.

Nicholas Wolsonovich, superintendent for the Office of Catholic Schools, said his office would provide Our Lady of Loretto students and their families information to assist them in continuing their education in a Catholic school.



Parishes help New Orleans church

St. Edna Parish in Arlington Heights and St. Thomas of Villanova Parish in Palatine are leading an effort to help Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos Parish in New Orleans with the rebuilding of its parish hall. The parishes are now in the process of raising funds and organizing volunteers for the projects, which will be completed the week of June 3-10.

Those interested in volunteering or contributing funds can call St. Edna Parish at (847) 388-3362 or team member Mike Maloni at (847) 456-4914.



News

Rallies draw national attention to suffering, genocide in Darfur

Those calling for an end to the genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan, gathered for a rally in Federal Plaza May 1 at 4:30 p.m. The event was organized by the Chicago Coalition to Save Darfur, an alliance of faith-based, ethnic, civic and student organizations, including the archdiocesan Office for Peace and Justice.



Called to service

Cardinal George commissions lay ecclesial ministers

For Kathy McNicholas, serving the church as a pastoral associate is not something she wants to do. It is something she is called to do, and it is a call to which she must respond.

So when McNicholas was given the opportunity to attend a “Calling Rite” for lay ecclesial ministers May 7, she stepped forward.



Appeal posts significant gains

The sound pastors are hearing these days from the archdiocesan Office for Stewardship and Development is that of adding machines whirring, punctuated by hearty rounds of applause and expressions of heartfelt gratitude.

The 2006 Annual Catholic Appeal has received $10.7 million in pledges two months into the year, up from the $6.3 million it received last year. So far, 72,000 donors have come forward, compared to 33,000 last year.



Immigration march seeks path to citizenship, respect

Cardinal George offered the concluding remarks at the massive immigration reform rally May 1 in Chicago.

The event drew hundreds of thousands of people, who marched from Union Park on the Near West Side to Butler Field in Grant Park bearing flags and signs and putting their faces on the cause of immigration rights.



AIDS-condom study still in ‘consultation’ stage

Vatican officials said a study on condoms and AIDS protection was still in the consultation stage and that Pope Benedict XVI had yet to decide whether a document would be issued on the topic.

The sources said there were strong arguments for allowing married couples in which one spouse is infected with HIV, which causes AIDS, to use condoms as a disease-preventing measure, when it overrides any contraceptive intent.



Pope: Swiss Guard still an asset

Half a millennium since it was founded by Pope Julius II, the Swiss Guard, whose members pledge to risk their lives for the safety of the pope, is still an invaluable asset to the Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI said as he blessed a contingent of former guards who took part in a 439-mile trek from Switzerland to Rome.



Living in love

L’Arche founder finds value of life in relationships

Jean Vanier speaks slowly, gently, with measured cadence. His tall figure stoops at the shoulders, as though he is bending down to hear the whispered words of a child.

His words, too, are full of gentleness, as he speaks of the need for love in the world, his main topic at a May 3 talk at Catholic Theological Union.

Vanier, who founded the L’Arche community of homes where mentally disabled adults live with non-disabled associates, came to Chicago from his home in France to accept CTU’s “Blessed are the Peacemakers” Award. He spoke to the school’s faculty and students the same day.



Catechists honored for ministry

Sts. Faith Hope and Charity Parish in Winnetka was honored with a Mustard Seed by the National Association of Parish Catechetical Directors and the National Catholic Education Association for parental involvement and leadership in the parish’s religious education efforts.



Archdiocese schedules third annual Justice Day

The Office for Peace and Justice will sponsor its third annual Justice Day, “Social Justice: A Journey” May 27.

The event will run from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and be bilingual in English and Spanish, with emphasis on fair trade and immigrant rights.



Forum discusses Theology of the Body

The theology of the body, developed by Pope John Paul II early in his pontificate, has had wide influence across religious and cultural lines, according to speakers at a national forum held April 28-29 at Mundelein Seminary. The more than 125 attendees “really responded to the great scope of the speakers,” said Father Thomas Loya, a speaker and organizer of the forum. “The nine speakers at were all from different places and visions, but they all were grounded in the same teachings of Pope John Paul II.”



Vatican approves revised U.S. norms on clergy sex abuse

With Vatican approval, the head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has issued the revised special norms adopted by the U.S. bishops to deal with clergy sexual abuse of minors.

Bishop William S. Skylstad of Spokane, Wash., USCCB president, decreed that the revised “Essential Norms” will take effect May 15.



CRS provides education, hope in Afghanistan

Abdul Nafi Olomi comes from Kandahar, the most conservative province in Afghanistan. And for two years after joining Catholic Relief Services in 2003, Olomi worked with a community council of elders in Panjwai, the most conservative district in Kandahar.

As a local staff member assisting with development, he worked with them to figure out what they needed and how to get it, working with CRS and other non-governmental agencies in the area.



Mother Guerin forms sculptor who shapes statue

Teresa Clark shapes clay into art, but she has found the subject of her latest work shaping her as well.

For a year now, she has been molding clay into a 6-foot likeness of Blessed Mother Theodore Guerin, the French-born, 19th-century foundress of the Sisters of Providence of St. Mary-of-the-Woods.

Yet during that same time, it would seem that Mother Theodore and God have been refashioning Clark.



‘Da Vinci Code’ presents dilemma for Catholics

When “The Da Vinci Code” opens May 19, Dominican Father Richard Woods hopes to be among the first to see it.

The movie appears to have all the ingredients for a summer blockbuster: a script based on the mega-bestselling novel by Dan Brown; spare-no-expense locations in France and England; an all-star cast including Tom Hanks and Audrey Tautou; and, yes, a healthy dose of hostility toward the Catholic Church.



Star graduates

Hundreds of students from Chicago area Catholic high schools soon will be graduating and traveling a new road in their lives. Many have distinguished themselves during their high school careers through academics, extracurricular activities and service to others. Below are some of the many who deserve to be singled out as stars. Some are valedictorians or salutatorians. Others are not. The list is by no means complete. It is only a sampling of the accomplishments of many archdiocesan Catholic high school students.