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News Briefs
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NEWS BRIEFS Nov-6-2009
By Catholic News Service
U.S.
Texas bishop decries shooting rampage at Army base
BEAUMONT, Texas (CNS) -- "We hope and pray that our soldiers do not die on the battlefields. Then something like this happens on one of our bases by a fellow soldier," said Bishop Curtis J. Guillory of Beaumont about the Nov. 5 shootings at the Fort Hood Army base in Texas that left 13 dead and another 30 wounded. "What happened today is a tragedy. Our prayers are with those who are affected and their families, and I pray for comfort and healing of those who were shot," he said. The base, about an hour north of Austin, is in the Austin Diocese. Msgr. Michael Mulvey, Austin's diocesan administrator, said in a Nov. 6 statement: "All of us are in shock by the horrors of yesterday's tragedy at Fort Hood. Our prayers and tears go out to the victims and their families. I have spoken with the Archdiocese for the Military Services and to Archbishop (Timothy P.) Broglio, and I have offered the services of the Diocese of Austin." Suspected in the shooting at the base is Maj. Nidal Hasan, 39, the Muslim, Virginia-born son of Jordanian immigrants who was scheduled to go soon on his first deployment to the Middle East -- a deployment he had sought to avoid.
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Murdered Jesuits honored 20 years after their deaths in El Salvador
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Twenty years after they were killed at Central American University in San Salvador, along with their housekeeper and her daughter, six Jesuit priests are being honored by the Salvadoran government, the U.S. Congress and Jesuit institutions. Salvadoran President Mauricio Funes announced in early November that the priests would receive the National Order of Jose Matias Delgado awards, the country's highest honor, on Nov. 16, the 20th anniversary of the killings. Funes said the awards would be presented as a "public act of atonement" for mistakes by past governments. Two Salvadoran military officers were found guilty in 1991 of ordering the murders. The U.S. Congress, meanwhile, approved a lengthy resolution honoring "these eight spiritual, courageous and generous priests, educators and laywomen" and urging "the people of the United States, academic institutions and religious congregations to participate in local, national and international" commemorations of the anniversary. Such events were scheduled in November at the 28 Jesuit colleges and universities in the United States, and at other sites around the world.
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Priest's line of wines raises awareness of saints, funds for charity
MILWAUKEE (CNS) -- A holy water font at each door, candles, home altars, crucifixes in every room, statues and magnificent paintings of saints permeated Father Dominic Roscioli's Kenosha home when he was a little boy. "When I was living in my grandparents' house and growing up Catholic in the 1950s, it seemed that everywhere in the house, someone was looking back at you," said Father Roscioli. "We had St. Anthony in the hall, St. Rocco in the kitchen, a crucifix in every room, St. Francis of Assisi and Mary were everywhere." In an effort to rekindle an interest in the saints, Father Roscioli and partners Jody Becker and Carlo Pedone have developed Holy Spirits wine. Available in stores, online and in select restaurants, the wines feature saints matched with wine varietals. They began with three varieties of wine: Our Lady of Mount Carmel, St. Nick and St. Rocco. Each blend, produced by the Windsor Winery in California, complements the personality and mission of that particular saint. The label explains a bit about the saint's life as if the saint were speaking directly to the reader. More information about Holy Spirits wine is available at www.holyspiritswine.com.
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Parish raising funds for statue in Hungary of Cardinal Mindszenty
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. (CNS) -- At the crossroads of the past, present, faith and heritage, members of St. Ladislaus Parish in the Metuchen Diocese are commemorating their roots by raising funds for a statue of Cardinal Jozsef Mindszenty in Budapest, Hungary. The statue was blessed at an Oct. 25 Mass celebrated by Cardinal Peter Erdo of Esztergom-Budapest at the Szent Mihaly Church in Budapest. Cardinal Mindszenty is fondly remembered for his opposition to the oppressive communist regime in Hungary following World War II. The New Brunswick parish raised approximately $1,000, said Franciscan Father Capistran Polgar, pastor. The parish grounds feature a full-size statue of the prelate, erected following his visit to St. Ladislaus when he celebrated the parish's rededication Mass in 1973. Father Polgar said Cardinal Mindszenty stood for his beliefs and faith despite persecution and imprisonment. His perseverance and faith endeared him to Hungarians and Catholics throughout the world.
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'Nation's parish' celebrates 50 years as place of prayer, pilgrimage
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington -- the largest Catholic church in North America and one of the 10 largest churches in the world -- is a familiar place to U.S. Catholics who regard the immense structure as their own. The basilica, which marks the 50th anniversary of its dedication Nov. 20, is not a parish or a cathedral. Instead, it was designated by the U.S. bishops as a national place of prayer and pilgrimage, something the basilica's 1 million annual visitors know well. The book "America's Church," published by Our Sunday Visitor in 2000, describes the basilica as having "no parish community as its own; but rather counts every American Catholic among its members. No single bishop claims it as his cathedral; rather it is the church of all the nation's bishops. ... In every way, the national shrine is America's Catholic church." And as a church for all Catholics, its doors are always open -- seven days a week, 365 days a year. Every day, for five hours, priests administer the sacrament of reconciliation and celebrate at least six Masses. Weddings and baptisms -- sacraments that are to be witnessed by a worshipping parish community -- do not take place there.
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WORLD
Reconcilable differences: The church reaches out to modern arts
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Once made in heaven, the marriage between art and the church has long been on the skids. "We are a bit like estranged relatives; there has been a divorce," said Archbishop Gianfranco Ravasi, president of the Pontifical Council for Culture. Much of contemporary art walked away from art's traditional vocation of representing the intangible and the mysterious, as well as pointing the way toward the greater meaning of life and what is good and beautiful, he said during a Vatican press conference Nov. 5. And the church has spent the past century "very often contenting itself with imitating models from the past," rarely asking itself whether there were religious "styles that could be an expression of modern times," he added. In an effort to "renew friendship and dialogue between the church and artists and to spark new opportunities for collaboration," he said, Pope Benedict XVI will be meeting more than 250 artists from around the world Nov. 21 inside one of the world's most stunning artistic treasures: the Sistine Chapel.
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Philippine cardinal urges politicians to watch boxing match on TV
MANILA, Philippines (CNS) -- Politicians should save the money they plan to spend on ringside seats for Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao's boxing match in Las Vegas, said Manila Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales. "Of course we are also happy that our fellow Filipino is carrying the country's name abroad but they (politicians) can show their support by merely watching TV. They don't need to go to America," Cardinal Rosales said on Radio Veritas 846. His remarks were reported by the Asian church news agency UCA News. "They should just donate the money ... to the poor," he said. Pacquiao is set to challenge the World Boxing Organization welterweight champion, Miguel Cotto of Puerto Rico, for the title at the MGM Grand Nov. 14. Tickets for the fight cost between $150 and $1,000. Pacquiao is a sensation in the Philippines, but the fight comes as thousands of his countrymen are struggling for survival in the aftermath of a string of typhoons that have hammered the country in recent weeks.
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PEOPLE
Chaplain describes 'total chaos' after Fort Hood shootings
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Two months into his new posting as an on-call chaplain at the United States' largest Army base, Father Ed McCabe had the longest day of his military chaplaincy. Father McCabe was 10 minutes into a weekly chaplain staff meeting at Fort Hood when the clergy got word of the shooting spree taking place at the base. "We ended the staff meeting and came to the hospital and that's where we stayed," Father McCabe said, "because that's where the wounded were. And then I went over to the crime scene to comfort the people who were there." Of the 13 who died in the shooting, Father McCabe said he anointed 11. He said he didn't have time to anoint the 30 wounded. "No, not really other than just a quick prayer. It was total chaos," Father McCabe said. "I was actually on call when the incident took place -- actually not too far from my office, the crime scene site," Father McCabe told Catholic News Service in a telephone interview from Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas, Nov. 6, the day after the rampage. Maj. Nidal M. Hasan, 39, a psychiatrist on the base, was suspected to be the sole gunman, who emptied two handguns in the attack. He was wounded, placed into custody and hospitalized.
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Suspect held in connection with murder of Blessed Sacrament nun
GALLUP, N.M. (CNS) -- Authorities were questioning a suspect Nov. 6 in connection with the death of Blessed Sacrament Sister Marguerite Bartz, who was found dead in her Navajo, N.M., convent five days earlier. The 64-year-old sister's body was discovered in the convent at St. Berard Church by a colleague when she failed to show up for Sunday Mass at a church in a neighboring community. FBI and state police authorities believe she was murdered. However, an FBI spokesman declined to say how Sister Marguerite died. Darrin Jones, the agent, told Catholic News Service that an automobile Sister Marguerite had been using was discovered Nov. 3. Details about its discovery were not made available. It had been missing since her body was found. Her brother, Jonathan Bartz, a southeast Texas resident and member of St. Charles Borromeo Parish in Nederland, and other family members were planning to travel to Gallup for the nun's funeral Nov. 7 at Sacred Heart Cathedral. "Forgiveness is the primary message," Bartz said. "We have to forgive whoever has done it and go from there. My sister would be the first one to forgive."
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President of two Jesuit universities, dean at another dies at age 79
CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. (CNS) -- Jesuit Father Thomas P. O'Malley, who served as president of two Jesuit universities and dean at another, died Nov. 4 of an apparent heart attack. He was 79. His funeral Mass was scheduled for Nov. 10 at St. Ignatius Church in Chestnut Hill, followed by burial at Campion Center Cemetery in Weston. Father O'Malley was president of John Carroll University in Cleveland, 1980-88; president of Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, 1991-99; and professor in the arts and sciences honors program for the past 10 years at Boston College, where he had served in the 1970s as dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. Jesuit Father Joseph A. Appleyard, Boston College's vice president for university mission and ministry, called Father O'Malley "one of those rare people who make your life seem richer just by being part of it."
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Author's latest memoir talks about her decision to become Catholic
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (CNS) -- Mary Karr's newest memoir, "Lit," takes the reader on a ride navigated by a true drunk driver. Karr spent her youth in a Texas oil town with an older sister and parents who drank like every day was Saturday night. This is Karr's third memoir -- the first two being the best-sellers "Liar's Club" and "Cherry." This latest one is different though. In "Lit," published Nov. 3 by Harper Collins, Karr not only describes her descent into the same alcoholism she ran from as a teenager, but also her awakening on the other side of that sepia rainbow. The book also enlightens with Karr's newfound love: Catholicism. A professor in the English department at Syracuse University for 17 years, Karr is a skilled storyteller. In "Lit," Karr takes the reader through her college experience which was tinged with drinking binges. It describes her marriage to an academic, which might have survived were it not for her alcoholism and the changes brought about by her recovery.
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Copyright (c) 2009 Catholic News Service/USCCB. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed.
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