May 19, 2006

The Cathol ic News & Hera ld 1 May 19, 2006

Serving CatholiCS in WeStern north Carolina in the DioCeSe of Charlotte

Around the DioceseExperiencing ‘hunger banquet’; ongoing help to many

| Page 4

PerspectivesWork is divine; Memorial Day meaning

| Pages 14-15

Family bondsProgram helps unite mothers, kids

| 6

MaY 19, 2006 volUMe 15 no. 31

www.charlottediocese.org

‘Da Vinci Code’ buzzFilm draws laughs from critics at screening

| Page 11established Jan. 12, 1972

by Pope Paul vi

Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte

See POPE, page 7

See SCIENCE, page 9

Why Catholic? Why not?New program offers adults chance to explore, expand faith

See BORDER, page 12

by KAREN A. EVANSStAff wRitER

CHARLOTTE — It’s often said that Catholics who have come into the church as adults know more about the Catholic faith than “cradle Catholics.”

Adult Catholics — con-verts and cradle Catholics alike

— throughout the Diocese of Charlotte will soon have the opportunity to expand their knowledge and practice of Catholicism beginning in 2007.

Pastors , directors of re l ig ious educat ion and representatives of some 23 parishes, three university cam-

by JOHN tHAViScAtHOlic NEwS SERVicE

VATICAN CITY — The Vatican observed the 25th anniversary of the shooting of Pope John Paul II with a Marian pilgrimage and the laying of a marble marker at the place he was shot.

In a message to partici-pants, Pope Benedict XVI said the memorial stone in St. Pe-

Photo by Karen a. evans

Frank Vi l laronga (second from lef t) , d irector of evangel izat ion, discusses the Why Cathol ic? program with other par t ic ipants at St. Matthew Church in Charlotte May 15.

Patrolling the perimeterU.S. bishops wary of posting Guard on border, urge immigration reform

A respect for lifeScience that tampers with human life threatens humanity, pope warns

History and prophecyVatican marks place in St. Peter’s Square where late pope was shot

by cAROl GlAtZcAtHOlic NEwS SERVicE

VAT I C A N C I T Y — Medical and scientific progress becomes a threat to humanity when people think they can fill in for God and tamper with cre-ation, specifically human life, Pope Benedict XVI said.

The human embryo “must always originate from an act of love” between a man and a woman and “already be treated as a person,” he said in a May 13 address to members of the Pontifical Council for the Fam-ily.

Scientific and techno-

See CATHOLIC, page 5

Cns Photo by Dave Gatley, reuters

A U.S. Border Patrol agent rides along the fence separating Tijuana, Mexico, from California May 15. U.S. President George W. Bush, in his recent address to the nation, declared that the U.S.-Mexico border was broken and he would deploy up to 6,000 National Guard troops there.

by cAtHOlic NEwS SERVicE

WA S H I N G T O N — President George W. Bush’s address May 15 on immigra-tion reform got mixed reviews from advocates for immigrants, who expressed gratitude for his support of legalization for il-legal immigrants but had con-cerns about his plan to deploy National Guard troops on the border.

Bishop Gerald R. Barnes of San Bernardino, Calif., chair-man of the U.S. bishops’ Com-mittee on Domestic Policy, said he welcomed the president’s speech on the need to reform the immigration system, but expressed concern about “the introduction of military

2 The Catholic News & Herald May 19, 2006

Current and upcoming top-ics from around the world to your own backyardInBrief Just solutions can defeat terrorism,

archbishop tells U.N. assembly

growiNg wiTH a PurPose

PublisHer: Most reverend Peter J. JugisediTor: Kevin e. MurraysTaff wriTer: Karen a. evans graPHiC desigNer: Tim faragheradverTisiNg MaNager: Cindi feerickseCreTary: deborah Hiles

1123 south Church st., Charlotte, NC 28203Mail: P.o. box 37267, Charlotte, NC 28237PHoNe: (704) 370-3333 faX: (704) 370-3382e-Mail: [email protected]

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MArCh 10, 2006VolUMe 15 • NUMBer 31

Diocesanplanner

Community garden gives older refugees a ‘place to call their

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (CNS) — On a sunny morning, refugees of all ages from Somalia, Cuba, Liberia and Sudan gathered in front of the Holy Name Church Life Center in Nashville to plant a garden.

While digging up the earth to plant vegetables, herbs and flowers, the refugees were also establishing a welcoming place of respite and purpose for their often-isolated community.

Many of the refugees “don’t feel like they have a place to go outside of their home. They don’t know where they belong,” said Laurie Soileau, resources developer for Catholic Charities’ Refu-gee and Immigration Services in Nash-ville.

Most newly arrived refugees live in apartment complexes with little or no access to a yard or land and have limited access to transportation.

The garden is an outlet that allows the refugees to “have some control over their environment, a place to call their own,” Soileau said.

Catholic Charities of Tennessee resettles approximately 250 refugees each year. The refugees, who flee their home countries to escape political or re-ligious persecution, come primarily from African and Latin American nations.

The garden is especially important for the older refugee population, who are among the most isolated, Soileau said.

“A lot of times, the older people are kind of forgotten,” she said.

Much more funding and resources, such as English classes, are available to the younger refugee population who are seen to have the most potential for education and employment.

While the refugee elders may be close to retirement age, they still have the desire to work and be part of the community, Soileau said, but they don’t have the language skills.

Since she joined Catholic Charities last December, Soileau has engaged the older population in a variety of activities such as yoga, painting and the gardening that “gives them a creative outlet not tied to language,” she said.

A certified instructor in English as a second language, Soileau also incorporates English lessons into the seniors’ weekly meetings.

While the newly planted garden is for all refugees, Soileau wants the older refugees to take a strong leadership role with it. Among other duties, they will attend monthly maintenance days and have the final say on harvesting and distributing the produce.

Musa Matan, a Somali Bantu elder who was resettled in Nashville through Catholic Charities three years ago, is ea-ger to take an active role with the garden, including daily watering.

“He really likes to get his hands dirty and have a purpose,” said Kerry Marks, program coordinator with Catho-lic Charities Refugee and Immigration Services.

The garden is also an opportunity for refugee elders such as Edigno Moreno, who was a farmer in his home country of Cuba, to lend their expertise to a project.

“It’s nice to have crops like in my home country,” he said.

Whi le mos t c rops in t eg ra l to the refugees’ diets are available commercially in local grocery and specialty stores, it is important to them to be able to grow their food themselves.

UNITED NATIONS (CNS) — Just solutions to political, social and economic problems frustrating young immigrants worldwide “can rob terrorists of the oxygen of hatred” and thwart efforts to “recruit the impressionable,” the Vatican’s representative to the United Nations said May 11.

Archbishop Celestino Migliore, the permanent representative of the Holy See to the international body, spoke before the General Assembly during its infor-mal consultations on a counterterrorism strategy.

“The political, social and economic exclusion of immigrant communities stokes the frustration of young people and has led to breakdowns in order in some places; but the demand for a just solution to these questions remains a legitimate one,” the archbishop said.

“By resolving such questions swiftly and justly, nations can rob terrorists of the oxygen of hatred and of grievances, real or imagined, by which they attempt

to legitimize their evil deeds and recruit the impressionable,” he added.

Archbishop Migliore also encouraged U.N. efforts to address bioterrorism and arms buildup and to “incorporate a cultural and reli-gious component in its global strategy.”

The Vatican nuncio called bioter-rorism “a grave but seriously under-addressed threat” and said “the cost of doing nothing could far outstrip the cost of a major initiative now to strengthen public health systems’ capacity to cope with such a terrible eventuality.”

On weapons, he said, “it must be the common goal of states to secure, and wherever possible eliminate, nuclear, biological, chemical or radiological weapons and implement effective do-mestic and export controls on dual-use materials related to weapons of mass destruction.”

Archbishop Migliore also spoke May 11 before the U.N. Economic and Social Council’s Commission on Sus-tainable Development, saying that recent Cns Photo by theresa laurenCe, tennessee reGister

laurie Soileau (center), of Catholic Charities refugee and Immigration Services, helps edigno Moreno (right) of Cuba as he prepares to plant lettuce in the new refugee community garden at holy Name Church in Nashville, Tenn., in late April. Somali Bantu Musa Matan (left) is one of the refugee elders who is taking an active leadership role with the garden.

ChArloTTe VICArIATe

CHARLOTTE — St. Gabriel Church, 3016 Providence Rd., will host an Estate Planning Seminar May 24 at 6:30 p.m. in the Ministry Center. Estate planning information will be provided by Jim Kelley and Judy Smith from the diocesan Planned Giving office and attor-ney Tom Gorman with Gorman and Dittman law firm. Please call (704) 370-3320 with any q u e s t i o n s . To r e g i s t e r, c a l l ( 7 0 1 ) 364-5431, extension 212.CHARLOTTE — A free program for adults, “Children on the Internet,” will focus on the risks of the Internet, particularly to children. The program will take place in the parish hall of St. John Neumann Church, 8451 Idlewild Rd., May 31 at 7:30 p.m. Speakers will address how children are approached and exploited through the computer and how to work with your children and set guidelines plus some down-to-earth practical information on what you can do on your computer to help protect young us-ers. For more information, call Chris Schneider at (704) 566-8818.CHARLOTTE — St. Matthew Church, 8015 Ballantyne Commons Pkwy., will host a Christian Coffeehouse May 20, 7:30-9:30 p.m. Single and married adults are invited for an eve-ning of contemporary Christian music, food and fellowship. For more information, call Kathy Bartlett at (704) 400-2213.HUNTERSVILLE — A Mass to Honor Deceased Loved Ones is celebrated the last Friday of each month at 7:30 p.m. St. Mark Church, 14740 Stumptown Rd. For more informat ion, ca l l Pam Schneider a t

(704) 875-0201.CHARLOTTE — A Support Group for Caregiv-ers of a Family Member with Memory Loss meet the last Monday of each month, 10-11:30 a.m., at St. Gabriel Church, 3016 Providence Rd. For more information, contact Suzanne Bach at (704) 376-4135.GASToNIA VICArIATe

MOUNT HOLLY — Father John Vianney Hoover invites all to celebrate the 30th anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood May 28 at 4 p.m. at St. Joseph Church on Hwy. 273. Bring a picnic dinner and chairs to share after Mass. For details, call (704) 541-5026.GreeNSBoro VICArIATe

GREENSBORO — The Greensboro Council of Catholic Women invites you to a luncheon May 24, at 11:30 a.m. at Cardinal Country Club, 5700 Cardinal Way. Lunch will be followed by a fashion show by Belk and installation of officers. For more information, please contact Carmen Wood (336) 545-9266.GREENSBORO — Jesuit Father Joseph Koter-ski will present “The Contribution of Pope John Paul II to Catholic Social Thought” May 25, 7-8:30 p.m., at St. Pius X Church, 2210 North Elm St., in the Kloster Center. Father Koter-ski is a professor of philosophy at Fordham University. This event is sponsored by St. Pius X Church and the diocesan offices of Justice and Peace and Family Life of Catholic Social Services. For reservations and information, call (704) 370-3228 or e-mail [email protected] — All practicing Catholic women of Irish birth or descent, or who are the wife of a member of the Ancient Order of Hibernians are invited to participate in the Ladies Ancient Order of Hibernians, a social, cultural and charitable


Pope, in meeting with Venezuela’s president, expresses concern

froM THe vaTiCaN

On a roll

episcopalcalendar Bishop Peter J. Jugis will participate in

the following events:

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Benedict XVI expressed his concern over the nature of reforms under way in Venezu-ela, specifically concerning abortion, reli-gious instruction in public schools and the independence of Catholic media outlets.

During a May 11 private audience in the Vatican with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, the pope underlined some of the Vatican’s concerns during a closed-door encounter and in a letter he handed the president at the end of their talk.

One issue was the importance of “the protection of life from its beginning,” said a statement by papal spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls.

While the country’s educational reforms include giving wider access to public education, especially to the poor by building more schools and eliminating entrance fees, the pope said he was worried about moves to eliminate reli-gious instruction from the curriculum.

The statement said the pope “under-lined the need for independence for Catho-lic mass media” and that he reaffirmed “the Holy See’s freedom to nominate bishops.”

Chavez told the pope that he would take into account the Holy Father’s concerns and assured him of his intention to “overcome tensions concerning people’s legitimate rights,” the Vatican statement said.

Venezuelan bishops and Chavez have been at odds almost since Chavez came to office in 1999.

Church officials have accused the government of trying to restrict democracy, and they supported the 2002 military-led coup against the president. Chavez has denounced church leaders as being elitist.

Human rights organizations and U.S. officials also have criticized Chavez.

At the end of the meeting, the pope gave the Venezuelan president a signed copy of his recent encyclical, “Deus Caritas Est” (“God Is Love”).

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Only total, self-giving love based on marriage between a man and woman can form a solid enough foundation for build-ing communities and can benefit all of society, said Pope Benedict XVI.

There is a “special urgency” today to avoid confusing marriage with “other types of union based on a weak love,” he said in an address to participants attending an international congress on the family.

“Only the rock of total and indissoluble love between a man and a woman is capable of being the base for the building of a society that can be a home for all people,” he said.

In a May 11 audience in the Vati-can, the pope met with families and other participants attending an inter-national congress celebrating the 25th anniversary of the founding of the John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and the Family.

The May 11-13 congress was titled “Loving Human Love: The Heritage of John Paul II on Marriage and the Family.” Pope John Paul founded the institute in 1981, the same year he created the Pontifical Council for the Family.

Pope Benedict said his predecessor saw the need to continue studies and promote church teaching on marriage, life and the family in order to tackle “the difficult moments that followed the publication of that prophetic and always timely encyclical” by Pope Paul VI, “Hu-manae Vitae.”

Pope Benedict said in his encyclical, “Deus Caritas Est” (“God is Love”), that he sought to illustrate how God is showing his people the way to love others.

The image of there being one, monotheistic God “corresponds to monogamous marriage,” he said.

“Marriage based on an exclusive and definitive love” for another person mirrors God’s relationship with his people and vice versa: “The way of loving God becomes the measure of hu-man love,” the pope said, quoting from his encyclical.

Marriage represents the union of life and love and becomes an “authentic good for society.”

Authentic love between a man and a woman in marriage becomes “a light that guides one’s life to fullness, generating a society that humankind can live in,” he said in his address.

Cns Photo by Chris sheriDan

Three members of the Sisters of life enjoy in-line skating near their convent in the Bronx neighborhood of New York May 6. The religious community was established in the Archdiocese of New York in 1991 to protect and enhance the sacredness of all human life. The nuns pictured asked that they be identified only by their order.

group for an ongoing series of fun and informative activities. LAOH will meet June 1 at 6:30 p.m. at St. Paul the Apostle Church, 2715 Horse Pen Creek Rd., in the Earl Louis Center. This will be the final meeting until fall. Please contact Marilyn Conte at (336) 632-1340 for further information.HIGH POINT — Hope of Seeing Everyone Again (HOSEA) is a six-week program for Catholics who have been away from the Church for a while, but may wish to return. HOSEA will meet Tuesdays at 7 p.m. in the parlor of Immaculate Heart of Mary Church, 4145 Johnson St., May 23-June 27. Small group settings will offer an opportunity to enrich spiritual growth and help inactive Catholics bond and share their faith. It will also provide an opportunity for them to discuss any questions or issues with other Catholics and get a sense of the modern-day church. For more information, call Larry Kwan at (336) 688-1220 or e-mail [email protected] VICArIATe

MOORESVILLE — Jesuit Father Joseph Koterski will present “The Contribution of Pope John Paul II to Catholic Social Thought” May 22, 7-8:30 p.m., at St. Therese Church, 217 Brawley School Rd. Father Koterski is a professor of philosophy at Fordham University. This event is sponsored by the diocesan offices of Justice and Peace and Family Life of Catholic Social Services. For reservations and information, call (704) 370-3228 or e-mail [email protected] VALLEY — Jesuit Father Joseph Koterski will present “The Contribution of Pope John Paul II to Catholic Social Thought” May 24, 7-8:30 p.m., at St. Margaret of Scotland Church, 37 Murphy Dr. Father Koterski is a professor of philosophy at Fordham University. This event is sponsored by the diocesan offices of Justice and Peace and Family Life of Catholic Social Services. For reservations and information, call (704) 370-3228 or e-mail [email protected] — “Prayer of the Church,” will be

presented at St. Mary Church, 22 Bartlett St. The sessions will meet 10-11 a.m., May 27, June 24 and July 22. Please call the church office at (828) 586-9496 to pre-register. WINSToN-SAleM VICArIATe

CLEMMONS — Bishop Emeritus William G. Curlin will celebrate a Healing Mass June 12 at 7:30 p.m. at Holy Family Church, 4820 Kinnamon Rd., Reconciliation will be offered at 7 p.m. All are welcome to participate with hopeful expectancy. For more information, call (336) 998-7503 or the church office at (336) 778-0600.KERNERSVILLE — Holy Cross Church, 616 S. Cherry St., invites all Catholics who have been inactive, feel alienated or just want to take another look at the Catholic Church to attend ReMembering Church, a series of six sessions designed to address issues that have perhaps caused feelings of estrangement. Those seek-ing information about annulment are also cordially invited. These evening discussions will offer a welcoming atmosphere, help with misunderstandings and hurts, look at the chang-es that have taken place since Vatican II and provide an opportunity to ask questions. Ses-sions will meet in Holy Cross Church Salesian Hall, Wednesdays, June 7-July 12, 8-9 p.m. For more details, call Juliann Demmond at (336) 996-7136 or email [email protected].

is your parish or school sponsor-ing a free event open to the general public? Please submit notices for the diocesan Planner at least 7 days prior to desired publication date (fridays) in writing to Karen a. evans at [email protected] or fax to (704)

May 20 — 10 a.m.small Christian Communities diocesan Conferencest. Paul the apostle Church, greensboro

May 21 — 9 a.m.sacrament of Confirmationst. andrew Church, Mars Hill

May 23 — 7 p.m.sacrament of Confirmationst. Pius X Church, greensboro

May 25 — 10 a.m.board meeting, foundation for the diocese of CharlotteCatholic Conference Center, Hickory

Loving marriage between man, woman can benefit society, pope

WASHINGTON (CNS) — Pope Benedict XVI accepted the resignation of Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick May 16 and named Bishop Donald W. Wuerl of Pittsburgh to succeed him as archbishop of Washington.

The pope also accepted the resigna-tion of Bishop Joseph L. Imesch of Joliet, Ill., and appointed Bishop J. Peter Sartain of Little Rock, Ark., as his successor.

The changes were announced in Washington by Archbishop Pietro Sambi,

apostolic nuncio to the United States.Cardinal McCarrick, 75, has headed

the Archdiocese of Washington since 2001 and previously served as archbishop of Newark and bishop of Metuchen, N.J., and as an auxiliary bishop in the New York Archdiocese.

Archbishop Wuerl, 65, has been bishop of Pittsburgh since 1988 and is known for his syndicated television program, “The Teaching of Christ,” and his best-selling adult catechism of the same name.

Cardinal McCarrick, Bishop Imesch resign; successors named

4 The Catholic News & Herald May 19, 2006AroUND The DIoCeSe

Helping manyby cAROlE McGROtty

cORRESpONdENt

ASHEVILLE — A row of tables set with white linen tablecloths and napkins, china dishes, a floral centerpiece, and a lone diner enjoying a full-course meal.

Other diners eating small portions of meat and vegetables from paper plates with plastic silverware. The majority of the diners in the room eating a humble serving of rice and a small cup of water.

Such was the “hunger banquet” at the Basilica of St. Lawrence in Asheville May 5.

The service project of the parish’s confirmation class, following guide-lines set by Catholic Relief Services (CRS), the U.S. bishops’ international relief agency, was to represent how inhabitants of the various countries of the world eat on a daily basis.

The dinner was “to raise our awareness of global hunger,” said Rita Livezey, a member of the parish’s social justice commission and CRS in Ashe-ville.

Dinner participants drew color-coated slips that determined which countries they represented. Sharon Stosich, who enjoyed the full-coarse meal, had drawn a level 1 ticket, representing 10 percent of the world’s population in industrialized nations, such as the United States and England.

The level 2 diners, representing about 30 percent of the world’s population, enjoyed the meat and vegetables. They represented people in countries such as Russia, Poland and the Ukraine.

Most of the participants were level 3, and ate the rice and water. They represented 60 percent of the world’s countries, including Bolivia, China, El Salvador, Ghana, Haiti, Peru, India, Vietnam and Thailand.

Members of the confirmation class, who served as the diner’s wait staff, said they learned a lot from the service project.

“It made me realize how segregated the world is between rich and poor,” said Nicole Kent.

The confirmation class donated $500

Photo by Carole MCGrotty

Parishioners dine on meat and vegetables, representing how 30 percent of the world’s population eats, during a “hunger banquet” at the Basilica of St. lawrence in Ashville May 5. The program, a service project of the parish’s confirmation class, represented how inhabitants of the various countries of the world eat on a daily basis.

Courtesy Photo

Members of Knights of Columbus Piedmont Council 939 at our lady of Grace Church in Greensboro are pictured in March with representatives of organizations that received funds collected during the Knights’ operation lAMB drive in 2005. The Knights collected $36,850 during the annual campaign to assist organizations that work with mentally retarded children.

organizations receiving the funds included Gateway and McIver education center in Greensboro, rhA health Services and schools in Guilford County.

Knights pictured are Tom Thompson, co-chairman (third row, far left); Jim Keaney Sr., grand knight (third row, by flag); Dan laPerriere, co-chairman (third row, far right); and Bill eastwood, chairman (first row).

Courtesy Photo

Oblate Father Jim Scherer, a visiting priest at St. Paul the Apostle Church in Greensboro, stands with parishioners Mary Orr (left) and Eileen Ware at the dedication of the parish’s new Father James Tully Bible Reference Center April 23. Father Scherer, who blessed the center, was a close friend and neighbor of the late Father Tully; Orr is seen holding a photograph of Father Tully, for whom she helped care.Approximately 25 people attended the dedication of the center, which will be used by parishioners and others for Bible study and research.Upon his death at age 88 in June 2005, Father Tully left funds to be used toward the Bible reference center in the parish library. The first purchase for the center was the New Interpreter’s Bible volumes 1-12, which includes text, commentary and reflections for each book of the Bible.It is supplemented by reference materials including The New Jerome Biblical Commentary and The Interlinear Bible: Hebrew/Greek/English Bible.Ordained in April 1944, Father Tully came to Greensboro from the Diocese of Brook-lyn, and often celebrated Mass at St. Paul the Apostle Church. Those gathered at the center’s dedication shared memories of Father Tully’s sense of humor and devotion to the Eucharist.

How the world eatsBasilica parishioners experience ‘hunger banquet’

Resourceful request

The Cathol ic News & Hera ld 5 May 19, 2006FroM The CoVer

CATHOLIC, from page 1

puses and five diocesan Catholic schools attended an overview presentation of the “Why Catholic? Journey through the Catechism” program for adults at St. Matthew Church in Charlotte May 15.

The presentation was repeated at the Catholic Conference Center in Hickory May 16.

“Why Catholic? is a reasonable plan to expand what is already happen-ing in your parish, without a lot of extra time or cost,” said Msgr. Tom Kleissler, president of RENEW International.

RENEW International is a Ro-man Catholic organization that fosters spiritual renewal, evangelization and the transformation of the world through p a r i s h - b a s e d s m a l l C h r i s t i a n communities.

RENEW International’s ministries include RENEW, Campus RENEW, Why

why Catholic? is based on the four pillars of the Catholic Church:

1. The profession of faith — what Catholics believe

2. The celebration of the Christian mystery — the sacraments

3. life in Christ — walking with god

4.Christian prayer — deepening the

Catholic?, Theology on Tap and Healing the Body of Christ.

Nineteen archdioceses and dioceses in the U.S. currently participate in the Why Catholic? program.

Bishop Peter J. Jugis is recom-mending the implementation of Why Catholic? in all parishes of the Diocese of Charlotte.

A significant shiftWhy Catholic? seeks to address

the trends of the past several decades occurring in Catholic families.

“In past generations, Catholics were ‘marinated’ in Catholicism,” said Sister of Providence Terri Rickard, institute organizer at RENEW International. “Even if they didn’t practice the Catholic faith anymore, they couldn’t shake their Catholicism.”

Today, only one in every 10 chil-dren who are baptized receives first Communion, Sister Rickard said. Also, many adults in their 20s and 30s don’t know church teachings like their parents and grandparents.

In response to these problems, the U.S. bishops promulgated “Go and Make Disciples” (1992), “Catechism of the Catholic Church” (1994), “Our Hearts

Were Burning Within Us: A Pastoral Plan for Adult Faith Formation in the United States” (1999) and “National Directory of Catechesis” (2005).

Why Catholic? fosters the goals of “Our Hearts Were Burning Within Us,” the bishops’ pastoral plan for adult faith formation. The Why Catholic? process is comprehensive, containing a full range of elements in both English and Spanish. It includes orientation, small community leader formation, retreat experiences, an invitation video and family-oriented bulletin inserts.

Renewal of faith“Our faith cannot be simply trans-

mitted by teaching,” said Cris Villapan-do, director of diocesan faith formation programs. “It has to be internalized to survive and ‘owned’ to bring about con-

Photo by Karen a. evans

Msgr. Tom Kleissler, president of reNeW International, introduces the Why Catholic? program to parish and school pastors and representatives at St. Matthew Church in Charlotte May 15. Bishop Peter J. Jugis hopes the adult faith formation will be implemented in parishes across the diocese for lent 2007.

“(PeoPLe) wILL Be aBLe to say, ‘tHIs Is wHy I’M CatHoLIC,’ aNd sHare or exPLaIN tHose reasoNs to otHers.”

Program offers adults chance to explore Catholicism

version in the lives of people.”Such internalization works best

within small Christian communities.The prime purpose of fai th

formation is first to awaken people’s faith and second is to teach the faith, said Sister Rickard. Why Catholic? pro-vides training in evangelization and faith formation for adults of all ages and education levels in small group settings.

“(People) will be able to say, ‘This is why I’m Catholic,’ and share or explain those reasons to others,” she said.

Why Catholic? is designed to meet in six-week sessions, twice a year, for four years. Each year an aspect of Catho-lic life is explored in small communities.

Why Catholic? offers parishes another way of serving the Catholics in their community, not just those who regularly attend Mass. It was developed for use by any size parish, even those with small budgets, Sister Rickard said.

“On numerous occasions in parish work, I have encountered adults who feel inadequately prepared to defend or discuss their faith,” said Father John Putnam, judicial vicar and pastor of Sacred Heart Church in Salisbury.

“It is easy to lament the situation, but Why Catholic? actually provides a means to begin addressing the problem,” he continued. “Anything that we pastors can do to assist our people to embrace their faith more completely is certainly worth exploring.”

Contact Staff Writer Karen A. Evans by calling (704) 370-3354 or e-mail [email protected].

6 The Catholic News & Herald May 19, 2006IN oUr SChoolS

Fifth-graders enjoy ballroom dance at Asheville Catholic


“Dorothy” (center) and “Toto” the dog (lower right) sing with Emerald City townspeople — all played by students — during the drama club’s pro-duction of “The Wizard of Oz” at Asheville Catholic School in May. More than 100 students participated in some aspect of the production, which played to sold-out crowds during evening performances May 4-6.

Preparation for the performance began in October under the direction of religion teacher Alyssa Kennedy.

Over the rainbow at Asheville Catholic

HUNTERSVILLE — Susan Ford, a fourth-grade teacher at St. Mark School in Huntersville, died May 10.

A memorial Mass was celebrated at St. Mark Church May 15. Interment was at Mount Zion Cemetery in Cornelius.

Ford is survived by husband Mike, marketing director for Mecklenburg Area Catholic Schools; children Mat-thew, Todd and Victoria; and grandson Andrew.

For Ford, teaching was not a career but a ministry.

Over the past 13 years, she dedicated her love and energy to Catholic schools.

“She was the most dedicated teacher. Her goal was that every student learned; she was determined to make that happen, and she didn’t compromise to anybody,” said Deborah Butler, principal of St. Mark School.

“She was a teacher who inspired and had the ability to make every child feel special,” she said.

Memorials may be made to the Susan Ford Mecklenburg Area Catho-lic Schools Scholarship Fund and sent to MACS, 1123 S. Church Street, Charlotte, N.C. 28203.

Susan Ford, Catholic schoolteacher,

Susan Ford

Mambo madness

by cAROlE McGROttycORRESpONdENt

ASHEVILLE — The beat of Latin music recently filled Asheville Catholic School’s gymnasium.

Andrew Weatherly’s fifth-grade class practiced the mambo during a weeklong Latin dance residency in March. The course was based on a

10-week ballroom dance program utilized in more than 60 public schools in New York City and featured in the documentary film, “Mad Hot Ballroom.”

Under the direction of Cuban native Nelson Reyes, an instructor with the Asheville Contemporary Dance Theatre, the fifth-graders studied the mambo, building confidence, stamina and skill.

“I thought it would be really bor-ing, but it was fast and exciting and not boring at all,” said student Patrick Wilson.

Many of his classmates agreed, although some admitted that learning the steps was not easy.

“Going through the tunnel was my favorite part,” said Megan Cavanini, referring to a step when the students formed a human tunnel and went through it in pairs.

“I had expected it to be fun, and it was,” she said.

The residency culminated with the students demonstrating their new mambo techniques March 31. Physical education teacher Bonnie Vess assisted with the dance techniques, while Span-ish teacher Ester Slater worked with students on Cuban poetry for the demonstration.


Fifth-graders practice the mambo at Asheville Catholic School in March.

The Cathol ic News & Hera ld 7 May 19, 2006FroM The CoVer

ter’s Square would remind visitors of that “dramatic event” that left his predecessor near death.

The white stone was laid into the pavement where Pope John Paul was rid-ing in his open jeep May 13, 1981, when Turkish assailant Mehmet Ali Agca shot him in the hand and lower abdomen.

The memorial recalled the date of the shooting in Roman numerals.

A similar marker was placed in-side the Vatican at the entrance to the Vatican’s health center, where the pope received initial medical care before being rushed to a Rome hospital.

The Vatican commemoration fea-tured the release of hundreds of blue and yellow balloons — the colors of the late pope’s crest — and ended with a fireworks display above St. Peter’s Square.

More than 10,000 pilgrims came to the square to pray in the late afternoon, the time of the papal shooting 25 years earlier, and laid flowers around the stone marker.

Celebrating Mass in the basilica, Cardinal Camillo Ruini, papal vicar of Rome, asked for prayers for the late pope’s beatification. His words were met by long applause.

Prophetic messageA statue of Our Lady of Fatima was

flown in from the Fatima sanctuary in Portugal for the occasion and brought by helicopter to the pilgrimage assembly site. Pilgrims then carried it in procession to the square.

The shooting took place on the feast of Our Lady of Fatima, and Pope John Paul always credited Mary with saving his life.

Pope Benedict recalled the late pope’s special devotion to Mary in a midday talk May 14. Addressing thousands of people from his apart-ment window above St. Peter’s Square, he said Pope John Paul had always felt that Mary’s “maternal hand” had miraculously saved him from death.

The late pope’s entire pontificate was marked by the Marian apparitions to three children in Fatima, Portugal, in 1917, and by what Mary foretold in her messages to the young visionaries, Pope Benedict said.

“The message she gave them, in continuity with the message of Lourdes, was a strong call to prayer and conversion,” the pope said.

“That is a truly prophetic message, considering that the 20th century was afflicted by unprecedented destruction caused by wars and totalitarian regimes, as well as by extensive persecution against the church,” he said.

The pope prayed that Mary would continue to watch over the church and all humanity, especially families, mothers and children.

Fatima’s legacyCarmelite Sister Lucia dos Santos,

the last of the three Fatima visionaries, died Feb. 13, 2005, in her cloistered

convent in Coimbra, Portugal, at the age of 97.

She was later buried alongside her two cousins, Blesseds Francisco and Jacinta Marto, at the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima in Portugal. More than 100,000 people gathered at the shrine to pray and witness the burial.

On May 13, 1917 — when Lucia was 10 years old, Francisco was 9 and Jacinta was 7 — the children claimed to have seen the Blessed Virgin Mary at Fatima, near their home.

The apparitions continued once a month until October 1917 and later were

declared worthy of belief by the Catholic Church.

In 2000 Pope John Paul beatified Sister Lucia’s cousins, who died as children.

In 1984, he had the bullet fragment that was removed from his body placed in the crown of the Marian statue at the Fatima shrine.

POPE, from page 1

Cns Photo by naCho DoCe, reuters

A pilgrim prays on her knees at the shrine of our lady of Fatima in Portugal May 12. More than 400,000 pilgrims converged on Fatima to celebrate the May 13 anniversary of the first apparition of the Virgin Mary to three shepherd children in 1917.

Cns Photo by Max rossi, reuters

A statue of our lady of Fatima is carried in procession from Castel Sant’Angelo in rome to St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican May 13. Thousands of pilgrims marked the anniversary of the first apparition of the Virgin Mary to three children at Fatima, Portugal, in 1917 and also the 25th anniversary of the May 13, 1981, assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II’s life.

Vatican marks place where pope was shot

Pope Benedict recalls late pope’s devotion to Mary; pope said “maternal hand” had saved him

8 The Catholic News & Herald May 19, 2006reSPeCT lIFe

Pro-life officials see signs of hope in latest polls on

by NANcy fRAZiER O’bRiENcAtHOlic NEwS SERVicE

WASHINGTON — For the first time since the Harris Poll began measuring support for the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision that removed most state restrictions on abortion, fewer than half of all Americans said they favor Roe v. Wade.

Even though the Harris question erroneously stated that Roe v. Wade legalized abortion only in the first three months of pregnancy, only 49 percent said they supported the law and 47 percent said they opposed it.

With a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points, the responses were almost equal.

In earlier years, support for Roe v. Wade in the Harris surveys had ranged from 52 percent to 65 percent.

Roe and its companion decision, Doe v. Bolton, legalized abortion virtu-ally on demand through all nine months of pregnancy.

Shifting opinionsDeirdre McQuade, director of

planning and information in the U.S. bishops’ Secretariat for Pro-Life Activi-ties, said the Harris Poll released May 4 concurs with other recent surveys in

NEW YORK (CNS) — For the fourth year in a row, the National Black Catholic Apostolate for Life has designated June as “abortion and all acts of violence awareness month.”

The theme for the 2006 observance is “Jesus the Giver of Life — Make Us a People for Life,” said Franciscan Father Jim Goode, president of the New York-based apostolate.

“We will witness the sacredness of life in all our churches, institutions, national black Catholic conferences, summer family reunions, festivals, church trips and neighborhood gather-ings,” Father Goode said in a statement.

“Wherever our people will assemble during the month of June and throughout the summer months,” a representative of the National Black Catholic Apostolate for Life “will be there praying, proclaim-ing and mobilizing African-Americans to choose life and help others choose life,” he added.

Father Goode said June was chosen because it is the month of the Sacred Heart, as well as the month in which the feast day of St. Charles Lwanga and the Ugandan martyrs falls.

The apostolate’s board of consul-tants “has fully embraced this pro-life awareness project,” the organization said in a news release.

“Our mission as black Catholics for life during this awareness campaign is to go from heart to heart, soul to soul, life to life, and invite our African-American sisters and brothers to join us in choosing life,” said Redemptorist Father Glenn Parker of Richmond, Va., a board member.

Beverly A. Carroll, executive director of the U.S. bishops’ Secretariat for African-American Catholics and a founding board member, said the success of the 2005 campaign “has given us renewed enthusiasm.”

showing that “public opinion has moved progressively away from supporting unqualified access to abortion.”

“This is a real sign of hope for both women and their unborn children,” she said in a statement.

Maggi Nadol, Catholic Social Ser-vice’s Respect Life director in the Dio-cese of Charlotte, agreed.

“This is a hopeful sign that Americans are realizing we can and should be able to offer women something better than abortion,” said Nadol.

“Those experiencing an unplanned pregnancy or facing hardship during pregnancy are in need of compassion, understanding and assistance. Abortion is not the answer,” she said.

McQuade noted that an April survey by the polling company found that 54 percent of respondents support abortion only in cases of rape, incest or to save the life of the mother and another 21 percent backed it only in the first three months of pregnancy.

Those opinions are “a far cry from the abortion license established by Roe v. Wade, which allows abortion for vir-tually any reason throughout the nine months of pregnancy,” she said.

“We expect that Americans will continue to trend pro-life as they learn more about abortion and its impact on women, men and society,” she said.

A Zogby poll in March also found majority support for abortion regula-tions such as informed consent laws and parental notification laws for women under 18, McQuade noted.

The Harris Poll, conducted by telephone April 4-10 among 1,016 adult Americans, also asked whether respondents expected Roe v. Wade to be overturned by the Supreme Court and whether laws should make it easier or more difficult to get an abortion.

About one-third (32 percent) said they thought the decision would be over-turned, while 63 percent said it would remain unchanged and 5 percent said they were not sure or refused to answer.

Forty percent of the respondents said they backed laws making it more diffi-cult to get an abortion, 15 percent said it should be made easier to get an abortion, 40 percent said there should be no change and the rest said they were not sure.

Asked specifically about a South Dakota law that would ban all abortions, except to save the woman’s life, if Roe were overturned, 44 percent said they supported the law and 52 percent said they opposed it. The rest were not sure or declined to answer.

Criticizing contraceptionIn a separate statement May 3,

McQuade disputed the claim that widespread access to contraception lowers abortion rates, as stated in “Abortion in Women’s Lives,” a recent report by the Guttmacher Institute.

“Guttmacher’s own data show there is no correlation between the two,” she said. “States ranking highest for access to contraceptive services, including California and New York, also rank high-

est in abortion rates.“Others that Guttmacher consid-

ers weak in contraceptive services, such as Kansas and the Dakotas, have among the lowest abortion rates in the country,” she said.

Sharon Camp, president and CEO of the New York-based Guttmacher Institute, said the report showed that “wealthier women have quick, convenient access to contraceptives and safe, early abortions, while poor women are less able to prevent pregnan-cies through contraceptive and are then forced to jump over a series of obstacles in order to obtain an abortion.”

But McQuade said states that had reduced their abortion rates did so in part “by choosing not to subsidize abor-tion, and ensuring informed consent for women and parental involvement for minors seeking abortions — policies which the Guttmacher report demands be rescinded.”

Contributing to this story was Editor

Making ‘people for life’Black Catholic life group pledges to raise abortion awareness in June

The Cathol ic News & Hera ld 9 May 19, 2006reSPeCT lIFe

logical advancement in the field of bioethics “becomes a threat when man loses sense of his limits and, basically, claims to supersede God the creator,” Pope Benedict said.

Council members met May 11-13 at the Vatican to discuss the achievements, challenges, and current and future proj-ects of the department founded 25 years ago by Pope John Paul II.

Two major themes under discussion at the council’s plenary assembly were the sanctity of life and marriage.

Family and faithProcreation outside the loving act

between a man and woman bonded in marriage not only ignores God’s plan for creation, it degrades the human body and turns it into “merchandise, a plain thing,” Pope Benedict said.

He praised unmarried men and women, especially young people who were “rediscovering the value of chastity, which appears more and more as a sure guarantee of authentic love.”

The pope then urged married Christian couples to be open to life and show “with courageous coherence that procreation is the fruit of love.”

He said sometimes it seemed that families are afraid of “life, paternity and maternity.”

“It is necessary to give them back confidence so that they can continue to fulfill their noble mission of procreation in love,” he said.

More couples having more children would help “stimulate politicians and lawmakers to safeguard the rights of the family,” he said.

The family is under threat by laws trying to give civil unions, which reject the obligations of marriage, the same rights as married couples, he said.

Some governments are trying to come up with a new definition of marriage by legalizing homosexual unions and allowing gay couples to adopt children, he added.

He urged families to stay united and overcome the difficulties that often lead

to separation and divorce, which can have negative effects on children.

Patience, sacrifice and understand-ing as well as prayer and receiving the Eucharist can help couples “remain faithful to their vocation,” he said.

Changing societyArchbishop Elden F. Curtiss

of Omaha, Neb., who attended the council’s plenary assembly, said the family based on marriage between a man and a woman is “fundamental to society,” not just the church.

He told Catholic News Service May 12 that the “secular culture tends to look at everything from the point of view of personal rights and personal disposi-tion, and somebody has to say ‘Well,

SCIENCE, from page 1

what about the common good ... what happens when you undermine marriage?’”

Another assembly participant, Su-preme Knight Carl Anderson of the Knights of Columbus, noted that, as some states start to limit a woman’s access to abortion, social programs and services that support women and their pregnancies need to be set up or bolstered.

He told CNS that this is reflected in the pope’s encyclical, “God Is Love” (“Deus Caritas Est”), in that even if the United States is able to restrict or overturn Roe v. Wade “you still need room for charity.”

“How does one look at the whole question of pregnancy in a post-Roe culture” and help women with unplanned

“It is necessary to give them back confidence so that they can continue to fulfill their noble mission of procreation in love.”

— Pope Benedict xVI

Science that tampers with human life threatens humanity, pope warns

BOGOTA, Colombia (CNS) — Catholic Church officials have criti-cized a Colombian Constitutional Court decision legalizing abortion in three circumstances.

The court ruled May 11 that abor-tion was legal in cases of rape or serious congenital malformation or when the preg-nancy threatens the woman’s life or health. Until the ruling, Colombia, Chile and El Salvador were the only American nations that prohibited abortion in all circumstances.

Colombian Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo, head of the Pontifical Council for the Family at the Vatican, called the ruling “a very sad piece of news.”

Church officials in Colombia said all those who promote abortion, including the five high court members who voted in favor of the legalization, would be excommunicated.

Two of the high court’s members re-sponded by asking the church to respect the decision and reminded church leaders that Catholicism ceased to be Colombia’s official religion in 1991.

The newspaper El Tiempo reported that Archbishop Juan Sarasti Jaramillo of

Cali called the decision “terrifying” and “a license for mothers to kill their own children.”

The church had campaigned against legalizing abortion, holding rallies and collecting millions of signatures before the court decision.

Polls have consistently shown that most Colombians, about 80 percent of whom are Catholic, support legal abor-tion in cases of rape, when the fetus has serious malformations and when the pregnancy threatens the woman’s life.

A survey conducted after the deci-sion confirmed this, with more than 60 percent of respondents in favor of the decision.

However, surveys also have shown that most Colombians oppose legalizing abortion in all cases.

A clandestine abortion industry has flourished in Colombia, and an estimated 300,000 to 400,000 women have abor-tions annually. Abortion rights advocates have said that botched abortions are a principal cause of maternal mortality.

Two cases have attracted national attention to the issue. In early February,

Church officials criticize Colombian court ruling legalizing abortion


a roundup of scripture, readings, films and moreCulture Watch

Video game industry asked to improve ratings system on games

word to LIFeSUNDAY SCRIPTURE READINGS: MAY 28, 2006

weeKLy sCrIPtUre

Kids at riskMay 25 or 28 Ascension or Seventh Sunday After Easter

Cycle B Readings:1) Acts 1:1-11 Psalm 47:2-3, 6-92) Ephesians 4:1-13 or Eph. 1:17-233) Gospel: Mark 16:15-20

we are to obey, not tempt, God

by JEff HENSlEycAtHOlic NEwS SERVicE

Since most folks’ experience of the supernatural comes primarily in the context of daily life and seldom is talked about, these verses in Mark are often troublesome to people. The Gospel is confirmed in signs and wonders.

How can that be in our sophisticated and secularized modern age?

While I understand people being taken aback by stories associated with cults that handle snakes or do other outlandish things to “prove” the valid-ity of the Gospel commands, such cultic interpretations of the text here are not bound up with the original intent.

Handling poisonous snakes in religious ceremonies is more analogous to taking Satan up on his dare and jump-ing from the rooftop because God has promised to protect his chosen ones.

Though it doesn’t have to hap-pen this way when the good news of God’s redemptive love is proclaimed, it sometimes does.

In 1982, my wife and I visited Catho-lic charismatic communities in El Paso, Texas, and Juarez, Mexico, for a story I was writing for New Covenant magazine.

We were told how, a few years before, an El Paso prayer group, led by Jesuit Father Rick Thomas, had decided to take quite literally the Gospel com-mand to give a dinner for those who were not their friends, family and acquain-tances, but the poor.

Together, several of them set out on Christmas Day for the dump at Juarez where two warring communities of the poorest of the poor scavenged for discarded metal scraps and bottles to resell to recyclers. Stories of their shared meal tell of the be-ginnings of a community proclaiming the Gospel to the poor and dispossessed of these two borderland communities.

One participant later recounted watching as a ham failed to grow smaller as slice after slice was pared off for the gathering poor of the dump community.

The two warring factions came to-gether to share in the feast and sing simple Christmas carols. Thereafter they began to learn to work together, eventually taking over the recycling business themselves, cutting out the middle man and increasing the return on their labor in a miracle of both peacemaking and economics.

And why did all of this happen? Not as the result of tempting God, but of obeying him with the signs and wonders following the proclamation.

by cAtHOlic NEwS SERVicE

WASHINGTON — Multiple studies have been conducted about content in video games related to violence, sexual themes and profanity that goes unlabeled on the games’ packaging, even for games intended for the youngest users.

The latest such study has prompted a Catholic congressman, Rep. Joe Baca, D-Calif., to call on the video-game industry to improve its ratings sys-tems and give parents “clear, accurate information that they can understand” so they know what video games are appropriate for their children.

Meanwhile, a video game on making peace won a prize during a huge video-game exposition in Los Angeles.

Results of a new study released by the Harvard School of Public Health’s Kids Risk Project found that 81 percent of video games rated “M” for mature contained sex, profanity, violence or other objectionable content not labeled on the game box.

“Parents and physicians should recognize that popular M-rated video games contain a wide range of unlabeled content and may expose children and adolescents to messages that may negatively influence their perceptions, attitudes and behaviors,” the study con-cluded.

A previous study of games rated “T” for teens found nearly half of the games in a random sample contained unlabeled content and those rated “E” for everyone also had a considerable amount of violent content.

Baca, a leading critic of the video-game industry for its marketing of violent and sexually explicit material to children, decried the study’s findings at an April 28 press conference in Washington.

“Violent and sexually explicit video games are not merely a modern form of entertainment; they have profoundly harmful impacts on children who use them,” said Baca.

“Because the consequences are so serious, we must make sure parents have accurate information about video games,” he said.

Baca and Rep. Tom Osborne, R-Neb., both of whom co-chair the Congressional Sex and Violence in the Media Caucus, wrote a letter with Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., to the Entertainment Software Review Board, the video-game industry’s self-governing body, asking the board to meet with caucus members and fix the rating system.

Baca is a founder of the caucus.Elizabeth Carll, chair of the Ameri-

can Psychological Association’s interac-tive media committee, said at the press conference, “Video games may increase learning more than films and TV because the player is an active participant who identifies with a violent character, the violent acts can be repeated many times, and the violent behavior is often reward-ed with the winner being the person who kills and destroys the most.”

In Los Angeles, in a contest organized by the University of Southern California’s Center on Public Diplomacy, a cross-cultural game about the Israel-Palestine conflict called “Peacemaker,” and designed by graduate students from Carnegie Mellon University in Pitts-burgh, won an award May 8.

It was presented at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles, the annual trade show for the $30 bil-lion industry.

According to the Reuters news agency, the contest challenged designers to modify popular games or create one of their own to include messages of global peace and friendship.

In “Peacemaker” players are Is-raelis and Palestinians who negotiate dangerous situations.

Other finalists included “Exchanging Cultures,” in which diplomats explore new countries, and “Hydro Hijinks,” a quiz game about international water

sCriPTure for THe weeK of May 21-27sunday (sixth sunday of easter), acts 10:25-26, 34-35,44-48, 1 John 4:7-10, John 15:9-17; Monday (st. rita of Cascia), acts 16:11-15, John 15:26-16:4; Tuesday, acts 16:22-34, John 16:5-11; wednesday, acts 17:15, 22—18:1, John 16:12-15; Thursday, acts 1:1-11, ephesians 1:17-24, Mark 16:15-20; friday (Philip Neri, priest), acts 18:9-18, John 16:20-23; saturday (st. augustine of Canterbury), acts 18:23-28, John 16:23-28.

sCriPTure for THe weeK of May 28-JuNe 3sunday (seventh sunday of easter, ascension of the lord), acts 1:15-17, 20-26, 1 John 4:11-16, John 17:11-19; Monday, acts 19:1-8 John 16:29-33; Tuesday, acts 20:17-27, John 17:1-11; wednesday (The visitation of the blessed virgin Mary), Zephaniah 3:14-18, luke 1:39-56; Thursday (st. Justin, Martyr), acts 22:30, 23:6-11, John 17:20-26; friday (st. Marcellinus and st. Peter), acts 25:13-21, John 21:15-19; saturday (st. Charles lwanga and Companions), acts 28:16-20, 30-31, John 21:20-25.

Cns Photo by bob roller

Studies about content in video games intended for young users has prompted a Catholic congressman to call on the video-game industry to improve its ratings systems.


Head of Opus Dei says ‘The Da Vinci Code’ exploited his

a Novel for ‘braiNless PeoPle’

by JOHN tHAViScAtHOlic NEwS SERVicE

ROME — The head of Opus Dei said “The Da Vinci Code” had ex-ploited his organization and launched “grotesque” accusations against the Catholic Church.

Bishop Javier Echevarria Rodriguez said the novel’s author, Dan Brown, had joined a long line of critics who attack Opus Dei in order to make points against the faith.

“That imaginative man made a profit on us — and not only in dollars — like so many others who attack us. Following the teachings of our father, we pray with the same fervor for those who praise us and those who defame us,” Bishop Eche-varria said.

The bishop made the comments in an interview published by the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera May 12, a week before the May 19 worldwide re-lease of the film based on Brown’s novel.

In the novel, Opus Dei, a per-sonal prelature, is portrayed as a power- hungry and sinister organization whose members are willing to murder in or-der to obtain ancient secrets about the church.

Bishop Echevarria said he had

not read the book, but had only paged through it.

“I don’t have time to waste on little novels for brainless people,” he said.

He said the book should not be rejected for what it says about Opus Dei, which he said are “the usual things that make us laugh.”

“What saddens me are the grotesque fantasies about Our Lord and our holy mother church. They can say what they want about (Opus Dei), but they shouldn’t curse the faith,” he said.

The bishop said he thought Brown and other critics of Opus Dei took aim at Opus Dei because of “our attachment to the pope, our fidelity to the church and our rigor for the orthodoxy of the faith.”

“They attack us in order to attack these realities,” he said.

In the novel, a great deal of attention is paid to Opus Dei’s U.S. headquarters in New York City. Bishop Echevarria said the building, reported to cost $47 million, simply reflects the vocation of Opus Dei’s 85,000 lay members — to be a spiritual force in the real world.

“Our vocation is to call everyone to sanctify themselves through work. We couldn’t avoid being present in the professional capital of the world, New York,” he said.

Cns Photo by ColuMbia

Tom hanks and Audrey Tautou star in a scene from the movie “The Da Vinci Code.”

a dull decodingby JOHN tHAViS

cAtHOlic NEwS SERVicE

CANNES, France — Toward the end of the movie “The Da Vinci Code,” the main character, Robert Langdon, tells his sleuthing partner, Sophie Neveu: “You are the last living descendent of Jesus Christ.”

That line, meant to be the dramatic apex of the film, drew laughs from many of the approximately 900 journalists who viewed the film’s first press screening May 16 at the Cannes Film Festival.

The derisive laughter, along with widely critical comments from reporters afterward, summed up the Cannes press reaction to the much- heralded launch of the movie. When the credits ran, silence and a few whistles drove home the response.

The movie sticks to most of the book’s controversial religious elements, while softening some of the edges.

Directed by Ron Howard and starring Tom Hanks, it faithfully depicts the novel’s story of intrepid American “symbologist” Langdon, who follows a coded trail leading to a supposedly age-old secret: that Christ was not necessarily divine, that he was married to Mary Magdalene and that their descen-dents survive today.

The church is the bad guy in this conspiracy-theory version of Christianity, and is depicted as suppressing all evidence of Jesus’ alleged marriage.

But one striking difference about the movie is that it lacks anything resembling the famous “fact” page that prefaced the novel, in which author Dan Brown claimed that “all descriptions of artwork, architecture, documents, and secret rituals in this novel are accurate.”

The film doesn’t make any claim to accuracy of any kind — artistic, historical, religious or biblical.

Brown’s preface also made a point of saying the Priory of Sion, the novel’s organizational keeper of the secret, was real — even though it was unmasked as a fraud years ago.

The film keeps the Priory of Sion as the protagonist of the mystery, but — unlike the book — has Langdon protest at one point that the priory was a known hoax.

Colombia Pictures noted that while Brown “contends” the Priory of Sion was real, the documents he cited were proven to be forgeries.

All this tends to underline that the movie is a work of fiction, and to deflate

some of the historical assertions that irritated critics of the book.

While the movie’s portrayal of the Catholic Church is distinctly unflattering, its treatment of the Catholic organization Opus Dei is particularly negative.

The novel placed Opus Dei in the middle of the church’s nefarious efforts to keep secret the “truth” about Christ, and had a cruel Opus Dei member commit several murders in the process.

In the book, Opus Dei’s fictional leader, Bishop Manuel Aringarosa, is a somewhat unwitting figure in the machi-nations. In the film, however, the bishop operates with Machiavellian ruthlessness.

The sicko murderer, Silas, is a caricature not only of Opus Dei but of religious sentiment in general. A typical sequence: he crosses himself and says, “God, give me strength”; he pitilessly murders a nun; he prays over her body; he crosses himself; he whips himself bloody as he stands naked in his room; he crosses himself; he phones his superior for further instructions.

Unlike the book, the movie keeps its distance from the Vatican. Instead, un-identified prelates in a sinister “Council of Shadows” pull strings in order to cover up the secret life of Jesus. Their secret meeting room is outfitted with a billiard table.

The film retains several of the claims considered outrageous by many Catho-lic critics: that the Bible as we know it was collated by the “pagan” emperor Constantine; that alternative gospels recounting the real life of Jesus were suppressed; and that church ritual bor-rows heavily from pagan mystery reli-gions.

But the film puts these and other claims into the mouth of Leigh Teabing, the story’s true villain, and at several points has the hero, Langdon, skeptically questioning these assertions.

That too is a change from the book, and adds a veneer of even-handedness to the story.

The movie’s historical flashbacks illustrating these supposedly dark chapters of church history were so overdone that they provoked catcalls during the first Cannes screening. The pandemonium-in-vestments version of the Council of Nicea may especially amuse church historians.

Early reviews from the Cannes screening gave the movie decidedly low marks. Its biggest sin, according to many critics, was that it was dull.

The movie was to be formally pre-sented at the festival May 17 and was

‘Da Vinci Code’ draws laughs from journalists at press screening


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U.S. bishops wary of posting Guard on borderBORDER, from page 1

personnel because there has not been an adequate public discussion about its implications, especially for the treatment of migrants.”

In his first such nationwide address on a domestic policy matter, Bush gave his most explicit support to date for a program that would provide a way for most of the estimated 11 million to 12 million illegal immigrants in the country to legalize their status.

He proposed requiring them to pay a fine and back taxes, learn English and hold a job for an undefined set number of years to be allowed to stay in the country.

Much of the president’s speech focused on border enforcement.

He said up to 6,000 members of the National Guard would be sent to the border states of California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas, where they would assist the Border Patrol in jobs such as intelligence analysis, installation of fences and barriers, building roads and providing training.

In his s tatement, issued in Washington prior to Bush’s address, Bishop Barnes reiterated the U.S. bish-ops’ position that “the real solution to the immigration crisis lies in a comprehen-sive approach to the problem.

“This approach must include a long-term strategy to address the root causes of flight, such as combating poverty in sending countries,” he said.

“It also must include comprehensive reform of our nation’s immigration laws which features an opportunity to earn citizenship for the undocumented in our country and the creation of legal avenues for migration for migrants to work and join families in a safe, orderly, and humane manner,” the bishop said.

“We are hopeful that the president also will commit himself to these ele-ments as part of a comprehensive immi-gration reform bill,” he added.

The bishop said immigration is an issue of “urgent national priority.” He

said the U.S. bishops for several years “have urged our elected officials to address our nation’s immigration crisis in a just, humane and comprehensive manner.”

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., co-author of an immigration bill ap-proved this spring by the Senate Judiciary Committee but still awaiting final resolution, said in a statement that he is concerned that “the urgent work of immigration reform is not sidetracked by the president’s proposal to use the National Guard at the border.”

Kennedy said Bush’s leadership “is essential as we fight to fix our broken system once and for all.”

Cns Photo by JiM younG, reuters

U.S. President George W. Bush gestures in front of the fence at the U.S.-Mexican border in el Paso, Texas, as Texas Gov. rick Perry looks on in a 2005 file photo. Bush’s May 15 address on immigration reform got mixed reviews from advocates for immigrant s, who expressed gratitude for his support of legalization for illegal immigrants but had concerns about his plan to deploy National Guard troops on the border.


Commencing successAroUND The DIoCeSe

Belmont Abbey College presents degrees to students, leadersBELMONT — Hundreds of families

and friends of the 2006 graduating class at-tended the 128th annual commencement at Belmont Abbey College.

The college presented 179 tradi-tional and adult degree graduates with diplomas during the ceremony held in the Basilica Piazza May 13.

With Benedictine Father Christopher Kirchgessner, an Abbey professor, serving as this year’s master of ceremonies, the college announced this year’s valedictorian and student of the year, and recognized faculty achievements, including Dr. Mike McLeod as the recipient of the 2006 Adrian Faculty Excellence Award.

Dennis Freehan, senior class presi-dent, and Rachel Owens, an adult degree student, both addressed the class of 2006.

The college also presented honorary doctorates to Dr. Edward Sadler, former superintendent of schools for Gaston County; Benedictine Father John Oetgen, former Belmont Abbey College presi-dent; and William G. Monroe of WGM Design in Charlotte.

Founded in 1876, Belmont Abbey College is home to students from more than 28 states and 11 countries. The 650-acre campus consists of the college, the monastery and the Abbey Basilica, and is listed on the National Register of His-toric Places.

Courtesy Photo

Graduating students share a laugh during the commencement ceremony at Belmont Abbey College May 13.

Courtesy Photos

Above: Bagpipers play during the commencement ceremony at Belmont Abbey College May 13. Below: An excited graduate after receiving her diploma.


Perspectives a collection of columns, editorials and viewpoints Pope says Catholics must

trust in God’s plans for the worldwork is divine activity

People should be fairly paid for fair work

by ciNdy wOOdENcAtHOlic NEwS SERVicE

VATICAN CITY — Like St. Peter, Catholics must have the courage and humility to trust that Jesus is leading his church and that God has his own plans for transforming the world, Pope Bene-dict XVI said.

At his May 17 general audience, with some 45,000 people gathered in St. Peter’s Square, the pope focused his remarks on the personality of the “prince of the apostles.”

Speaking without a text at the end of his prepared remarks, the pope said, “It seems to be that the various conversions of Peter — his whole being — are a great consolation and lesson for us.”

Like St. Peter, he said, “we desire God and we, too, want to be generous, but we also expect God to be strong in the world and transform the world immediately according to our own ideas and the needs we see.”

However, the pope said, “God chooses a different path: God chooses the path of transforming hearts in suffering and humility.”

In his main text, Pope Benedict said the Gospels make clear that St. Peter was slow to understand that Jesus’ role as Messiah was not to use power to bring social or political change.

And when Jesus told the disciples that he would suffer and die to redeem humanity, the pope said, St. Peter “was

scandalized and protested.”“This is the great alternative that we,

too, must keep learning: to give priority to one’s own expectations, pushing Jesus away, or to accept Jesus in the truth of his mission and set aside expectations that are too human,” he said.

Pope Benedict said, “Peter says to us: ‘You think you have the recipe for the transformation of Christianity, but it is the Lord who knows the way.’”

St. Peter’s lesson for Christians of all time, the pope said, is that they always must trust Jesus because he is the way, the truth and the life.

At the end of the audience, Pope Benedict greeted Archbishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz of Moscow with a big smile and warm embrace. The archbish-op brought 150 pilgrims from Moscow to visit the Vatican and Rome.

The pilgrims, forming the largest group to date organized by the Catholic Church in Russia, brought Pope Benedict an 18th-century Russian icon and hand-made liturgical vestments.

During the debate about immigra-tion, the argument is frequently made that immigrants do work no one else wants.

Picking tomatoes, processing chickens, cleaning motel rooms and tar-ring roofs typify the jobs that many immi-grants do. Classified as low skill, these jobs usually pay low wages and are consid-ered relatively unattractive work.

Ordinary Americans do the same kinds of work, but on a different scale. Most families clean their own toilets, mow their lawns, prepare food, repair their homes and occasionally do a va-riety of unpleasant tasks around the house. Work, per se, is not dignified or undignified, but rather work derives its nobility from how it is structured and compensated.

From a scriptural perspective, work is divine activity.

God worked: “Since on the seventh day God was finished with the work he had been doing, he rested ...” (Genesis 2:2).

Jesus refers to redemption as work: “The works that the Father gave me to accomplish ... testify on my behalf that the Father has sent me” (John 5:36).

Yet, if work becomes structured oppressively, it dehumanizes and calls for relief: “I have witnessed the affliction of my people in Egypt and have heard their cry of complaint against their slave drivers ... therefore I have come down to rescue them” (Exodus 3:7 & 8).

God’s work is creating and redeeming, and we are invited to partici-pate in that work — to the extent we use our creativity and talents, we help create society and contribute to the common good; to the extent we promote team-work and community, we redeem co-workers from selfishness and isolation.

For people of faith, the challenge remains to structure work so it helps workers become more human and reflects more closely divine activity.

For many low-income workers, however, the work environment reflects more the oppression of ancient Egypt than the milk and honey of the Promised Land. Low-wage workers — immigrants, single mothers and members of minorities — face daily challenges to self-esteem, and with meager pay. Jobs are “dumbed down” to minimize training costs, and hours are pared from full time to save benefit costs.

Barbara Ehrenreich reflected in her book, “Nickel and Dimed,” on her experience doing six low-wage jobs. One of her conclusions deals with maintain-ing self-respect when management has the right to search your purse for pilfered goods, to demand drug testing for job interviews and to restrict free speech on

the job.She cites the AFL-CIO, the princi-

pal U.S. labor federation, estimates that 10,000 workers each year are fired for participating in union-organizing drives.

Yet, most Americans are fair-mind-ed. Ehrenreich cites a poll conducted in 2000 by Jobs for the Future, an employ-ment research firm, that found 94 percent of Americans agree: “People who work full-time should be able to earn enough to keep their families out of poverty.”

While economists have several strat-egies to address the plight of the working poor, raising the minimum wage offers a logical first step. Because 1997 was the last time the federal minimum wage was raised, 17 states plus Washington, D.C.; Santa Fe; and San Francisco have raised their own minimum wages above the federal $5.15 per hour.

Studies about the two raises of the federal minimum wage during the 1990s show: 1) wages of the lowest wage workers rose; 2) systematic job loss did not occur; 3) a slight reduction in poverty took place; and 4) through a “spillover effect” the workers earning slightly above minimum also benefited.

People of faith affirm the dignity of workers and oppose reducing them to a mere commodity. After all, as writer Wen-dell Berry asks, “What are people for?”

Father Rausch is director of peace

I agree with Tony Magliano’s column (“‘The Da Vinci Code’: Bless-ing in disguise?” May 5). “The Da Vinci Code” and the gospel of Judas (“Catholic leaders decry gospel of Judas,” May 5) offer teaching moments for the Catholic Church.

I recently returned from a pilgrim-age to southern France. In Provence, I visited the cave of La Sainte Baume, where, legend has it, Mary Magdalene spent the last 25 or so years of her life as a hermit.

An old monk said, “Mary Magda-lene may have been here and Mary Mag-dalene may not have been here. But Mary Magdalene is here.”

So I sat silently in that dim, damp cave in the presence of that holy woman who was God’s apostle and a symbol for the bride of Christ — the community of the faithful.

That Jesus is a bridegroom is stated in the New Testament (in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John), so Jesus must have a bride — without a doubt, that bride is the people of God.

Seek out, embrace and affirm the truth.

— Donald KapleJonas Ridge, N.C.

disguised

Faith and the Marketplace

GlENMARy fAtHER JOHN

S. RAUScHGUESt cOlUMNiSt

wriTe a leTTer To THe ediTor

The Catholic News & Herald welcomes letters from readers. we ask that letters be originals of 250 words or less, pertain to recent newspaper content or Catholic issues, and be in good taste.To be considered for publication, each letter must include the name, address and daytime phone number of the writer for purpose of verification. letters may be condensed due to space limitations and edited for clarity, style and factual accuracy.The Catholic News & Herald does not publish poetry, form letter or petitions. items submit-ted to The Catholic News & Herald become the property of the newspaper and are subject to reuse, in whole or in part, in print, electronic formats and archives.send letters to letters to the editor, The Catholic News & Herald, P.o. box 37267, Charlotte, N.C. 28237, or e-mail [email protected].

Letter to the

Cns Photo by Walter huPiu

The Pope Speaks

pOpE bENEdict XVi


taking Memorial day more seriously

The ‘tragic Marked for lifeThe Human SidefAtHER EUGENE HEMRicK

cNS cOlUMNiSt

Soldiers in battle deserve more than flag-waving, speeches

god’s love CoNTiNues To iNsPire all To eNHaNCe worldViolence done against human be-

ings involvesthree types of people: the Perpetrator, the Victim and the Observer. This is known as the “tragic triangle.”

In child abuse, the child is the victim, the abuser is the perpetrator and those who come to know of the abuse as it is going on are the observers. Abortion also is a tragic triangle. The abortion-ist, in collusion with the parent(s), is the perpetrator, the child is the victim and the observers are all the rest of us.

Many may conclude that the perpe-trator is the most guilty of the three. Yet in most tragic triangles, the observers carry the greatest guilt. They are more detached from the tragedy and usually have more objectivity to assess the evil and the opportunities for stopping it.

Psychiatrist Philip Ney points out, “The Observers in tragic triangles have a greater responsibility, primarily because they can be more objective, but also because they often gain by allowing the tragedy to start and to continue” (The Centurions’ Pathway, p.25).

Regarding abortion, he further notes, “The Observers are just as guilty, [and their] self-justification is more deeply entrenched and their rationalization more difficult to undo. ‘I personally don’t approve, but clean, clinical termina-tions are much better than back street abortions’” (p.44).

One of the key responsibilities of the observer in the abortion tragic triangle is to reach out to the abortionist.

Ney, who has worked with many abortionists to lead them out of the abortion industry, comments, “The abortionist in one way or another is of-ten appealing to the observers. ‘Surely somehow, some way you could stop this. If you really persisted you could have stopped me from doing abortions. I may have resisted you, but I would have listened. At least, I think I could have been influenced’” (p.25).

Testimony of former abortionists confirms this. Former abortion clinic operator Carol Everett relates the story of a preacher who came to visit her at her clinic:

“Through a long per iod of discussions, he told me that God had asked him to come into this situation

for 30 days, and that there was indeed someone in there that the Lord wanted out. And we left in 27 days” (Testi-mony at Meet the Abortion Providers Conference, Chicago).

Former abortionist Tony Leva-tino had a patient who witnessed to him regularly before he stopped doing abortions. He relates, “I can tell you that if enough women come to you and say, ‘I think you are a great doctor. We have gotten along very well, but I can’t go to you anymore because you perform abortions,’ this can have a real effect.

“As I said, to most of the average gynecologists in their offices, abortion is not a big part of their business. If they see another part of their business going out the door because of it, it will make it cost them more than it’s worth” (Testimony at Meet the Abortion Providers Conference, Chicago).

Observers have the power to stop the perpetrators.

Father Pavone is national director of Priests for Life.

As I was flying back to Chicago to attend my seminary high school reunion, I wondered how many of my classmates I would recognize after 50 years. And when I walked in, I couldn’t call to mind the name of the first classmate I met.

Suddenly I found myself practicing an old trick — focusing on high school classmates while at the same time taking a sneak look at their name tags.

As would be expected, we had changed. Time had reconfigured our faces, hairlines and hair color, and waistlines. But once we began to converse it was as if these changes suddenly disappeared; we became our youthful selves again.

A lively spirit and the joy of being reunited suddenly coursed through the room.

At first we shared our life’s journeys. From there the conversation switched to recalling enjoyable times we shared and, most of all, the hilarious professors who taught us.

This anniversary was more than a walk down memory lane. It exuded a spirit of gratitude, thankfulness that God in some mysterious way brought us together during our most formative years.

More than studies and formation, we were celebrating each other: the time when we forged friendships and supported each other during good and not-so-good moments.

It was a celebration of bonding. We studied hard together, played hard together, and together we often laughed our way out of trying situations.

As I listened to the journeys taken by classmates who didn’t go forward in the seminary, I found that most recounted good deeds they had done of which they were proud.

Often those deeds translated into works of mercy.

It struck me that we had been marked by God, a mark that is indelible.

A love of God had driven us to aspire to spread that love and make the world a better place. Once that spirit enters people’s lives, it never stops inspir-ing them, whether it prompts them to become priests or to aspire to another walk of life.

When a good person leaves the seminary, many see this as a loss. But if we conducted a study of ex-seminarians, we would find that the spirit of God that first inspired them is very much at work — that in so very many cases these men still carry out the dream of spreading God’s life.

What is the purpose of Memorial Day? Is it to pay tribute to those who lost their lives in past and present wars? Is it to remember their selfless sacrifice? Of course, yes.

But young men and women ordered into battle by the president and Con-gress deserve more than flag-waving and political speeches. We owe them our willingness to reflect deeply on the real reasons they were — and continue to be — put in harm’s way.

Most government leaders are quick to say their lives were put on the line to protect us, to promote democracy and to preserve our way of life.

But what they don’t say is that the lust for power and greed, arrogance, nationalism, the military industrial com-plex, lack of imagination and ineptitude are the real reasons young people are sent to kill and be killed.

From elementary school through adulthood, it is drummed into our heads that military strength brings peace. No! Military strength does not bring peace.

Possessing a mighty military pres-ents us with a mighty temptation to use it. The two Iraq wars and Afghanistan are the latest examples.

And even though the Cold War never became a hot war, nuclear deterrence always put us 20 minutes away from mutually assured destruction — and it still does.

Facing the truth is difficult and painful. It means that wives, husbands, mothers, fathers must come to grips with the fact that their loved ones may die in vain.

But that need not be the case. Their deaths will have had saving merit if we grow to the point of saying to those in power, as Pope Paul VI said at the United Nations:

“No more war. Never again war! Peace! It is peace, which must guide the destinies of peoples. ... If you wish to be brothers, lay down your weapons. ... The hour has struck indeed for our conver-sion. ... We must get used to thinking of man in a new way.”

There is only one death in war that would be good: the death of war itself. But sadly, war is alive and well.

Most Americans — most Catho-lics included — have no intention of demanding that our leaders pursue a policy of global disarmament.

More than 20 years ago the Maryk-

noll Fathers produced a film titled “gods of metal.” It drove home the point that society worships its weapons — its gods of metal.

Today that worship is more costly than ever. The proposed 2007 U.S. federal budget allocates $73 billion for research and development related to new weaponry and $84 billion for the purchase of existing weapons and related items.

Turning from worship of military might to worship of the one true God — the God of peace — will require us to heed the teachings of Paul VI and become brothers and sisters to all people.

As we begin to grasp the hands of Iraqis, Afghans, Iranians, North Koreans and people of all nations and creeds, we will be inspired to lay down our weapons.

But all of this demands a change of heart. There is too much at stake for us to remain in denial. Paul VI’s prophetic words are even more urgent today:

“The hour has struck indeed for our conversion. ... We must get used to think-ing of man in a new way.”

And we must get use to thinking of Memorial Day in a new way too.

We can help stop the perpetrators of abortion

Making a

tONy MAGliANOcNS cOlUMNiSt

Guest ColumnfAtHER fRANK

pAVONEGUESt cOlUMNiSt

The Cathol ic News & Hera ld 16 IN The NeWS

May 19, 2006

Family bondsby NANcy HARtNAGEl

cAtHOlic NEwS SERVicE

WASHINGTON — The need for family is what’s driving Get on the Bus, a program that enables children to visit their mothers in California state prisons.

For some prisoners, “to be separated from their families is very painful,” said Mercy Sister Carmel Crimmins, coordi-nator of the program for the Diocese of San Bernardino, where she is director of social and community services.

Staying connected to families is important for prisoners, she said, “because no visits, no calls militates against a good transition back into the community, the society.”

Sister Louise Bond, Catholic chaplain at the California Institution for Women in Corona, said that through Get on the Bus many women are seeing “their children for the first time since they were incarcerated.”

One prisoner last year “hadn’t seen her daughter in 16 years,” said Sister Bond, a member of the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary.

The two religious talked about Get on the Bus — which takes place close to Mother’s Day and this year was held May 12 — in e-mail and phone inter-views with Catholic News Service.

Sister Crimmins said it was “the plight of families” that got the San Bernardino Diocese involved in the program five years ago.

The Corona facility, which holds more than 2,000 inmates, is the only state prison for women in the diocese.

“However, many women from San Bernardino are incarcerated in Chowchilla, six and one-half hours’ journey from here,” she said. “These are the women we try to help by bringing their children to see them.”

In Chowchilla, Valley State Prison and the Central California Women’s Facility house more than 7,400 wom-en, with 75 percent of them mothers, according to a Get on the Bus press release.

The program is sponsored by the Sisters of St. Joseph Ministerial Ser-vices with support from local volunteers, donors, faith communities and nonprofit organizations.

This year, 31 buses from cities around the state took more than 600 chil-dren, along with their guardians — many of them the children’s grandmothers — and volunteers, to visit their mothers in five state prisons.

Poverty and distance, with many of the prisons located far from urban centers, prevent more frequent visits, the nuns said.

Four of those buses originated in the San Bernardino Diocese. One from Perris and two from San Bernardino made the long round trip to the Chowchilla pris-ons, while one starting in Redlands went to the Corona prison and the California Rehabilitation Center in Norco.

The program in the diocese has dou-bled in five years, Sister Crimmins noted. The number of women visited has grown from 20 to 40, the number of children and guardians from 35 to 70, and the number

of volunteers helping on the buses and with lunch at the prisons from 15 to 30.

This year the cost of the diocese’s participation was about $16,000, all “covered by donation,” Sister Crimmins said.

In addition to hiring the buses, the program pays for supplies and meals for the trip. Also, the children are photo-graphed with their mothers, and on the way home they’re given teddy bears and letters from their moms.

The response by people in the diocese “has been phenomenal,” Sister Crimmins said.

“Parishioners, Catholic associations and religious communities have been very generous with donations,” she said.

She has heard comments like: “I knew women went to prison but I never thought of the children,” “I never knew that women were sent so far away,” and “It never dawned on me how impossible it would be to visit on public transportation.”

“The vast majority (of the women) are not in prison for violent crimes but for addictions and money problems, such as bad checks and embezzlement,” said Sister Crimmins. “An awful lot don’t need punishment, but need treatment.”

Sister Bond, who called the program “a great gift,” said the prisoners “who have to be away from their children are often stressed and having the opportunity for a visit brings a lot of joy and hope for the future.”

She reported positive feelings from many who participated in the May 12 event.

Among the prisoners, Junier De Young, 33, said, “It feels great to see how beautiful my girls are turning out.”

Maria Gastelum, 37, described the visit as “the best thing that’s ever happened to me in a long time.”

Yolanda Hall, 35, said, “It feels just like heaven. This is a day to remember.”

The children were also upbeat. Mo-nique Gastelum, 19, said she was “over-whelmed with excitement. ... This is one of the happiest days I’ve had in about four years.”

Chris Pasquotto, 14, said, “I got to

see my mom today and I adore her. There is no one in the world I have like my mom.”

But 8-year-old Carlie Villegas sounded a more subdued note.

“It breaks my heart to see my mom cry,” the child said.

Cns Photo by tiM rue

heaven hall enjoys a swing with her mother, Yolanda, at the California Institute for Women in Chino, Calif., May 12. heaven was visiting her mother during Get on the Bus, a program scheduled annually in anticipation of Mother’s Day that enables children to visit their mothers in California state prisons.

Need for family drives Get on the Bus program in California

May 19, 2006

Documents

Transcript of May 19, 2006