Arkansas Catholic
Volume 99, Number 37
Prelates leave the opening Mass of the Synod of Bishops for the Middle East in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican Oct. 10.The Mass featured elements from many Catholic rites of the Middle East.
Middle East synod goal: New pastoral energy
Catholics there face
dramatic situations
BY JOHN THAVIS
CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE
VATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI
opened the Synod of Bishops for the Mid-
dle East with a strong call to support the
minority Christian population in the
region, and said peace and protection of
human rights were essential conditions for
SATURDAY,OCTOBER 16,2010
the Church’s survival there.
Celebrating Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica
Oct. 10 with more than 250 synod partici-
pants, the pope said the Middle East has a
unique place in salvation history as the
“cradle” of the Church’s worldwide evan-
gelizing mission.
The synod’s primary goal, he said, was
to renew the pastoral energy of Middle
Eastern church communities and strength-
en their faith identity, so that they can con-
tinue to witness the Gospel to all peoples.
That task, he added, goes hand in hand
INSIDE
DIOCESE
Mountain
Home woman
keeps helping
friends, church
at age 96
PAGE 8
The Diocese of Little Rock Weekly Newspaper
CNS / PAUL HARING
with the Church’s dialogue with Muslims
and Jews.
to evangelize through example. The
Eucharistic liturgy featured a hymn in Ara-
The Mass featured liturgical elements
from many of the Catholic rites of the Mid-
bic and Syriac, sung by an inter-ritual choir
of Eastern pontifical colleges in Rome.
dle East, as well as prayers in Latin. It began The pope was joined at the altar by sev-
with a long procession of 177 synod eral chief concelebrants, including two
fathers, many of whom wore the distinctive honorary president delegates of the synod:
vestments and headgear of their Eastern the Lebanon-based Maronite patriarch,
rites. Cardinal Nasrallah P. Sfeir, and the
Prayers of the faithful were recited in Chaldean patriarch, Cardinal Emmanuel-
English, Arabic, Turkish, Hebrew and Karim Delly of Baghdad.
Farsi, invoking the need for peace, the pro-
motion of tolerance and the Christian duty See SYNOD page 3
DIOCESE
Employees, board members at Sisters of
Mercy hospitals get formation PAGE 6
NATION
Does First Amendment protect a right
to disrupt a family’s funeral? PAGE 13
PAGE 2 OCTOBER 16, 2010 DIOCESAN ARKANSAS CATHOLIC

Panel looks at ways to help couples facing dire diagnoses

BeNotAfraid, other
ministries support
parents with resources
BY NANCY FRAZIER O’BRIEN
CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE
WASHINGTON — When parents
receive a prenatal diagnosis that their
unborn child has a disability or a poten-
tially lethal illness, they need the support of
the church and the community more than
ever, said a panel of medical and pastoral
experts and several parents who have expe-
rienced that sad scenario.
“Parents feel harassed and judged if
they even consider bringing into the world
a child” with a prenatal diagnosis of a dis-
ability or a lethal or even nonlethal condi-
tion, said Dr. John Bruchalski, an obstetri-
cian-gynecologist at the Tepeyac Family
Care Center in Fairfax, Va.
The pressure to abort such a child is
strong and often couched in euphemisms
such as “early induction” and “merciful
choice,” Bruchalski said. As a result, up to
90 percent of children diagnosed with
Down syndrome are aborted. But he said
screening tests for Down syndrome deliver
“false positives” 7 percent to 10 percent of
the time.
The diagnosis of an illness or disability
often comes unexpectedly after an ultra-
sound, on a day when parents “hope to
come home with a cute ultrasound picture
for the refrigerator,” said Monica Rafie of
Chicago.
Rafie had what she calls her own “D-
Day” in 2001, when a doctor told her the
child she was carrying was “incompatible
with life.”
“The defining moment of your preg-
nancy is no longer the delivery date, but
the diagnosis date,” Rafie said. “And from
that day on, the pregnancy does begin to
feel more like a battle than something
wonderful.”
Rafie and her husband resisted pres-
sures to abort their child diagnosed with
complex heart problems. Although she
required several surgeries in the first
months of her life, their daughter Celine is
now 8 and in the third grade.
In 2002, Rafie and other parents and
An ultrasound technician examines a pregnant woman to obtain a fetal image. Such technol-
ogy means more children with serious medical conditions are diagnosed before birth.
professionals founded BeNotAfraid.net, a
resource designed to offer hope and infor-
mation to others facing a poor prenatal
diagnosis. Although the outreach is guid-
ed by Catholic principles on decisions
related to life and death, it is available to
How to help parents who
are dealing with a poor
prenatal diagnosis
WASHINGTON (CNS) — Friends, rela-
tives and pastoral counselors often do
not know what to say to provide com-
fort and support when a couple receives
a prenatal diagnosis that their child
could have an illness, disability or lethal
condition.
BeNotAfraid.net, a peer support net-
work that encourages women in such
circumstances to carry their babies to
term, offers these suggestions:
■ Listen. Help the parents feel that
they have been heard and understood.
■ Affirm their shock and grief and
offer consolation.
JEINNY SOLIS S / STOCK.XCHNG
anyone who needs support.
Capuchin Father Dan Mindling, a the-
ologian and academic dean at Mount St.
Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, Md., said
it is important for everyone affected by a
situation involving a poor prenatal diagno-
■ Help them reconnect with their
baby by referring to the child by name
or by gender.
■ Point out the difference between
their relationship with the baby and the
doctor’s relationship with their baby.
■ Encourage them to slow down
and to resist being rushed to make deci-
sions.
■ Explain Catholic teaching on this
issue.
■ Offer local support or offer BeNot
Afraid.net as a resource to connect
online with other parents.
■ Assure them of your availability
and make sure they have an emergency
number where you can be reached.
■ Follow up within 12-24 hours,
since the situation may change as addi-
tional test results become available.
sis to remember that “the child is alive now,
the parents have a relationship with the
child now.”
“Their very seriously ill child is both
their child and a child of God right now,”
he added. “Every moment should become
precious.”
Nancy Mayer-Whittington, who lives in
the Archdiocese of Washington, said she
learned from her daughter Angela that
“life can be lived fully and completely in
nine months and 10 minutes.”
Angela was diagnosed in utero with tri-
somy 18, a genetic defect that is usually
fatal. She died 10 minutes after her birth in
1994.
“I was scared that I would never be the
same, that I would never recover,” said
Mayer-Whittington of her decision to con-
tinue the pregnancy after the diagnosis.
And that turned out to be true, because
Angela “opened my life in ways I had never
imagined,” she said.
Mayer-Whittington and Cubby La-
Hood, whose son Francis died shortly after
birth, founded Isaiah’s Promise nearly two
decades ago to help women continue their
pregnancies after receiving a poor prena-
tal diagnosis.
“We hold their hands as they walk the
path of a pregnancy that is not as they envi-
sioned,” Mayer-Whittington said.
Tracy Winsor, a North Carolina perina-
tal loss peer counselor, co-founded the
BeNotAfraid Ministry of Charlotte in 2008
with Sandy Buck, whose son Casey was
diagnosed with trisomy 18 during her
pregnancy. Winsor said the free services —
primarily offered by volunteers — are “a
ministry of presence” that can help parents
“move past the diagnosis.”
The panel discussion with Bruchalski,
Father Mindling, Winsor and Rafie was
part of an Internet seminar organized by
the National Catholic Partnership on
Disability. Held before an audience at
The Catholic University of America in
Washington, the seminar also had online
participants in 258 sites around the
country.
The seminar was followed at Catholic
University by another panel discussion.
The second discussion was designed to
move forward local plans for a Catholic
pastoral response to unexpected prenatal
diagnosis.

Arkansas Catholic
FOUNDED IN 1911

OCTOBER 16,2010
2 Timothy 4:10-17b Luke 12:54-59 taken by an Arkansas Catholic Arkansas Catholic (USPS 853-320
BISHOP’S DATES Psalm 145:10-11, 12-13, 17-18 SATURDAY, OCT. 23 photographer ISSN 1057-8439) is published
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St. John de Brébeuf, St. Isaac Jogues, Luke 13:1-9
ty, St. Patrick Church, North Little Wednesday in December), by the Catholic Dio-
priests, martyrs and their compan-
Volleyball players
Rock; 5 p.m., confirmation Mass,
ions DID YOU KNOW cese of Little Rock, Arkansas Cath-
St. Michael Church, West Memphis olic, Inc., P.O. Box 7417, Little Rock,
Ephesians 2:12-22 Twelve bishops from the United CONTACT US AR 72217-7417. An annual sub-
in Conway are SUNDAY, OCT. 17 Psalm 85:9ab-10, 11-12, 13-14 States and Canada are among the Mailing address: P.O. Box 7417, Lit- scription is $22, or $20 for persons
12:05 p.m. Mass, Cathedral of St. Luke 12:35-38 185 voting members of the spe-
double trouble Andrew, Little Rock; 7 p.m., Mass, cial Synod of Bishops for the Mid-
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SCRIPTURE Isaiah 12:2-3, 4bcd, 5-6
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of the Eastern Catholic churches: Catholic Center, 2500 N. Tyler St., Little Rock, AR 72217-7417.
29th Sunday in Ordinary Time THURSDAY, OCT. 21 Little Rock, AR 72207
Melkite, Maronite, Chaldean, Syri- Address Service Requested.
Exodus 17:8-13 Ephesians 3:14-21
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Luke 18:1-8 FRIDAY, OCT. 22 ON THE WEB Office hours: 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. ON THE INTERNET:
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St. Luke, evangelist Psalm 24:1-2, 3-4ab, 5-6 Photo reprints: Order an image national holidays and holy days. www.dolr.org
ARKANSAS CATHOLIC DIOCESAN OCTOBER 16, 2010 PAGE 3

BRIEFS

Sandra Nelson (left) ascends the

monastery steps with prioress Sister
Maria DeAngelI as she is welcomed as
a postulant Sept. 14.

Festival time California postulant

Matthew Mullins juggles knives (left) Oct. 2 at Blessed Sacra-
ment’s Fall Festival in Jonesboro. He was also seen juggling balls
and riding a unicycle around the parking lot of the church.
Above, Pamela Ward and Kembralyn Ligons fill out Christmas
cards at the Send a Prayer to Our Defenders of Freedom table
during the festival. The 30th annual festival is most well-known
for its sale of barbecue sandwiches, smoked boston butts and
pork loins cooked by the Knights of Columbus. The parish also
sold homemade tamales. The day also featured a children’s car-
nival, bunking booth, live entertainment and silent and live auc-
tions. Before the festival Oct. 1, the parish served a barbecue
lunch and had several bingo games. See more photos at
www.arkansas-catholic.org. HEATHER STROJEK
joins St.Scholastica
St. Scholastica Monastery in Fort
Smith welcomed a new postulant, San-
dra Nelson of Campbell, Calif., during
evening praise Sept. 14. Her decision to
join St. Scholastica followed a period of
discernment during which she visited
the sisters a number of times.
“I look forward to continuing my
journey with this community and
believe my gratitude, joy and the love
I have, giving of myself in prayer, com-
munity life and ministry is where com-
munion with God feeds and nourishes
my soul,” she said.

Students can enter

Campaign hopes to save 91 years of history
BY MALEA HARGETT
EDITOR
Arkansas Catholic is inviting people to
participate in the newspaper’s work by
launching its first Guardian Angels cam-
paign in October.
The campaign was named in honor of
the newspaper’s original name, The Southern
Guardian, which was soon changed to The
Guardian. In 1986, on the newspaper’s 75th
anniversary, the name was changed to Arkan-
sas Catholic.
The weekly diocesan newspaper is seek-
ing donors to help fund three projects in
preparation for the paper’s 100th anniver-
sary in March 2011.
The first two projects are a redesign of the
newspaper and website, to be unveiled in
February 2011 for Catholic Press Month and
the annual subscription campaign.
The redesign will give the newspaper a
fresher look, to be more readable for current
subscribers and more attractive to newer
generations of readers. The last update was
made in 2000. The newspaper’s website was
created in 2004 and also needs upgrades.
The newspaper is also making plans to
digitize its first 90 years of issues, which
chronicle the diocese’s history.
It has long been a goal of the newspaper
to make digital archives available, but
research for the newspaper’s anniversary
MALEA HARGETT
Now stored in archives with strict climate con-
trol, this March 15, 1919, issue of The Guardian
shows newsprint crumbled from its own acids.
made clear the perilous condition of the his-
tory chronicled in earlier issues. Years of
deterioration from the acids naturally pres-
ent in newsprint have reduced many pages
to fragments, too fragile to read or even
touch. While issues from 2002 to the present
are in searchable, digital format and accessi-
ble through the online edition on the news-
paper’s website, www.arkansas-catholic.org,
the first 91 years are available only in bound
volumes.
It is hoped that these issues can be viewed
and searched through the newspaper web-
site once the project is funded.
It is estimated to cost at least $100,000 to
undertake these projects over several years.
Subscription fees cover only the cost of print-
ing and mailing Arkansas Catholic, with a lit-
tle leeway to cover increasing costs of paper
and postage. Advertising and other projects
cover part of the cost of news coverage,
employee wages and equipment. The dio-
cese provides a limited subsidy, but as the
diocesan budget is tight, there is not enough
for the costs of redesign or preservation.
The Guardian Angel campaign’s five “cir-
cles” of giving will recognize donors for their
contributions:
■ Angel Circle: For donors who contribute
$25 to $99
■ Archangel Circle: $100 to $499
■ Cherubim Circle: $500 to $999
■ Seraphim Circle: $1,000 to $9,999
■ Annunciation Circle, which is named to
remember the newspaper’s founding on the
Solemnity of the Annunciation, March 25,
1911, is reserved for individuals or founda-
tions that give $10,000 or more.
Businesses can become Corporate Angels
by donating $1,000 or more to the campaign.
No matter the size of the gift, all donors
will be honored in the Dec. 16 issue of
Arkansas Catholic and mentioned in the
prayer intentions during a special Mass in
Advent with Bishop Anthony B. Taylor. The
2010-2011 campaign will continue through
the newspaper’s 100th anniversary.
For more information, visit www.arkansas-
catholic.org or call (501) 664-0125.
oratory,essay contests
Arkansas Right to Life’s oratory
contest and essay contest are now
accepting submissions. The oratory
contest is open to high school seniors
and juniors who must research, write
and present an original five-seven
minute speech on abortion, embryon-
ic stem-cell research, infanticide,
assisted suicide or euthanasia. The
deadline to enter is Feb. 15, 2011. A
regional oratory contest will be held
on Feb. 26, 2011, and a finalist oratory
contest on March 5, 2011.
The essay contest is open to stu-
dents in seventh to 12th grades.
Essays should address the question:
“What does abortion mean to you and
your peers?” The essay should be
300-500 words, typed, double-spaced
and pages numbered. Essays should
be submitted between Dec. 20 and
Jan. 15, 2011. For complete contest
rules, entry forms or additional infor-
mation, call (501) 663-4237, e-mail
artl4237@att.net or visit www.artl.org.
MSM’s open house is for
fourth to eighth graders
Mount St. Mary Academy in Little
Rock will host prospective freshman
forums and an open house Sunday,
Oct. 31. The forums, which will take
place from 2-3:30 p.m., are designed
for current eighth-grade girls and their
parents. The forums consist of mini-

Synod Without church unity, there can be no real

Continued from page 1
In his opening remarks, Pope Benedict
said the Mass would help them all spiritually
prepare for “these days of intense work.” The
83-year-old pope was to preside over most of
the twice-daily sessions of the synod assembly,
which was to conclude Oct. 24.
In his homily, the pope emphasized the
synod’s theme of unity in a land where the
Church has a rich variety of liturgical, spiri-
tual, cultural and disciplinary traditions.
witnessing of the faith, he said.
The pope encouraged the Middle East
Church leaders to rise above their present
difficulties with the same spirit of Pentecost
that moved the early Church.
“The first Christians in Jerusalem were
few. No one could have imagined what hap-
pened afterward. And the Church still lives
with that same energy that made the early
Church arise and grow,” he said.
The synod’s role, he said, was to renew
that sense of “permanent dynamism” among
Catholic communities of the Middle East. In
that sense, he said, the synod was primarily
pastoral, although it could not ignore the
often dramatic social and political situations
in which Christians live.
The pope said that in order to effectively
witness their faith, the Church’s members
need to strengthen their Christian identity
through the word of God and the sacraments.
Such witness is also a fundamental human
right, and requires conditions of peace and
justice — a responsibility that implicates the
international community as well as the major-
ity religions of the region, he said.
Jewish and Muslim representatives were
scheduled to address the synod, and leaders
of other Christian churches were also invited.
sessions held in subjects selected by
the visitor. The open house follows,
from 3:30-5 p.m., and is generally
geared toward fourth- through sev-
enth-grade girls. The open house will
include tours of the school, fine arts
performances, club and organization
presentations and in-class demonstra-
tions. Refreshments will be served and
door prizes will be awarded. For more
information, contact Chelle McKenzie
McCarroll, director of admissions, at
(501) 664-8006, ext. 106, or cmccarroll
@mtstmary.edu.
PAGE 4 OCTOBER 16, 2010 DIOCESE ARKANSAS CATHOLIC

■ TASTING: Our Lady of Fatima Church
and School in Benton is hosting a tasting tea
from 2-5 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 17 in the parish
hall. Samples of recipes from a new parish
cookbook will be served.Tickets are $5 each.
Cookbooks will be sold for $10 each.
■ MISSION: Father Oscar Lukefahr, CM, a
Catholic theologian and director of Catholic
Home Study Service, will lead a parish mis-
sion at St. Paul Church in Pocahontas Oct.
17-20. Morning Mass will be celebrated at 8
a.m. Monday through Wednesday. The
evening meeting will begin at 7 p.m. For
more information, contact Ronnie Rose at
(870) 892-3319.
■ HALLOWEEN CARNIVAL: North Lit-
tle Rock Catholic Academy will host its Hal-
loween carnival from 5:30-9 p.m., Saturday,
Oct. 23. Admission is $20 a family or $5 a
person. Free chili and hot dogs will be
served. Other concession stand items will be
sold.
The event will include trunk or treat, cake
booth, games, haunted house, silent auction
and raffle.The sixth annual Chili Cook-off will
also be held.
■ YOUNG LEADER: Hunter Burnett, a
senior at St. Joseph School in Conway, has
been selected as the first recipient of the
new Discovering Tomorrow’s Leaders
Award.
He is one of eight Faulkner County youth
who will be chosen for this award over the
next two months. The award honors student
leaders involved in service programs in
PARISH NEWS
Eighth graders at North Little Rock Catholic Academy earned second place for their presenta-
tion on Morocco during World Fest in Little Rock.
schools and communities. Teachers, family,
and friends can nominate students from
organizations such as FCCLA, 4-H and
Choosing to Excel, who possess outstanding
leadership qualities.
Burnett, who lives in Greenbrier, is presi-
dent of the local 4-H Club. He is also active in
the Rabbit Club and Teen Leaders. Hunter
serves as vice president of St. Joseph’s senior
class and is a member of the National Honor
Society.
Chesapeake Energy, which sponsored the
program, is donating a computer to St.
Joseph School in recognition of the achieve-
ment. Burnett was presented with a certifi-
cate which will make him eligible to receive
a laptop computer that will be awarded at a
banquet in November.
■ WORLD FEST: North Little Rock
Catholic Academy’s eighth-grade class
earned second place during the 16th annual
World Fest sponsored by the Little Rock
Racial and Cultural Diversity Commission Fri-
day, Sept. 24. The festival, held on the
grounds of the Clinton Presidential Center,
celebrates the diverse cultures of the world
through music, dance, food and student pre-
sentations. The students chose to do a proj-
ect from Africa and were assigned the coun-
try of Morocco. The class spent September
doing research on their country and prepar-
ing the presentation.
■ POSTULANT: Rose Pearson, 28, a
member of St. Ber-
nard Church in Bella
Vista, was accepted
as a postulant with
the Franciscan Sisters
of Christian Charity in
Manitowoc, Wis. Pear-
son, who has a degree
in education, was one
of four women who
recently began their
postulancy. Rose Pearson
■ WHAT’S HAPPENING in your parish?
Short articles and photographs about parish
and school events and accomplishments are
published weekly in Arkansas Catholic. Arti-
cles and photographs should be sent within
two weeks of the event to P.O. Box 7417, Lit-
tle Rock, AR 72217, faxed to (501) 664-6572
or e-mailed to mhargett@dolr.org. Photo-
graphs can be black and white or color and
will only be returned if requested.

Celebrating
Sister Maria Liebeck’s Higher Standards
www.baltzchevrolet.com
80th Birthday

Roast & Toast

Quality stained glass
for Arkansas since 1973
Churches • Residential • Commercial
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benefitting (501) 758-8641 Contact Larry Busick or Leo Baltz
Helping Hand of Greater Little Rock Toll-free 1-800-791-S00S • Fax 501-758-8655
P.O. Box 13452, Maumelle AR 72113 (870) 892-5254
Sunday, October 24, 2010 www.soosstainedglass.com

6:00 to 8:00 p.m.

St. Anne Church, 6150 Remount Road
North Little Rock, Arkansas
Tickets are $40 per person.
For information, please call
Serving on your Parish
Pastoral or Finance Council?
You should attend an orientation workshop to learn the rules that govern these
(501) 372-4388 councils and obtain practical information on conducting council meetings.
Only one meeting required ❖ Please register to attend the workshop of your choice

Sunday, Oct. 24 Mary, Mother of God Harrison 2 p.m.

Sunday, Oct. 31 St. Joseph Church Pine Bluff 2 p.m.
Fish and Ribs
Dinner Catered by Saturday, Nov. 20 St. John Center NEW Little Rock 10 a.m.
Additional workshops will be held during the spring. The dates of the spring workshops will be published at a later date.

To register, please call Cathy France at the Diocese of Little Rock

(501) 664-0340 ext. 330 or e-mail cfrance@dolr.org
ARKANSAS CATHOLIC DIOCESE
‘Pilgrim People’ explores faith journey in Scripture and life
BY PHYLLIS HEMANN
ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Little Rock Scripture Study recently
debuted the scriptural commentary “Pilgrim
People,” which is the first for author Cliff
Yeary.
“A constant theme in Scripture is the call
to leave the comfort of our homes, or some-
times the pain, and wander in search of
God,” said Yeary, who is an associate director
for LRSS. “Our journey is the face of faith.
This study is a pilgrimage for people to make
even though they never leave their homes.”
The commentary is part of a five-week
Scripture study that also includes a study
guide, and audio and video lectures. It focus-
es on the pilgrim tradition of a call to faith.
Yeary knows what it’s like to follow a jour-
ney of faith. He picked up his family from
Idaho in 2002 and made the trek to Arkansas
to develop study materials for LRSS.
Through his work, he’s written study
guides and articles but never a book of com-
mentary.
“I always wanted to be a writer. I spent 15
years or more writing a novel that never went
anywhere,” he said. “Through writing, I can
express myself and the faith I’ve been given.”
It is natural for him to write. One of the
reasons he got to know his wife, Liz, was their
shared love of reading. The couple instilled
that love in their children as well.
As a former English teacher to troubled
youth in rural Idaho, Yeary knows how the
written word can impact those struggling
through life.
North Little Rock Catholic Academy
Halloween Carnival
& Chili Cookoff
Saturday, Oct. 23
5:30-9 p.m.
Free chili & hot dogs with admission
$20 Family / $5 single
Silent auction • Raffle • Concessions
Lots of games
for all ages!
1518 Parker St.
North Little Rock
R E T R E A T S A T
Men’s Retreat
Oct. 22-24, 2010
with Father Nicholas Fuhrmann, OSB
Women’s Retreat: “Christ in Daily Life”
Nov. 5-7, 2010
with Deacon Bob Cowie
4 7 9 - 9 3 4 - 4 4 1 1 • c o u r y h o u s e @ s u b i . o r g • w w w. s u b i . o r g
Coury House Retreat Center
This is the cover of “Pilgrim People” by Clifford
M. Yeary, a new commentary published by Lit-
tle Rock Scripture Study.
That struggle is part of the theme in “Pil-
grim People.” The journey takes humanity
into exile.
“One of the most powerful journeys is the
one of exile. For the Jewish people, it crystal-
lized their Jewish identity. They became
much more devoted followers of our Lord
and the Law of Moses,” he said.
KREBS BROTHERS
SINCE 1933
THE RESTAURANT STORE
4310 Landers Rd. • North Little Rock, AR
(501) 687-1331
Marinades In-Stock!!
C O U R Y H O U S E
$120 per person, shared room
$170 per person, private room
Subiaco Abbey, Arkansas
Cliff Yeary moved his family from Idaho to
Arkansas in 2002 to become associate director
of Little Rock Scripture Study.
The idea for the book came while reading
Bishop Anthony B. Taylor’s letter on immi-
gration in 2008, where the theme of wander-
ers responding to God’s call struck Yeary.
When he suggested the theme to director
Cackie Upchurch, being the writer was not
his goal.
“She told me to run with it,” Yeary said. “A
YOUR FUTURE. OUR TRADITION.
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OCTOBER 16, 2010 PAGE 5
bit of panic materialized when she said, ‘Let’s
do it.’ I realized how much research was
involved and that I would be the author.”
Fortunately for Yeary, he taught a dia-
conate formation class on the Pentateuch,
which is rich in his chosen theme of pilgrim-
age. The process took him about eight
months to complete.
“The four chapters in the book touch
base with the core of the pilgrimage tradition
of call to faith. For every one Scripture refer-
ence, there are four or 10 others that you
could use as well,” he said.
One of the commentary’s unique aspects
is that it covers both the Old and New Testa-
ments. It also invites readers to share in the
pilgrimage of faith on their own.
“Most commentaries avoid making per-
sonal connections, but this is a study on pil-
grimage and God’s call,” he said. “I deliber-
ately raised questions with readers, so they can
be drawn into the saga on a personal level.”
The thematic study provides an overview
of some major sections of the Bible, including
the call of Abraham and Sarah, the entry into
the Promised Land and the fall of Jerusalem.
“The biggest, single hope that I have,”
Yeary said, “is that people can connect their
own journeys and hear the voice of God call-
ing them in their own lives.”
People have responded well to the study
in the two months since it was released. More
than 65 parishes have already completed or
plan to start it soon. “Pilgrim People” is avail-
able by calling (501) 664-6102 or visiting
www.littlerockscripture.org.
650 East Parkway South • Memphis, TN • 38104
PAGE 6 DIOCESE
OCTOBER 16, 2010 ARKANSAS CATHOLIC

Laity,sisters in Mercy Health Ministry foster Catholic identity

Mercy Day celebrates
laity’s commitment to
Sister of Mercy values
BY MARYANNE MEYERRIECKS
FORT SMITH CORRESPONDENT
FORT SMITH — On Sept. 24, all three
Arkansas hospitals in the Sisters of Mercy
Health System — St. Joseph Mercy Health
Center in Hot Springs, St. Edward Mercy
Medical Center in Fort Smith and Mercy
Medical Center in Rogers — celebrated
Mercy Day, recognizing Catherine McAuley’s
founding of the House of Mercy in 1827.
The three hospitals, touching the lives of
1 million of Arkansas’ 2.9 million residents,
strive continually to improve service to their
patients.
EPIC, Mercy Health System’s electronic
health record system, expanded to include
all three hospitals on Sept. 26. The technol-
ogy, available in only 2.6 percent of hospitals
nationwide, allows patient records to be
accessed in any Arkansas Mercy facilities. It
will reduce paperwork and form duplication,
prevent potentially fatal drug interactions
and optimize doctors’ abilities to treat their
patients.
In August, Mercy Medical Center of
Northwest Arkansas received certification as
a chest pain center with percutaneous coro-
nary intervention from the Society of Chest
Pain Centers. Only 10 percent of hospitals
nationwide in Mercy’s size category have
achieved this certification level.
But most importantly, in the past two
years the Mercy Health System has estab-
lished new procedures to ensure that the
mission of the Sisters of Mercy and the sys-
tem’s Catholic identity will flourish under
the sponsorship of a board composed of sis-
ters and laity called Mercy Health Ministry.
Mercy Health Ministry was established in
the summer of 2008 as a “public juridic per-
son,” an entity established by the Catholic
Church to supervise the Catholic identity
“For me, Mercy Day is really a focus on the lay people that work
with us. Catherine and the other women were lay women at the
time. They were coming together to provide for the poor and vul-
nerable. We are celebrating the commitment of all our co-workers
to the Mercy ministry.”
and healing ministries of Mercy. The Sisters
of Mercy still own the health system, which is
the eighth largest health system in the Unit-
ed States.
“The new sponsoring group is responsi-
ble for what the religious community used to
be responsible for,” said Sister Chabanel
Finnegan, RSM, ethicist and director of
leader formation at St. Edward Mercy Med-
ical Center in Fort Smith. “We wanted to con-
tinue to operate Catholic-identified facilities.
Sisters continued to be present as long as
they could participate. Laity became more
and more involved but to ensure that the
Mercy tradition lived on, we had to start a
strong formation program.”
In Fort Smith, Sister Chabanel has begun
religious formation programs for board
members and leaders in each community —
the health ministry board, executive team
and local leaders.
“We hold formation classes each month
and offer advanced classes, two hours per
month, over 18-month periods,” she said. “We
— Sister Chabanel Finnegan, RSM
provide the education in such a way that staff
and board members have to reflect on it and
will begin to incorporate it into their decision-
making. Our goal is for all our workers to
know the Mercy mission, value and charism.”
She sees the lay-religious partnership of
Mercy Health Ministry as a natural out-
growth of Vatican II and the growing role of
laity in the Church.
“The board has a good balance of laity and
sisters — close to 50 percent each,” she said.
The partnership is especially appropriate
given that their order’s founder, Catherine
McAuley, was a lay person when she began
her ministry.
“For me, Mercy Day is really a focus on the
lay people that work with us. Catherine and
the other women were lay women at the time.
They were coming together to provide for the
poor and vulnerable,” said Sister Chabanel
said. “We are celebrating the commitment of
all our co-workers to the Mercy ministry.”
To remind workers, patients and visitors
to St. Edward Mercy Medical of the Sisters of
Mercy mission and history, a large four-panel
history wall has been installed in the main
lobby of the hospital, giving the history of the
sisters’ presence in Arkansas from their emi-
gration from Ireland in 1851, their educa-
tion and nursing ministry through the Civil
War years.
In 1975, a 341-bed facility, St. Edward
Mercy Medical Center, was built and dedi-
cated by President Gerald Ford.
In Rogers, Mercy Sisters Anita DeSalvo
and Lisa Atkins and in Hot Springs Sisters
Dorothy Calhoun, Liz Koehler and Teresa
Kelone serve as the Mercy presence, working
side by side with laity.
The leader formation program is con-
ducted in Rogers by Sister Anita and in Hot
Springs by Deacon Patrick McCruden.
The formation program was designed pri-
marily by the health system mission person-
nel in all of the health care communities.
See MERCY page 7

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Training for Sidewalk Helpers

Saturday, November 6
Little Rock and Springdale
The Respect Life Office of the Diocese of Little Rock
is sponsoring training sessions for anyone interested
in intervention at the abortion centers in Little Rock
and Fayetteville. Trainers are from the Diocese of
Dallas, Texas and follow the Msgr. Reilly format for
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There is no charge to attend but please register.
For information, contact Dennis Lee, Diocese of Little Rock, (501) 664-0340 • www.dolr.org
Sponsored by the Diocese of Little Rock Respect Life Office • www.dolr.org
ARKANSAS CATHOLIC DIOCESE OCTOBER 16, 2010 PAGE 7

Mercy
Continued from page 6

Currently leaders at different levels of respon-

sibility are invited to participate in the 18-
month advanced formation program.
“We meet in groups of four to eight lead-
ers,” Sister Anita said. “Our goal is to help
deepen the spirituality among co-workers in
Mercy. The program consists of modules to
help employees deepen a sense of Catholic
identity, learn the story of Catherine
McAuley, founder of the Sisters of Mercy, to
learn the foundation of the ministry of the
Church, Catholic social teaching, and reli-
gious and ethical directives.
“We break open the modules and within
those two-hour sessions there are presenta-
tions and also a time for reflection on how to
apply this knowledge to their personal lives
and their ministry within the health care
organization.”
The Sisters of Mercy have recently begun
a program for each hospital’s board of
trustees. For 30 minutes at each quarterly
meeting, the board has some formation.
“Our eventual goal is to roll out a forma-
tion program for all co-workers through
directors and managers,” Sister Anita said.
Although the program has only been in
place for two years, she said she has already
seen some positive changes.
“I think we’ve definitely had feedback
from leaders who’d been through the
advanced formation program telling how
their reflection on the program has affected
their personal lives, administrative decisions
Several of the retired Sisters of Mercy enjoy a reception in the St. Edward Mercy Center of Excellence lobby following Mercy Day Mass Friday, Sept. 24. and priorities,” Sister Anita said.

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PAGE 8 DIOCESE
OCTOBER 16, 2010 ARKANSAS CATHOLIC

Age doesn’t slow Mountain Home woman’s service or zeal

Mary Lynn’s response
to ministry: ‘I’m here,
Lord, if you need me.”
BY APRILLE HANSON
LITTLE ROCK CORRESPONDENT

MOUNTAIN HOME — At 96 years old,

Mountain Home resident Mary Lynn exer-
cises, attends Mass almost daily and delivers
holy Communion to four parishioners
younger than herself — all with only three to
four hours of sleep a night.
“I don’t know what I’d do with my life if I
didn’t do this work that I have now,” Lynn
said. “It kind of fulfills it.”
Energetic and quiet, Lynn has been a
member of the Legion of Mary at St. Peter
the Fisherman Church for 15 years.
Pastor Father Stan Swiderski said he’s
impressed by her faithfulness.
“I think she’s one of the most faithful to
the parish … with her silent, quiet ministry of
prayer,” Father Swiderski said. “Her giving of
herself, time and energy to the sick and
homebound she visits.”
Born March 25, 1914 — the feast of the
Annunciation — in Lorain, Ohio, to Polish
parents Magdalene and Anthony Niedbala,
Lynn was the third of 10 children. At age 8,
her family moved to Detroit where her father
was a steel mill worker. Though finances were
tight, Lynn said “no matter what happened,
we all went to a Catholic school.”
The children were active in church, but
Lynn said religion was never forced.
“There was never any pushy stuff,” Lynn APRILLE HANSON
said. “It’s just built in us to be kind, to do St. Peter the Fisherman Church parishioner Mary Lynn explains how she received the Sacred Heart of Jesus picture when her home was enthroned.
things for neighbors.”
Lynn kept this attitude while raising her One of 16 active legion members, Lynn for the second time with legion members. A her strength by stretching or walking for an
sons — Bill, John and Don Hutson. goes to meetings every Tuesday, attends priest traveling with the legion nicknamed hour daily.
“A lot of people feel like they’re religious, annual retreats and delivers holy Commu- Lynn the “gazelle.” “If I exercise an hour, I can tell the next day
but I don’t feel that way,” Lynn said. “I believe nion on Thursdays. “I feel they’re a part of Though Lynn doesn’t spend every hour how I walk and balance myself,” Lynn said.
in Jesus and Mary and a love of people and my family,” Lynn said. “You get to a point in the church, she can be seen doing God’s Good circulation and balance are essen-
friends. I enjoy doing things for people.” where you’re excited to visit them.” work — whether it’s taking her friend to a tial, as Lynn always wears high heels. Lynn
Lynn, who is twice widowed, said she took The Legion of Mary is a worldwide volun- weekly hair appointment, letting someone said if other seniors volunteered and exer-
strength in God and friends through tough teer organization and is led at St. Peter’s by recover from surgery in her home or simply cised, “they’d live longer, be happier and for-
times. spiritual director Father Innocent Okore playing card games with a lonely friend. get their aches and pains.”
Then, in 1997 while living in Gamaliel, and president Kathleen DeGroot. DeGroot DeGroot said last week, Lynn spent 12 Though Lynn continually touches lives
Lynn was asked by the church if she could said legion members “visit nursing homes, hours at only four home visits. “She sits with through her kindness, recognition is the fur-
bring holy Communion to a few people in make home visits, go to the hospital, we do people, she cooks for people. If someone thest thought from her mind, she said.
her town. With a little convincing from her house blessings with the priests and house needs to go to a doctor’s appointment, she’ll “I always tell people, ‘Don’t thank me
sister, Sister Mary Dominica, she agreed. enthronements with the Sacred Heart,” as take them,” DeGroot said. “She just never please, thank Jesus, he’s making it possible for
“I thought I wasn’t worthy,” Lynn said. “I well as other church services. stops. She’s very spiritual and fun and some- me to do this,’” Lynn said. “I believe God loves
almost said no, but the thing that hit my When she was 91, Lynn visited Medjugor- body all of us look up to. She does everything everyone, and I just feel like I want to see Jesus
mind was ‘I’m here, Lord, if you need me.’ I je in Bosnia — where Mary started appearing — at 96 years old, it’s incredible.” in everyone. I’m just Jesus’ feet and hands. I
couldn’t say no.” to six children on a mountain top in 1981 — Lynn said she is a poor sleeper but keeps always pray I don’t take credit for all this.”

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ARKANSAS CATHOLIC SEEDS OF FAITH OCTOBER 16, 2010 PAGE 9

“H
ome is where we start from.”
T.S. Eliot wrote those words
and they are true for all of us
in terms of religion and our understanding
of the particular denomination within
which we were raised.
I was born and raised a Roman Catholic
with deep roots. My parents had a strong
faith and they made sure that faith and reli-
gious practice were central to every aspect
of our lives.
We went to Mass whenever we could,
daily when it was available, went to confes-
sion at least every two weeks, prayed the
rosary daily in our home, recited the
Angelus together at least twice a day,
learned a good number of prayers, memo-
rized the Catholic catechism, had a picture
of the pope hanging in our house, and
believed that Roman Catholicism, among
all religions and Christian denominations,
was the sole true faith, the only fully valid
religion.
We didn’t believe that others, Protestants
and peoples of other religions, would not
go to heaven, but we were not exactly sure
how this would happen, given that we
believed that they were not of the true faith.
Because of this, we lived in a certain sus-
picion of other denominations and reli-
gions, secure in our own truth, but cautious
always about intermingling religiously with
others, fearing that somehow what we
believed might be watered-down or contam-
inated by religious contact with non-Roman
Catholics.
Making an
ecumenical
effort
And that was, and is, a good place to
start from. I am deeply grateful for having
such strong, conservative, religious roots.
But a lot of things have changed for me
since I was a young, idealistic, Roman Cath-
It is not disloyal to your own church if you reach out to those of
other churches to build relationship and understanding.
BY FATHER RONALD ROLHEISER, OMI
olic boy growing up in an immigrant com-
munity on the Canadian prairies.
Early on in my seminary years, my pro-
fessors, honest scholars (and mostly Roman
Catholic priests), exposed me to some won-
derful Anglican and Protestant biblical
scholars and theologians whose insights and
commitment deepened my understanding
of Jesus and helped rivet me more firmly in
my own religious life.
Later on in my seminary years, I was
joined in the classroom by men and women
from various Christian denominations, all
of whom were studying for ministry and all
of whom had a deep commitment to Christ.
Friendship with them and respect for
their faith did not lead me to leave Roman
Catholicism and join another denomina-
tion, but it did begin to reshape my think-
ing about what constitutes true faith and
true religion. It helped me too to realize
that our commonality as Christians largely
dwarfs our differences.
Since my ordination I have taught and
ministered in various countries and in vari-
ous universities and seminaries. I have
prayed with, shared faith with, lectured to,
and become deep friends with men and
women of every kind of denominational
and religious persuasion: Anglicans, Episco-
palians, Protestants, evangelicals, Buddhists,
Muslims, Hindus and sincere humanistic
searchers.
I have been nurtured deeply in both my
faith and my spirituality by Anglican and
Protestant thinkers such as C.S. Lewis, Paul
Tillich, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Jim Wallis, Jur-
gen Moltmann and Alan Jones, among oth-
ers.
See ECUMENICAL page 10

UNDERSTANDING OUR CHURCH

North American martyrs had great courage,strength in their mission
persevered and seemed to draw strength from carrying a

T
his week marks a special celebration for Catholics of
the United States and Canada. The feast of North
American Martyrs is Oct. 19.
In 1626, Father John de Brebeuf was sent on a mission to
the then-distant locale of the Huron tribe. In this area, along
what would become the U.S.-Canadian border, this holy and
zealous priest began the work of living and preaching the
message of Jesus Christ.
The difficulty of his mission is hard to fully comprehend
today. The language barrier was immense given the Huron
people had no written language and the spoken language
was carried on without moving the lips, using only vocal
inflection that at first seemed only to be a series of grunts.
The life among these souls was also a great challenge as
they lived according to deeply-held superstitions and sorcery
with no sense of morality. The conditions were extremely
harsh and progress was painfully slow.
Eventually Father Brebeuf would be joined by other
young recruits to the missionary effort. In 1936, Father Isaac
Jogues arrived with the same zeal that would eventually lead
him to give his life as a martyr. In all, eight Jesuit missionaries
would die over a seven-year period, each enduring incredible
torture and suffering along the way.
Despite the resistance to the truths of the Gospel message,
these men desired that Christ be known among all his peo-
ple. The Blackrobes, as they were called, wanted the men and
A Word
on Scripture
and Sacred
Tradition
Father Erik Pohlmeier
women of the Native American tribes to know they were
brothers and sisters and share faith in the one true God who
gives and sustains life and all of creation.
They presented these truths in simple but direct ways,
holding up before them the reality of heaven and hell and
encouragement to follow the path of the blessed.
The Blackrobes were often considered just other types of
sorcerers and blamed for changing weather conditions and
the blight of pests among the crops. Much of what they
received for their words was anger and assault. And yet they
heavy cross as did the Lord.
Their stories were shared with European readers in
accounts known as “Jesuit Relations.” In one dispatch Father
Brebeuf put it succinctly, “Jesus Christ is our true greatness; it
is he alone and his cross that should be sought in following
after these people. For if you strive for anything else, you will
find nothing but bodily and spiritual affliction. But having
found Jesus Christ in his cross, you have found the roses in
the thorns, sweetness in bitterness, all in nothing.”
In the end, Sts. Isaac, John and their companions would
carry their crosses to their own Calvary, each one dying in wit-
ness to the shepherd who gives his life for his sheep.
Their mission would end in apparent failure with very few
people accepting the faith. But the blood of martyrs is often
what brings life to the seeds that are planted. As populations
shifted and new missionaries arrived there would be success.
In 1656, Kateri Tekakwitha was born and she would not only
embrace the faith but become the first Native American
named blessed by the Church.
This week we celebrate the courage and faith of these mis-
sionaries and give thanks to God for the efforts by which we are
able to celebrate faith in freedom and give witness in our time.
Father Erik Pohlmeier is theological consultant for Arkansas
Catholic and pastor of Our Lady of the Holy Souls Church in
Little Rock.
PAGE 10 OCTOBER 16, 2010
Who is the person, living or dead, you admire most? Why?
Responses are from parish religious education students at St. Jude Church in Jacksonville. Their director of religious education is Paula Price.
“My mom is
truly great. She
gets me clothes,
school supplies,
books, purses,
shoes ... She
helps me with
my problems
and, most of the time, understands
where I am coming from. She is a
fantastic cook. Though she and I get
into it sometimes, we still seem to
stay close. I love my mom.”
— Appolínaría Cejas Cushman, ninth grade
Jesus tells a parable about humility
BY JOE SARNICOLA
CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE
J
esus knew the people who came out
to hear him preach loved to hear the
stories he told in order to convey a
lesson, so he tried to tell one or more when-
ever he spoke. He stood before the crowd of
people that had come out to hear him on
one particular day.
“Two people went up to the temple area
to pray,” he said. “One was a Pharisee and
Bible Trivia
What do we call the stories that
Jesus told in order to teach a lesson?
Answer: Parables
Bible Accent
The Pharisees were religious lead-
ers during the time of Jesus, along
with the Sadducees. The Pharisees
were mostly middle-class lawyers and
businessmen, but they maintained a
strong belief in the very literal under-
standing of the Old Testament and of
the religious traditions that had been
established since the time of Moses.
They were very critical of Jesus,
because they felt he was breaking the
laws and the traditions.
Jesus, in turn, was very critical of
them, because he said they were fol-
lowing the law so severely that they
missed the intent of the law.
The Pharisees joined with the
scribes and Sadducees to see that
Jesus was tried and crucified.
Throughout his short ministry,
Jesus often told the people of Israel
not to be like the Pharisees, but to
show compassion and to follow the
real law of God, which was to love
God and to love each other.
SEEDS OF FAITH ARKANSAS CATHOLIC
YOUTHSPEAK
“The person “Jesus “I look to my
I admire most is because he mom. I guess I
Kathrine Swit- offers his life have to since
zer, a famous for us. What she puts up with
runner. She better gift is my mistakes. My
broke the gen- that? ‘Love one mom takes me
der barrier in another as I to most of my
sports by being have loved you.’ dance classes
the first woman to run the Boston Jesus lies down on the cross and and stays to watch my dance compe-
Marathon. She persevered and over- looks back to see his true disciples. It titions and shows. I don’t really know
came being the only woman wanting is his ... plan to be crucified and live how you can say thank you to some-
to do the same sports as men. ... she in glory. What does love mean to one who does so much for you. I
helped people everywhere.” you? To Jesus, it meant his life.” wouldn’t trade her for anything.”
— Caitlyn Clinton, seventh grade — Emily Busby, sixth grade — Mary Kate Donahue, ninth grade
Ecumenical
Continued from page 9
Today, alongside my Roman Catholic
community, among those who help anchor
my religious commitment, soul mates in the
faith, there are a good number of Anglicans,
Episcopalians, Protestants, evangelicals and
persons from various other religions.
Their faith and friendship has helped
me internalize something that Virginia
Woolf once said. “Why are we so hard on
the other was a tax collector.”
Jesus used these two examples because
each other,” she asked, “when life is so diffi-
Pharisees were important leaders in the cult for all of us and when, in the end, we
value the same things?” She was speaking
church while tax collectors took the peo-
ple’s money, so they were not very well- about the lack of empathy between the
liked, and many of them cheated to take sexes, but she could just as easily have been
more than what they were owed. speaking about the lack of empathy
Then he explained that the Pharisee said between different denominations and dif-
this prayer:“O God, I thank you that I am not ferent religions.
like the rest of humanity — greedy, dishon- This is not to suggest that all religions are
est, adulterous — or even like this tax col- send them back with their parents. equal or that all denominations within Chris-
lector. I fast twice a week, and I pay tithes on Jesus stopped them and told the par- tianity are equal paths to God. There is noth-
my whole income.” ents to bring the children to him. He said, ing parochial or narrow in believing that
Then Jesus told the tax collector’s “Let the children come to me and do not
one’s own church is the right one or in
prayer:“O God, be merciful to me a sinner.” prevent them; for the kingdom of God
Jesus said,“I tell you, the latter (meaning belongs to such as these. Amen, I say to you,
believing that belonging to a certain church
is more than a matter of historical accident
the tax collector) went home justified, not whoever does not accept the kingdom of
God like a child will not enter it.” or simple ecclesial taste. Deep loyalty to the
the former (the Pharisee); for everyone who
truth as one perceives it is one mark of a gen-
exalts himself will be humbled, and the one Read more about it in Luke 18
who humbles himself will be exalted.”
uine faith.
After Jesus had finished preaching, the But this does suggest that we must be
people would often bring their children so Q&A open to a new empathy toward those whose
that Jesus would touch them and bless 1. What two people said their prayers in the church is different than ours and to a wider
them. The apostles did not want all the chil- story Jesus told? understanding of what it means to belong to
dren coming around Jesus, so they tried to 2. What did Jesus say about children? a particular denomination or religion. Some-
times we must repent too of our denomina-
tionalism.
??? A Puzzle for You
Choose the words or names from the list to answer the following questions. Not all
? ? ? Perhaps what this suggests most of all is
that we must be open to a deeper under-
standing of the ineffability of God and the
words from the list will be used. humility that asks of us. I’m still a committed
Roman Catholic, but, like the Evangelist,
Judas 12 1. Where did Joseph take his family for the census? John, I know now that Jesus has other sheep
Mark fisherman 2. Who was the voice of one crying out in the desert? that are not of this fold. I’m glad for that,
John the colt 3. What was Simon’s (Peter’s) profession before he fol- glad too for the words of the 14th-century
Baptist lowed Jesus? Persian poet, Hafiz: Would you think it odd
carpenter if Hafiz said, “I am in love with every church,
Bethlehem 4. How many close apostles did Jesus choose?
horse and mosque, and temple, and any kind of
5. Who climbed a tree to see Jesus? shrine because I know it is there that people
Peter
Zacchaeus 6. What did Jesus ride on when he entered Jerusalem? say the different names of the one God.”
15
7. Who betrayed Jesus with a kiss? Father Ronald Rolheiser, OMI, a member of
the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, is
8. Which apostle denied he knew Jesus?
president of the Oblate School of Theology in
San Antonio. He is an internationally known
Answer: 1. Bethlehem; 2. John the Baptist; 3. Fisherman; 4. 12; 5. Zacchaeus; 6. Colt; 7. Judas; 8. Peter
lecturer and writer and his weekly column is
printed in more than 90 newspapers worldwide.
Visit his website at www.ronrolheiser.com.
ARKANSAS CATHOLIC SEEDS OF FAITH OCTOBER 16, 2010 PAGE 11

CATHOLIC CROSSWORD QUESTION CORNER

Be slow to judge when dealing
with children who leave Church
Q. My daughter and her family have John Paul II, speaking of freedom of reli-
joined a nondenominational Christian gion, insisted this freedom “is such that indi-
congregation. She will be baptized there viduals must be recognized as having the
soon, as will her young children. What right even to change their religion, if their
am I to do about attending the ceremony conscience so de-
if I’m asked? mands. People are
Another child joined a different Chris- obliged to follow
tian religion and is being “received” their conscience in
there.Would I be giving approval of their all circumstances
leaving by attending? Down the road in and cannot be
future years, am I to attend weddings, forced to act
baptisms if they persist in their new against it.” (World
church? We have four other adult chil- Day of Peace mes-
dren. sage, Jan. 1, 1999)
My husband is against our attending.
He’s a convert and is sad about the situa- Q. St. Paul
tion. I’ve always been there for my chil- Father John Dietzen wrote that we
dren, but should I be for this? It is a should make up
heartache. in our sufferings what is lacking in the
A. These decisions are always anguishing sufferings of Christ. Wasn’t his atone-
ones for parents. Nor are they helped by ment sufficient? How could we add any-
friends or advisers who tell them the only thing to what Jesus did?
“right” answer is a clear-cut yes or no. A. Assuming as we do that our Lord’s
ACROSS 53.Beams 21.Get ready
1.Liturgical ____ 57.Early landing place 22.Cat sound The first point to recognize, if you wish to death and resurrection were totally and
5.Church seats 60.Get over 25.St.John Baptiste is this province’s approach this with some peace of soul, is that absolutely sufficient for the salvation of the
9.Strike breakers 62.Mother of Ishmael patron there is ordinarily no absolute “right or world, two drifts of explanation for Paul’s
14.Relaxation 63.Designer brand 27.Wife of Jacob
15.Like Burns 64.Religious instruction for converts (abbr.) 29.Sleeps briefly wrong” way to deal with the situation. One remarks (Col 1:24) seem most common in
16.Set apart as sacred 65.Representative 30.CCXIV halved needs to look at all the responsibilities one Christian thinking.
17.Commandment carrier, and others 66.Go for a spin? 31.Urges has, to the children, the rest of the family One relates this verse to the context in
18.“God’s Little ____” 67.Like much lore 32.In the home of (Fr.)
19.Shady recess 68.Sleeping space 33.Broad valley
and others, and arrive at what you see as the which he speaks of his own role as an apostle
20.Church spires 69.Actress Lancaster 34.Cancer sign best way to cope with all of them at once. of the Good News of Christ. Each new receiv-
22.Make happy 70.Editor’s comment 36.Agile You do not wish to compromise your own er of the message, each suffering he and oth-
23.Frustrate 39.Describes the Magisterium
24.The same as DOWN 43.Birth month of Mary (abbr.)
convictions. You must not feel pressured to ers undertake for the sake of the world and
26.Sly look 1.What you do not use in unleavened 44.John Paul II’s surname do something that is against your own faith the Church, moves the Church that much
28.Insistence bread 45.“Vaya con ____” because of what they do. The question is, of closer to its fulfillment in bringing the
32.Atlanta medical oversight agcy. 2.“… thy will be done on ____” 48.Scarcity Gospel to the whole human race.
35.The Lord’s ____ 3.Awry 50.Biblical hunter
course, can you attend the events you speak
37.“Lord, ____ us!”(Matt 8:25) 4.Prepare for return 52.Country bumpkin of without betraying what you believe? Another interpretation addresses our suf-
38.Spydom name 5.Prayer book 54.____ Coeur Many, perhaps most, parents feel they ferings themselves. Jesus makes clear that the
40.Singer Calloway 6.“____ homo” 55.“And do not bring us to the time of can. Particularly if they make their position sufferings of his followers, his community of
41.Whirl 7.More unfavorable ____”(Luke 11:4)
42.Dash 8.French holy woman (abbr.) 56.Stagnant clear (which in most families the children believers, are indeed his own sufferings.
43.Astute 9.German military camp 57.Evil king of Israel already know), these children are not going Those who persecute his disciples persecute
46.Sib 10.Without heed 58.Anger to misread the parents’ presence as an him. (Acts 9:4; 22:7)
47.Father of James and John 11.Jesus’name for the Father 59.Teen and new follower
49.Parable of the ____ in the fish 12.Audience reaction 61.Ones, to Pierre expression of not caring or agreeing with the Thus the completion of his mission given
51.Answer 13.Annoyed 63.A parish position (abbr.) religious decisions of their adult children. by the Father will arrive only when the last
Children with any sensitivity at all are aware “daily cross” of which he spoke has been
WORD SEARCH ✞ CELEBRATION OF THE MASS of the pain they are causing and accept that
their parents’ attendance is simply an expres-
borne faithfully by each member of his body
on earth.
sion of continued love and affection. What was lacking, therefore, in the suffer-
Some parents are more strict with them- ings of Christ was not an insufficiency in his
selves. They feel in such circumstances that redemptive actions. Rather, our Lord’s work
their faith requires total divorce from this would not attain its complete effect until all
part of their children’s lives. of his disciples have carried their crosses with
The great master of the spiritual life, St. him.
Francis de Sales, however, was fond of saying, Questions may be mailed to Father John
“Always be as indulgent as you can, never for- Dietzen at Box 3315, Peoria, IL 61612 or e-
getting that one can catch more flies with a mailed to jjdietzen@aol.com.
spoonful of honey than with a hundred bar-
rels of vinegar.” I agree with him. After all,
the event will take place whether or not you
attend. ANSWERS
Another factor to accept, as difficult as
that may be, is that we really don’t know how
much faith these individuals had to begin
with. It is no reflection on the parents’ teach-
ing and example to acknowledge that young
people today grow up amid an unprece-
dented array of mixed signals about religion,
God and morality.
They may be well into adulthood before
they are mature enough to internalize and
solidify their faith commitments. Of course,
they, as all of us, are accountable to God for
their decisions.
I say this not to excuse, only to suggest
that we go slow in judging what has hap-
pened and how we should respond.
It might help to recall that the late Pope
PAGE 12 OCTOBER 16, 2010 NATION ARKANSAS CATHOLIC

Catholic,Orthodox issue two ‘unprecedented’statements

BY DENNIS SADOWSKI
CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE
WASHINGTON — Catholic and
Orthodox church representatives have
offered their vision of what the unity of
both churches might look like in two state-
ments approved during a recent meeting
at Georgetown University.
Developed by the 24 members of the
North American Orthodox-Catholic Theo-
logical Consultation during a three-day
meeting in Washington that ended Oct. 2,
the statements acknowledge common
beliefs and history.
Released Oct. 7, the statements also
identified areas where the churches
diverge in leadership and other practices
that must be reconciled before the nearly
1,000-year separation between the church-
es can end.
One statement addresses issues of dis-
agreement such as the role of the pope
and how leadership on behalf of the
church by the bishop of Rome can be car-
ried out.
The second statement discusses the
importance of developing a specific set of
criteria for determining the date of Easter
so that both churches can proclaim the res-
urrection of Christ to the world with a uni-
fied voice.
Paulist Father Ronald Roberson, associ-
ate director of the U.S. Conference of
Bishop Michael of the Diocese of New York and New Jersey of the Orthodox Church in Amer-
ica and other clergy leaders attend an interreligious prayer service in September.
Catholic Bishops’ Secretariat for Ecumeni-
cal and Interreligious Affairs and a consul-
tation member, called the statements
“unprecedented.”
He said no other such consultative bod-
ies have offered suggestions on what unity
will entail or how it might look in the future.
“The whole point is we’re at a point in
our dialogue that we can start to talk ...
about what we dimly perceive what a unit-
CNS / GREGORY A. SHEMITZ
ed church would look like,” Father Rober-
son told Catholic News Service Oct. 8.
“Obviously for that to happen, Catholics
would have to adjust and Orthodox would
have to adjust.”
The first statement, “Steps Toward a
Reunited Church: A Sketch of an Ortho-
dox-Catholic Vision for the Future,” offers
a vision of the shape of a reunited Catholic
and Orthodox church resulting from the
re-establishment of full communion.
The second statement, “Celebrating
Easter/Pascha Together,” focuses on the
importance of a unified celebration of
Christ’s resurrection by using the most
accurate scientific instruments and astro-
nomical data available to determine the
date of Easter.
Father Roberson said Orthodox and
Catholics understand that major disagree-
ments still must be overcome but that the
statements acknowledge “that we have so
much in common.”
The role of the papacy in the worldwide
Catholic communion is “the root obstacle”
to unity, the first statement acknowledged.
It reviewed how the Catholic Church
believes in the primacy of the pope and his
teaching authority and how the Orthodox
Church has a different understanding of
the church as described in New Testament
passages.
The second statement on the celebra-
tion of Easter reaffirmed the consulta-
tion’s 1998 document that also called for a
common date for the celebration of East-
er, or what the Orthodox Church calls
Pascha. It cited numerous statements by
worldwide Christian bodies and individual
Christian leaders since 1971 that have
called for the development of one formu-
la to determine the annual celebration of
Christ’s resurrection.

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Supreme Court takes on speech, immigration, school cases

Justices to decide if
Topeka church’s funeral
protests are protected
BY PATRICIA ZAPOR
CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE
WASHINGTON — The thorny question
of whether the First Amendment protects
the right to protest in a way that disrupts a
family funeral is among the cases on this
year’s Supreme Court docket.
Other cases accepted for the term that
are being followed by Catholic entities
include a constitutional challenge to Ari-
zona’s tuition tax credit system because it
includes religious schools, another Arizona
case over a state immigration law and at least
one death penalty challenge.
In the funeral protest case, heard by the
court Oct. 6, Albert Snyder of York, Pa., sued
the Rev. Fred W. Phelps and members of his
congregation at Westboro Baptist Church in
Topeka, Kan., seeking financial compensa-
tion for emotional distress, defamation and
other such injuries. Members of the church
protested outside the 2006 funeral in West-
minster, Md., of Snyder’s son, Matthew, who
was killed while serving as a Marine in Iraq.
Rev. Phelps teaches that the deaths of sol-
diers are God’s vengeance on the United
States for society’s — and the military’s — tol-
erance of homosexuality. The Westboro
members have made a practice of protesting
Timothy Phelps of Topeka, Kan., a member of Westboro Baptist Church, holds up signs outside the
U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington Oct. 6 as the court prepared to hear oral arguments.
at funerals of soldiers, with signs such as
“God Hates the USA” and “Thank God for
Dead Soldiers.” A Maryland federal district
court ruled in favor of Snyder, but the 4th
U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the
ruling, saying, essentially, that the statements
on the signs fell within the scope of First
Amendment protection.
In oral arguments, the Supreme Court
justices seemed to be trying to find a way to
uphold the First Amendment protection of
CNS / NANCY WIECHEC
even “very obnoxious” speech, while some-
how shielding grief-stricken families from
further pain because of such protests.
In a case being heard by the justices Nov.
3, Arizona School Tuition Organization v.
Winn, the court will consider the constitu-
tionality of Arizona’s tuition tax credit sys-
tem. It allows taxpayers to get a tax credit for
donations to private organizations that use
the funds for scholarships to specific
parochial schools. The 9th U.S. Circuit
Court of Appeals found the system violates
the Establishment Clause of the Constitution
because it lacks religious neutrality.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops
is among dozens of religious and civil rights
groups filing friend-of-the-court, or “amicus,”
briefs in the case. Writing for the Union of
Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America,
the Council for Christian Colleges and Uni-
versities and others, the USCCB urged the
court to reverse the lower court.
A Dec. 8 case, Chamber of Commerce of
the United States v. Whiting, will deal with an
Arizona immigration law that predates the
passage earlier this year of S.B. 1070. In this
case, the court is being asked to review a
2007 law which imposes sanctions on
employers that hire undocumented workers.
The legal question being considered,
whether the state law is pre-empted by feder-
al law, could set the stage for ongoing court
challenges of S.B. 1070, which would require
law enforcement officers to check immigra-
tion status of people they arrest if there is a
“reasonable suspicion” that they are in the
country illegally.
In one death penalty case on the docket,
the role of DNA evidence and a suspect’s
right to have it tested, will be considered. In
Skinner v. Switzer, Texas inmate Henry W.
Skinner seeks testing of DNA evidence he
argues will prove him innocent of the mur-
der that landed him on death row. He has
spent 10 years trying to persuade a court to
order the testing of evidence taken at the
crime scene.

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PAGE 14 OCTOBER 16, 2010 COLUMNS ARKANSAS CATHOLIC

Inspiration in a
garden is from Expressing gratitude to family and God
Bishop Anthony B. Taylor preached the
the ground up following homily at St. Mary Church in
Helena on Oct 10, 2010, at 10 a.m. At the
Mass 10 young people were confirmed.
BISHOP’S COLUMN
does to provide for your family? A lot of you express your gratitude for these
marriages and families would be a whole
lot happier if the members said thanks
things and for these people in your life,
the more grateful you feel. That attitude
more often. An of gratitude builds on itself, increases with

I
nspiration is all around us if we keep our use, and puts you on a constant upward
attitude of grati-
eyes and ears open for it! This I did as I

walked through the United States
Botanic Garden in Washington.
Dazzling flowers and lush plant life were
everywhere. As I meandered through them,
I picked up a brochure and learned the
theme of this garden paradise was “Thrive!
From the Ground Up.”
The brochure said: “To thrive — it’s what
we want for our gardens, for ourselves, for our
nation and for our planet. It means to grow
vigorously, to flourish and to gain or prosper.
For our own health and the sake of future
generations, it’s time to eat healthy, colorful
foods ... (and) recover some of the ancient
wisdom and respect for the natural world.”
And what is this
wisdom? It is to
plant medicinal
gardens and to cre-
ate living walls and
townhouse gar-
dens.
Nothing is more
delicious and me-
dicinal than eating
a tomato. The wis-
dom in planting
tomatoes is for the
The Human Side
Father Eugene Hemrick high level of vita-
mins A and C they
produce. They also are an excellent source
of lycopene, which has been linked to the
prevention of many types of cancer.
Reading about living walls brought back
memories of my Italian relatives who would
grow grapevines into walls and roofs over and
around their patios. These provided excel-
lent cover from the sun, coolness, romantic
settings and the sweetness of grapes.
The brochure also pointed out that many
of us live in townhouses and condominiums.
But this should not deter anyone from hav-
ing a garden, it noted. Finding a sunny spot
indoors or on a balcony will permit the
growth of a variety of vegetables and herbs.
All you need in addition to sunlight are large
pots, soil and water!
W
ho are the people who have
helped you become who you
are today? One of them is your
first-grade teacher. She taught you to read
and write, and what a difference that has
made in your life! Many of you have jobs
and many of our young people here today
hope to have jobs that depend on you
being able to read and write. So do you
feel grateful to the teacher who taught you
to read and write? Or had you forgotten
about her until just now when I reminded
you of her?
In today’s Gospel Jesus encounters 10
lepers. They had a contagious, disfiguring
and eventually fatal disease for which
there was no medical cure. They asked
Jesus to have pity on them and so he
stepped in and healed them. Not only did
he make a difference in their lives, he lit-
erally gave them their life back, restored
them to their families and to society from
whom they had been quarantined.
Now they didn’t have to beg any more
— they could return to their former occu-
pations — their jobs depended on them
not having a contagious disease. Yet only
one of them came back to thank Jesus!
I’m sure the other nine felt grateful, but
he was the only one who came back to say
so.
A few minutes ago I invited you to
think of the people who’ve made a differ-
ence in your life, people you’re grateful
for. Well, when was the last time you said
thanks to your wife or mother for cooking
all those meals and doing all that laundry?
Or to your husband or father for all he
Is it a dream,a nightmare or the reality of a calling?
“You create the world of a dream; you bring
the subject into that dream ... It’s not strictly
speaking legal ... It’s called inception.”
tude would then
begin to take
root in the home
and extend to
the children who
naturally model
themselves on
their parents.
The more
you say thanks,
Bishop Anthony B. Taylor the easier it
becomes and
soon you find even more things to be
grateful for. Things you hadn’t even
noticed before. This attitude of gratitude
makes all the difference in the world! It
changes who you are on the inside. You
feel happier and start having a smile on
your face most of the time.
But you have to express that gratitude
with words and the more you search for
things to be grateful for, and the more
The more you say thanks,
the easier it becomes and soon
you find even more things to
be grateful for. Things you
hadn’t even noticed before.
This attitude of gratitude
makes all the difference in the
world! It changes who you are
on the inside.
and darkness slowly overtook me; it was a
nightmare.
Unlike most nightmares, however, I did
spiral.
And the same is true in our relation-
ship with God. What attitude do you bring
to your worship? Do you come with a con-
sumer mentality expecting to get some-
thing out of it?
It is true that we do receive much at
Mass: Jesus’ body and blood and the
Gospel proclaimed, but we are not gath-
ered here just to receive his gifts. We are
also gathered here to reciprocate his gifts,
to give ourselves back to him in gratitude
and love. That’s what the word Eucharist
— “thanksgiving” in Greek — means. We
are gathered to reciprocate, to give our-
selves to him who gave himself for us, to
give God not only praise and thanks, but
also our very selves.
Jesus has saved you, set you free from
the contagious and disfiguring leprosy of
your sins and healed your brokenness —
whatever that is — and now you are in his
church, the best place to fall at Jesus’ feet
and thank him because he is really present
among us.
If you gather every week to give thanks
to Jesus — really and not just with words,
consciously giving thanks, not just putting
in your time — this attitude of gratitude
will begin to take root in you and soon
you’ll find even more things to be grateful
for, putting you on a constant upward spi-
ral in your relationship with God, and this
changes you on the inside. In our rela-
tionship with God, this attitude of grati-
tude makes all the difference, and not
only in this world, but also more impor-
tantly, in the next.
hesitation, he carried on. “My father has
abused me since I was a little kid ... I was try-
ing to get God to hear me ... I am so tired of

As I reflected on this, I remembered see-
ing hanging tomato planters for sale at a
local drug store. The planters are just like
any hanging planter with the exception of
growing tomatoes upside down. From what
people have told me, the tomatoes are plen-
tiful and very tasty.
We came to love our garden
and to be thankful for the gifts
of the earth that God provides.
As I left the botanical gardens, my
thoughts went back to the days of victory gar-
dens during World War II. Every piece of
land available was cultivated. Corn, toma-
toes, asparagus, beans and a number of
other vegetables grew in an empty city lot
next to our home. In the fall, we took them
into the basement where we canned them.
When winter came, we derived such joy in
opening a jar of tomatoes or corn — all nat-
ural, no preservatives and so full of flavor.
We came to love our garden and to be
thankful for the gifts of the earth that God
provides. In the words of the theme in the
brochure, we thrived!
Y
ou might recognize this line from this
summer’s hit movie “Inception.”
Cobb, the main character in this film,
tries to implant an idea in a person’s sub-
conscious during a dream, when the mind is
most vulnerable; hence, the title “Inception.”
I watched this movie two weeks or so before
I was to give my vocation story in front of a
couple hundred people. As I was reflecting
on my calling, I could not help but ask
myself, What if Msgr. Friend has carefully
implanted this idea of priesthood into my
subconscious? What if I am not really called
to be a priest? He talked me into it!
I was also thinking about a talk my hospi-
tal chaplaincy supervisor had just given to us.
His point was that the call to ministry often
boils down to a set of cultural, social and
familial factors. I kept playing back all child-
hood memories, wondering if my parents
implanted this idea in my mind, or perhaps
my grandmother or ...
I recalled the questions people had asked
me in the past. How do you know that God
called you? Celibacy, really? Why not serve
God doing something else? Then, I ques-
tioned, “What if am merely satiating my own
ego, rendering my experiences so that they
come together into a cute story?” I began to
feel this sinking feeling in my heart. Anxiety
not wake up from life.”
this one for several His words were a cold bucket of water
days. In fact, it splashed onto my face. I listened to him and
seemed so real that to the young girl, whom he identified as his
I wanted to remain fiancée. I talked to them for quite a while. At
in it. A few days one point, the young man turned to me with
later, I was watch- tears in his eyes and said, “I love you.” It was
ing television in the then, if my memory is not betraying me, that
overnight room for I completely woke up. His disregard for the
hospital chaplains. social awkwardness of his statement, his
I was the chaplain bloody wrists and his tired countenance were
on call that night all too real.
Letter from and I had my pager In my journey to the priesthood, I contin-
the Seminary at hand. While I ue to struggle being present to reality. I am
Mauricio Carrasco was mindlessly flip- guilty of long periods of sleep, which either
ping through the brings me to a nightmare of unbelief or a
channels, my pager beeped. I called the dream-like priesthood that serves my own
number back and the nurse said, “Could you ego. My formation, far from being a brain-
come to the ED? We have a young man who washing process, has provided me with a
would like to talk to you.” I got up and number of experiences in which God has
walked down to the Emergency Department. awakened me to the reality of his calling.
I was going through the motions in a zom- How do I know I am awake? Because it feels
bie-like manner, not really thinking about like I snap. I open my eyes, and without fail,
what I was doing. I arrived half-heartedly to I am beholding the Cross. In light of the real-
the room only to find a young man who had ity of the Cross, everything else seems
been bleeding from his wrists. There was strange.
another young girl and young man in the Mauricio Carrasco, a member of St.
room. “What’s going on?” I asked. He Raphael Church in Springdale, is a seminari-
replied in a cracked voice, “I wanted to see if an for the Diocese of Little Rock and attends St.
you had anything to say to me.” Without any Meinrad Seminary in Indiana.
ARKANSAS CATHOLIC
Churches are for praying,not political campaigns
The following editorial appeared in the
Sept. 30 issue of the Rhode Island Catho-
lic, newspaper of the Diocese of Providence.
A
s this election year proceeds, poli-
tics bombards us from all sides.
Politics as usual knows no bound-
aries. Church festivals and carnivals
become occasions for invasions of politi-
cians and their operatives’ lavishly spend-
ing money on doughboys and pressing
the flesh of the electorate.
Even church on Sunday becomes a
spectacle of shameful politicking as politi-
cians who haven’t darkened the door
since the last election mysteriously reap-
pear and seek to be seen.
In some churches, pastors and preach-
ers willingly turn over their pulpits to
politicians seeking votes. Of course, this
clash of the sacred and secular is nothing
more than a crass campaign commercial
Arkansas Catholic
The Diocese of Little Rock Weekly Newspaper
PUBLISHER: Bishop Anthony B. Taylor
ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Phyllis Hemann phemann@dolr.org
ADVERTISING MANAGER: Leslie Henson-Kita lkita@dolr.org CIRCULATION MANAGER: Cindy Lewis clewis@dolr.org
DIRECTOR OF WEB SITE AND INTERNET SERVICES: Tara Little tlittle@dolr.org
THEOLOGICAL CONSULTANT: Rev. Erik Pohlmeier
Arkansas Catholic is published weekly
(except the first Saturday in January, June,
July, August and September, and the last Sat-
urday in December), by the Catholic Diocese
of Little Rock, Arkansas Catholic Inc., P.O. Box
7417, Little Rock, AR 72217-7417.
An annual print subscription of 46 issues
OPINIONS
COMMENTARY
and political pandering at its worst. In
addition to an appalling incursion of the
sacred, it is also clearly a violation of the
Internal Revenue Service regulations
regarding the political activity of religious
groups and other nonprofits. While other
religious groups allow political candidates
unfettered access to their Sunday congre-
Attending Mass on Sunday
is an obligation for all Catho-
lics and truly a commitment
we hope that politicians strive
to follow at all times in their
lives, not merely throughout
election season.
FOUNDED IN 1911
www.arkansas-catholic.org
EDITOR: Malea Hargett mhargett@dolr.org
PRODUCTION MANAGER: Emily Burgin Roberts eroberts@dolr.org
is $22; $20 for seniors age 65 and older. Mail
print subscription orders to Arkansas Catholic
Subscriptions, P.O. Box 2536, Little Rock AR
72203. Online subscriptions are also available.
For information, call (501) 664-0125 or 664-
0340, or visit www.arkansas-catholic.org.
Arkansas Catholic welcomes submissions
gations, the Catholic Church universally
seeks to abide by the IRS rules and over-
whelmingly strives to avoid turning Sun-
day Mass into a rally for a political candi-
date rather than the prayerful worship of
God.
Attending Mass on Sunday is an obli-
gation for all Catholics and truly a com-
mitment we hope that politicians strive to
follow at all times in their lives, not mere-
ly throughout election season. Indeed the
church welcomes all Catholic politicians
to seek out the sacraments of the Church
at Mass and even in the confessional box
on a regular basis, both in and out of elec-
tion season. We also encourage all church-
es, synagogues, mosques and houses of
worship to spend their valuable time wor-
shipping God rather than showcasing
politicians in their pulpits. After all
churches are made for praying, not cam-
paigning.
of news articles, obituaries, letters and
columns. The deadline for these and for
advertising is noon Wednesday, 10 days
before publication. News, obituaries, letters
and columns can be mailed to P.O. Box 7417,
Little Rock, AR 72217, faxed to (501) 664-6572
or e-mailed to mhargett@dolr.org.
OCTOBER 16, 2010 PAGE 15
EDITORIAL
Tolerance:
Where is the
harmony?
R
eligious tolerance is apparently in
short supply this week. Just look at
the news headlines.
■ Leaders of the Human Rights Cam-
paign, the nation’s largest gay civil rights
organization, and other activists are
protesting at the headquarters of The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints in Salt Lake City. They don’t like
the Mormon church because it is against
same-sex unions and statements made
recently by one of its leaders.
■ A pastor in Nevada has attacked the
faith of Senate Majority Leader Harry
Reid. The pastor called Reid’s faith, Mor-
monism, a cult that pretends to embrace
Christianity. The man happens to be the
former pastor of a Senate candidate, but
she has tried to distance herself from the
pastor’s comments.
■ Four teenagers in New York City
have been bullying a Muslim classmate
for the past year. They called the boy a ter-
rorist and spit in his face among other
things. The 14- and 15-year-olds were
charged with hate crimes.
What different faiths believe and how
people perceive them are creating hostil-
ity where there needs to be more peace
and understanding. Religious tolerance
means to respect, accept and appreciate
different faiths. As the Declaration on the
Principles of Tolerance says, “Tolerance is
harmony in difference.”
Lately the targets have been mostly
Muslims. Imam Abdullah Antepli, Duke
University’s Muslim chaplain, said
“Islamaphobia” has been rising since the
Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
The New York Times reported that work-
place discrimination is increasing against
Muslims. Co-workers are calling them “ter-
rorists” or “Osama.” Women are told they
can’t wear their hijab, or head scarf.
Akbar Ahmed, a professor of Islamic
studies at American University, said,
“Whenever there is a great distrust or
antipathy, it spills beyond religion into
public life.”
In the 19th century Catholics experi-
enced the religious intolerance that
many Mormons and Muslims are experi-
encing today. John T. McGreevy and R.
Scott Appleby of the University of Notre
Dame said, “Catholics in America were
the unassimilated, sometimes violent
‘religious other.’ Often they did not speak
English or attend public schools. Some of
their religious women — nuns — wore
distinctive clothing. Their religious prac-
tices and beliefs seemed to many Ameri-
cans superstitious nonsense.”
Catholics are certainly still targets of re-
ligious intolerance, but it is not as outward
as in past centuries and decades. Ameri-
cans still need to find ways to disagree
without being disagreeable, to appreciate
our diversity while seeking unity.
PAGE 16 MEDIA
OCTOBER 16, 2010 ARKANSAS CATHOLIC

Collections provide insight into pope’s pastoral concerns

W
hile Pope Benedict XVI is
undoubtedly a much different
pope than John Paul II was, the
depth of the current pontiff’s pastoral con-
cerns are, surprisingly to some, as deep as his
predecessor’s. Few would have foreseen that
such a brilliant, often polemical man could
possess these qualities.
Yet writer after writer in “Benedict XVI:
Essays and Reflections on His Papacy,” a col-
lection of the thoughts from Catholic Amer-
ica, extols not the former Cardinal Joseph
Ratzinger’s intellect, as formidable as that is,
but his personality.
Contributors tell of their encounters with
Benedict the pastoral pope, as when he
came to the United States and reached out
to victims of abusive priests. Or when he
wrote a pastoral letter to Chinese Catholics,
again reaching out and asking for unity with-
in the Chinese Catholic Church fractured
into the underground and the governmen-
tally sanctioned parts.
Or when he began to be seen as a “green
pope” for putting solar panels on the Vatican
and appealing to safeguard the environ-
ment. As one writer notes, he has made a
unique contribution to the environmental
movement by linking “natural ecology” with
“human ecology.” In other words, how it
goes with our families and communities is
how it goes with our treatment of nature.
Pope Benedict’s traditional stance is like-
wise apparent in “The Ratzinger Reader,” a
collection of his writings as a “private theolo-
gian,” that is, when he publishes essays and
Book Review
“Benedict XVI: Essays and Reflec-
tions on His Papacy,” edited by Sister
Mary Ann Walsh, RSM. Sheed & Ward
(Lanham, Md., 2010). 224 pp., $29.95.
“The Ratzinger Reader: Mapping a
Theological Journey” by Joseph Rat-
zinger. Edited by Lieven Boeve and
Gerard Mannion. Continuum (Harris-
burg, Pa., 2010). 286 pages, $34.95.
REVIEWED BY
BRIAN WELTER
CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE
CNS
These are the covers of “Benedict XVI: Essays and Reflections on His Papacy,” edited by Sister Mary
books as an individual rather than when Ann Walsh, RSM, and “The Ratzinger Reader: Mapping a Theological Journey.”
speaking as a Vatican official.
The reader includes succinct commen- Father Hans Kung, have accused the current In one writing, Cardinal Ratzinger calls
taries by the editors, which helpfully situate pontiff of just that. Cardinal Ratzinger high- on the faithful to become more deliberate in
Cardinal Ratzinger’s thoughts within the sec- lighted a more traditionalist position as the the way in which Catholic education or
ular versus Catholic battleground in the 1970s wore on. However, this was not so health care is indeed Catholic.
decades following the Second Vatican Coun- much a reactionary stance as it was the posi- The polemical nature of some selections
cil. tion of a priest who was deeply concerned in no way reduces the elegance, precision
The commentators, Lieven Boeve and with the secularization not only of Western and clarity of Cardinal Ratzinger’s writings.
Gerard Mannion, argue that Cardinal society, but within the Church itself, as many Brian Welter is studying for his doctorate in
Ratzinger has not deeply changed his basic seminaries, religious orders and Catholic systematic theology and teaching English in
positions, even though many others, such as schools lost a sense of being Catholic. Taiwan.

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