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Issue of July 6th – July 19th
Church responds as violence spikes
It started in April, when headlines screamed “36 shootings, 9 homicides” over the course of one weekend. Since then, the violence has continued, with news of shootings nearly every day.
The violence has touched the Catholic community, with Catholic school students and adult Catholics among the victims, and violence occurring near and sometimes even on church property.
Humanae Vitae 40 years later
Pope Paul VI’s historic encyclical declared contraception immoral
Certainly the older generations remember the vivid reactions, all around the world not only in secular circles, but also among Catholics, evoked by the encyclical by Pope Paul VI on moral values with regard to transmitting human life, titled Humanae Vitae.
July 25 marks 40 years since it was published. The occasion was the reason for Pope Benedict XVI to confirm the encyclical’s relevance in today’s world during a special international scientific congress, titled “Custodians and Advocates of Life,” held at the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome, in May.
Pilgrimage to Lourdes
Following in the footsteps of St. Bernadette
About 180 Catholics from the Archdiocese of Chicago will join their brothers and sisters in faith from all over the world in celebrating the 150th anniversary of the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary to St. Bernadette in August.
Cardinal George will lead the Chicago pilgrimage. This spiritual journey, titled, “Our Lady of Lourdes: A Message of Grace, Hope and Joy,” was open to people of all ages from all areas of the archdiocese, with special encouragement to people in need of healing.
Chicago Catholics can participate in pilgrimage without leaving area
Catholics from the Archdiocese of Chicago can take part in an “at home” Lourdes pilgrimage at Chicago-area churches and shrines Aug. 1-8.
The series of celebrations is designed to unite the faithful here in prayer with the participants of the Archdiocese of Chicago Lourdes Pilgrimage 2008.
Holy Rosary, St. Anthony merge saying ‘it’s a wedding’
Holy Rosary Church survived for 126 years, through an arson fire, a changing neighborhood and the wrath of railroad tycoon George Pullman, who opposed its presence in the far South Side Pullman neighborhood he built.
But Holy Rosary couldn’t survive red ink, and the parish merged last month with nearby St. Anthony of Padua Church in ceremonies marked by both tears and smiles. The new parish goes by the St. Anthony name.
Saul of Tarsus before Damascus
Following in the footsteps of St. Bernadette
St. Paul is one of the best-known personalities of the ancient world — a historian’s dream come true. Not only do we have some of his own letters, we also have an account of his life’s work in the Acts of the Apostles (attributed to St. Luke). Paul is referred to in other ancient writings within 50 years of his death, and by that point his own letters were copied and distributed so far and wide that he would have been amazed.
Because of this, we have a better idea of Paul’s life than we do of many major figures of the Roman Empire. We certainly know more about Paul than we do, humanly speaking, about Jesus, who left no personal writings at all.
It’s a picture that will live in my mind forever: Frank walking down the road at Brookfield Zoo, his 4-year-cousin Skylar holding one hand and his 2-year-old cousin Billy holding the other.
Frank, who looks small in relation to Caroline, and is smaller than most boys his age, towers over his much-younger cousins, and he relished the role of being their leader and protector.
Due to a variety of circumstances, the planned zoo trip between our two families ended up including just Frank and me along with my sister and her three children, Skylar being the oldest.
Christian Brother Neil Kieffe has spent the last 17 years at Bethlehem University in Palestine, but he spent most of his career in the Chicago area. He began teaching in 1961 at De La Salle Institute and served as principal of St. Patrick High School in the early 1980s. In between he was a faculty member and administrator at Lewis University in Romeoville, Ill., serving for most of that time as chairman of the aviation maintenance department at Lewis. He was also acting president for one year. Before going to Bethlehem, Kieffe served as the assistant provincial and then provincial of the brothers’ Chicago Province.
He now serves as director of instructional technology at Bethlehem University, a small (2,788 students) school providing education to Palestinians under the very difficult situation of the Israeli occupation. During its 35 year history the university did not complete an academic year on schedule until four years ago. The Israeli occupation, the “Wall,” the numerous checkpoints, the faltering economy all continue to make life for Palestinians very limited and uncomfortable, Kieffe said.
