Sunday, April 15, 2012

US Project to assess schools' Catholic Identity

Foundation launches project to help schools assess Catholic identity

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (CNS) -- The Rochester-based Catholic Education Foundation has initiated a program to help Catholic grade schools and high schools evaluate their Catholic identity. Called the Catholic School Identity Assessment, it is a diagnostic tool to help schools spot their strengths and weaknesses, according to Father Peter Stravinskas, the foundation's executive director. "Catholic identity in Catholic schools was taken for granted when the faculty and administrators were almost exclusively clergy and religious," he said, but "with the heavy involvement of lay teachers and administrators that has not always been a given." The assessment was originally created for Catholic high schools and then last year some pastors and principals said they wanted something like that for their grade schools, the priest said in a recent interview with Catholic News Service. "That the identity issue would not be addressed sufficiently is not malevolence," Father Stravinskas said. Rather, it often results because some lay administrators and teachers "either never went to Catholic school themselves," he said, or they attended "in an era when Catholic identity was waning." He said the foundation's assessment tool is an opportunity to discuss the subject. "Even just by asking the questions, one already has started to address the identity issue," he said. Father Stravinskas said the process starts with a self-assessment by the school. Next comes an onsite visitation by a team of three or five people put together by the foundation (team size depends on the school's size). Team members visit classrooms; interview students, faculty and parents; observe interactions at the school; and write up an evaluation. "Atmosphere, mood, attitudes, like charity" are among what a team will observe at a school, he told CNS. Teams also consider the physical environment, look for Catholic art on display, gauge the reaction of students to the presence of clergy and religious and see whether prayer is a normal part of school life, "not simply at a once-a-month Mass." "Is there Catholic 'air' in the institution," he said.

Saturday, April 14, 2012

Holy And Unholy Fear

Holy And Unholy Fear

2012-03-25
By RON ROLHEISER, OMI Speaker, Columnist and Author


Not all fear is created equal, at least not religiously. There's a fear that's healthy and good, a sign of maturity and love. There's also a fear that's bad, that blocks maturity and love. But this needs explanation.

There's a lot of misunderstanding about fear inside of religious circles, especially around the Scriptural passage that says that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. Too often texts like these, as well as religion in general, have been used to instil an unhealthy fear inside of people in the name of God. We need to live in "holy fear", but holy fear is a very particular kind of fear that should not be confused with fear as we normally understand it.

What is "holy fear"? What kind of fear is healthy? What kind of fear triggers wisdom?

Holy fear is love's fear, namely, the kind of fear that is inspired by love. It's a fear based upon reverence and respect for a person or a thing we love. When we genuinely love another person we will live inside of a healthy anxiety, a worry that our actions should never grossly disappoint, disrespect, or violate the other person. We live in holy fear when we are anxious not to betray a trust or disrespect someone. But this is very different from being afraid of somebody or being afraid of being punished.

Bad power and bad authority intimidate and make others afraid of them. God is never that kind of power or authority. God entered our world as a helpless infant and God's power still takes that same modality. Babies don't intimidate, even as they inspire holy fear. We watch our words and our actions around babies not because they threaten us, but rather because their very helplessness and innocence inspire an anxiety in us that makes us want to be at our best around them.

The Gospels are meant to inspire that kind of fear. God is Love, a benevolent power, a gracious authority, not someone to be feared. Indeed God is the last person we need to fear. Jesus came to rid us of fear. Virtually every theophany in scripture (an instance where God appears) begins with the words: "Do not be afraid!" What frightens us does not come from God.

In the Jewish scriptures, the Christian Old Testament, King David is revealed as the person who best grasped this. Among all the figures in the Old Testament, including Moses and the great prophets, David is depicted as the figure that best exemplified what it means to walk on this earth in the image and likeness of God, even though at a point he grossly abuses that trust. Despite his great sin, it is to David, not to Moses or the prophets, to whom Jesus attributes his lineage. David is the Christ-figure in the Old Testament. He walked in holy fear of God, and never in an unhealthy fear.

To cite just one salient example: The Book of Kings recounts an incident where David is, one day, returning from battle with his soldiers. His troops are hungry. The only available food is the bread in the temple. David asks for that and is told that it is only to be consumed by the priests in sacred ritual. He answers the priest to this effect: "I'm the King, placed here by God to act responsibly in his name. We don't ordinarily ask for the temple bread, but this is an exception, a matter of urgency, the soldiers need food, and God would want us to responsibly do this." And so he took the temple bread and gave it to his soldiers. In the Gospels, Jesus praises this action by David and asks us to imitate it, telling us that we are not made for the Sabbath, but that the Sabbath is made for us.

David understood what is meant by that. He had discerned that God is not so much a law to be obeyed as a gracious presence under which we are asked to creatively live. He feared God, but as one fears someone in love, with a "holy fear", not a blind, legalistic one.

A young mother once shared this story with me: Her six year-old had just started school. She had taught him to kneel by his bed each night before going to sleep and recite a number of night prayers. One night, shortly after starting school, he hopped into bed without first kneeling in prayer. Surprised by this, she challenged him with the words: "Don't you pray anymore?" His reply: "No, I don't. My teacher at school told us that we are not supposed to pray. She said that we're supposed to talk to God ... and tonight I'm tired and have nothing to say!"

Like King David, he too had discerned what it really means to be God's child and how God is not so much a law to be obeyed as a gracious presence who desires a mutually loving relationship, one of holy fear.

Vatican approves blessing rite for unborn children

April 9, 2012 4:15 pm
Catholic News Service

Just in time for Mother’s Day, U.S. Catholics parishes will be able to celebrate the new Rite for the Blessing of a Child in the Womb.

The Vatican has given its approval to publication in English and Spanish of the new rite, which was approved by the U.S. bishops in November 2008, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops announced March 26.

The blessing will be printed in both languages in a combined booklet.

“I can think of no better day to announce this news than on the feast of the Annunciation, when we remember Mary’s ‘yes’ to God and the incarnation of that child in her womb that saved the world,” said Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, chairman of the USCCB Committee on Pro-Life Activities.

The blessing was prepared to support parents awaiting the birth of their child, to encourage parish prayers for and recognition of the gift of the child in the womb, and to foster respect for human life within society.

It can be offered within the context of Mass as well as outside of Mass, and for an individual mother, a couple or a group of expectant parents.

“We wanted to make this announcement as soon as possible so that parishes might begin to look at how this blessing might be woven into the fabric of parish life,” said Archbishop Gregory M. Aymond of New Orleans, chairman of the USCCB Committee on Divine Worship. “Eventually the new blessing will be included in the Book of Blessings when that text is revised.”

The Vatican approval, or “recognitio,” came from the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments.

The blessing originated when then-Bishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Knoxville, Tenn., (now archbishop of Louisville, Ky.) asked the pro-life committee to see if such a blessing existed. When none was found, the committee prepared a text and submitted it to the divine worship committee in March 2008.

The blessing includes intercessions “for our government and civic leaders that they may perform their duties with justice and compassion while respecting the gift of human life” and “for a safe and healthy pregnancy for all expectant mothers and for a safe delivery for their children.”

It also expresses concern “for children who are unwanted, unloved, abandoned or abused, that the Lord will inspire his people to protect and care for them.”

If used as a blessing outside Mass, the service includes introductory prayers, Scripture readings, intercessions, the actual blessing of the mother and child, and a concluding rite.

“May almighty God, who has created new life, now bless the child in your womb,” the blessing says. “The Lord has brought you the joy of motherhood: May he bless you with a safe and healthy pregnancy. You thank the Lord today for the gift of your child: May he bring you and your child one day to share in the unending joys of heaven.”

There are also optional prayers for fathers, for families and for the parish community.

English nurse wins clash over conscience rights without going to court

Written by Simon Caldwell, Catholic News Service
Tuesday, 03 April 2012 13:02

MANCHESTER, England - A Catholic nurse in central England has won a battle over her right to conscientiously object to involvement in abortions.

The nurse, who asked not to be named because of fear of reprisal from her hospital employer, convinced National Health Service managers that her right to conscientious objection was protected by law.

Without anyone going to court, the managers dropped their threat to dismiss the nurse because of her refusal to work in an abortion clinic attached to the hospital in the British Midlands, she told Catholic News Service April 2.


Managers pointed out to her that she was not being required to perform an abortion but only to prepare women for the procedure, she explained, and that other Catholics -- including a eucharistic minister at the local parish -- were working in the abortion clinic.

"I said, 'I can't be responsible for other people's beliefs. I can only speak for myself,'" said the nurse, a married mother of two in her early 40s.

"I stood by that," she added. "I said, 'I am not happy to do it and I'm standing by my principles.'"

The woman's ordeal began when she began working additional hours in 2011 after her 3-year-old son started attending nursery school.

The nurse said she was not told that she would be required to fill in for abortion clinic staff taking time off and that within two months her name appeared on the clinic's roster.

When she refused to work in the clinic, she was told by managers that she faced dismissal.

She said she turned for advice to her parish priest, who referred her to the Thomas More Legal Centre in Warrington, England. The center offers free legal assistance to Christians claiming to be victims of discrimination and harassment because of their faith.

Neil Addison, the center's director, said he wrote to hospital officials explaining that the nurse's conscience rights were protected under the 1967 Abortion Act, and officials quickly backed down.

He also said that the woman's view that human life begins at conception was a "philosophical" belief protected by the 2010 Equality Act and also by Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which protects freedom of thought, conscience and religion.

Any attempt either to pressure the nurse to change her mind or to suggest to her that her career prospects might suffer would breach laws against harassment and discrimination, Addison said.

The nurse resolved the case less than a month after a Scottish court ruled that the Abortion Act did not allow two Catholic midwives to opt out of supervising late-term abortions at a hospital in Glasgow.

In an April 2 email to CNS, Addison said together the two cases showed that the right of health care workers to object to involvement in abortions for reasons of conscience was under pressure in the United Kingdom.

Christ's resurrection changed the world, pope says at Easter


By Cindy Wooden
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Light and darkness, truth and lies, hope and despair are in a constant battle in the world, but with his death and resurrection Jesus conquered sin and death for all time, Pope Benedict XVI said on Easter.

"If Jesus is risen, then -- and only then -- has something truly new happened, something that changes the state of humanity and the world," the pope told tens of thousands of people in St. Peter's Square before giving his Easter blessing "urbi et orbi" (to the city and the world).

With the sun shining on the square -- transformed into a garden with 42,000 flowers, flowering plants, shrubs and trees -- Pope Benedict began the celebration of the morning Mass April 8 just 10 hours after having finished celebrating the three-hour long Easter vigil in St. Peter's Basilica.

In his Easter message at the end of the morning Mass, the pope said every Christian can share the experience of Mary Magdalene, who was the first to encounter the risen Jesus on Easter morning.

The encounter "lets us experience all God's goodness and truth," he said. The risen Lord "frees us from evil not in a superficial and fleeting way, but sets us free radically, heals us completely and restores our dignity."

The resurrection means that Jesus belongs not just to the past, but is present today, giving hope and comfort to all those who suffer, the pope said.

Pope Benedict offered special prayers and encouragement to Christians persecuted for their faith and to the people of the Middle East, asking members of all religious and ethnic groups to work together for the common good and respect for human rights.

"Particularly in Syria, may there be an end to bloodshed and an immediate commitment to the path of respect, dialogue and reconciliation" after months of violent battles between Syria's government and opposition forces.

The pope also prayed for the people of Iraq, for Israelis and Palestinians, for those suffering famine and violence in the Horn of Africa, and for those suffering from conflict in Mali and in Sudan and South Sudan.

At the end of his message, he wished people a happy Easter in 65 languages, including Mongolian, Hebrew, Hindi, Chinese, Maori, Esperanto and Latin.

In English, he said: "May the grace and joy of the risen Christ be with you all."

At the Easter vigil the night before, the pope welcomed eight adults into the Catholic Church. Among those he baptized and confirmed was Jason N. Emerick, a 36-year-old man from the Archdiocese of Boston. Two of the catechumens were from Germany and the others were from Turkmenistan, Italy, Albania, Slovakia and Cameroon.

Light, fire and candles were the symbols highlighted during the pope's vigil.

Like Easter vigils throughout the world, the Mass began with the lighting of a fire. In the atrium of St. Peter's Basilica there was a large brazier full of blazing coals; an assistant lit a small taper from the coals and handed it to the pope so he could light the towering Easter candle.

A deacon carried the candle to the entrance of the darkened basilica and chanted, "The light of Christ."

The smaller candle carried by Pope Benedict was lit and he got onto his mobile platform to be pushed up the aisle of the basilica in silence and what should have been darkness. Although announcers -- in multiple languages -- had asked the crowd not to use flashes on their cameras during the procession, bursts of light accompanied the pope toward the altar.

However, the cameras could not destroy the impact of the candles held by members of the congregation being lighted one by one and the glow spreading throughout the world's largest church.

In his homily, Pope Benedict said "to say that God created light means that God created the world as a space for knowledge and truth, as a space for encounter and freedom, as a space for good and love."

The light of Easter, he said, proclaims forever the fact that "life is stronger than death. Good is stronger than evil. Love is stronger than hate. Truth is stronger than lies."

The world needs the light of Christ and the light of faith, because darkness always attempts to obscure people's vision of what is good and evil and what the purpose of their life is, the pope said.

"Today we can illuminate our cities so brightly that the stars of the sky are no longer visible," he said. "Is this not an image of the problems caused by our version of enlightenment?

"With regard to material things, our knowledge and our technical accomplishments are legion," he said. But when it comes to the more important matters, such as "the things of God and the question of good," people can no longer see them.

"Faith, then, which reveals God's light to us, is the true enlightenment, enabling God's light to break into our world, opening our eyes to the true light," he said.

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Contributing to this story was Francis X. Rocca at the Vatican.

END

Jesuit seminarian took photographs of Titanic's infamous voyage


By Sarah MacDonald
Catholic News Service
DUBLIN (CNS) -- Commemorations of the sinking of the Titanic 100 years ago will put the spotlight on a young Irish priest whose photographs are some of the only surviving images of life onboard the liner on its first and last voyage.

Jesuit Father Frank Browne, 1880-1960, became a prominent documentary photographer and a much-decorated chaplain in the British army in World War I.

A collection of his photographs, "Father Browne's Titanic Album" has been reprinted to mark the centenary of the demise of the massive liner, which was constructed in Belfast, Ireland, and was believed to be unsinkable.

More than 1,500 people died when it sank April 15, 1912.

The new edition of the book is edited by Jesuit Father Edward O'Donnell, and the foreword is written by Robert Ballard, who first located the ship's wreckage in September 1985, the same month as a chance finding of 42,000 of Father Browne's photographs in the basement of the Jesuits' headquarters in Dublin.

Frank Browne lived an eventful life. As a novice he met Pope Pius X in 1909 when he accompanied his uncle, Bishop Robert Browne of Cloyne, to a private audience at the Vatican. He was also a university classmate of Irish writer James Joyce, who featured the young seminarian as "Mr. Browne the Jesuit" in his masterpiece "Finnegans Wake."

In 1912, the Jesuit novice was still three years from ordination. Because of a gift from his uncle, he was able to experience the Titanic's luxurious accommodation in the initial stages of its maiden voyage, from Southampton, England, to Cherbourg, France, and on to Queenstown, Ireland.

While onboard, the self-taught photographer managed to obtain pictures of the first-class accommodation and dining rooms. He also captured the gymnasium, the library and passengers enjoying a stroll on the promenade, as well as many passengers in third class, recording some of those who would later perish in the freezing waters of the Atlantic. He took the last image of the Titanic's captain, Edward Smith.

Father Browne's images of the ship's accommodation and passengers have been pored over by maritime historians, engineers and filmmakers seeking answers to a tragedy that still grips the public's imagination. Hollywood film director James Cameron used his photographs to re-create sets for his blockbuster movie.

The Jesuit's image of 6-year-old Robert Douglas Spedden playing with his spinning top on the promenade, watched by his father Frederic, is one of the most famous of the collection. Cameron re-created the image in the film.

The young Jesuit photographed the Titanic leaving port for the last time as it left Queenstown, in County Cork, for New York. He could have been onboard: An American couple he befriended on the ship offered to fund the final leg of the journey to New York.

From the Titanic, he sent a telegram to his provincial in Dublin to request permission. However, a frosty telegram awaited him in Queenstown: "Get off that ship."

When news of the Titanic's disastrous fate reached Father Browne, he folded the telegram and put it into his wallet and kept it there for the rest of his life. He later said it was the only time holy obedience had saved a life.

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Editor's Note: "Father Browne's Titanic Album," edited by E.E. O'Donnell (2nd edition 2011), is published by Messenger Publications, www.messenger.ie.