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News Digest

Issue of August 12, 2012 – August 25, 2012 The following items are condensed. For the complete articles, please read the print edition of The Catholic New World. To subscribe, call (312) 534-7777.

News Update

Fun enough to scream:

Sasha Seggerson takes a ride on the swings at the first-ever Our Lady of the Snows Parish festival, 4810 S. Leamington, on Aug.4. The parish parking lot was filled with rides, games and food vendors and survived a short, severe storm on Saturday to stay open.Karen Callaway/Catholic New World

Sasha Seggerson gets a little help from her cousin William Gumber in getting off the swings at the first-ever Our Lady of the Snows Parish festival, 4810 S. Leamington, on Aug.4. Karen Callaway/Catholic New World

Matthew Quiroga and Bryan Valdez take some shots at the basketball game during the first-ever Our Lady of the Snows Parish festival,4810 S. Leamington, on Aug.4. Karen Callaway/Catholic New World

Prayers for school children

Once again, the Black Deacons of Chicago will hold their Back-to- School Sunrise Prayer Services. All are invited to the services on Aug. 25 at 6:30 a.m. The locations are: Rainbow Beach, (708) 305-1271; 57th Street Beach, (773) 651-7000; Oakwood Beach, (773) 933-0027; 31st Street Beach (Mass and reflection in Spanish), (312) 226-6161; 12th Street Beach, (773) 522-3050; Loyola Beach, 1230 W. Greenleaf Ave., (773) 278-4808. Bring your own chair or blanket.

Sheen Mass

On Sept. 9 at 10:30 a.m. Bishop Daniel Jenky will celebrate a Mass of Thanksgiving to honor Venerable Fulton Sheen in the Cathedral of St. Mary in Peoria, Ill. — the same cathedral in which Venerable Fulton grew up, received his vocation to the priesthood and was ordained.

The Mass is free and open to the public. General seating at the cathedral is on a first-come basis. Doors open at 8:30 a.m.

Those can't make the Mass can spiritually share in this celebration by sending their intentions to the foundation and their prayers will be presented during the offertory.

For more, visit www.celebratesheen.com.

News Digest

News digest: Papal book completed; cardinal says new encyclical also possible

Pope Benedict XVI has finished the third volume of his opus, "Jesus of Nazareth," and perhaps also will publish an encyclical letter during the upcoming Year of Faith, said Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Vatican secretary of state.

The cardinal, Pope Benedict's top collaborator, told reporters Aug. 1 that the pope had finished his manuscript on Jesus' infancy and childhood.

Priests help visitors to Vatican Museums

The Catholic Church teaches that beauty can be a path to God, and in an attempt to make that path easier for visitors to follow, the Vatican Museums have assigned two priests to guide the searching. Or just to talk.

"Art and faith: A priest for you," says the sign on the table where a priest from Togo and another from Nigeria took up their posts Aug. 1 on an experimental basis.

Swimmer who says Hail Mary before races wins gold at London Olympics

Katie Ledecky, a U.S. swimmer from Maryland who says she always prays the Hail Mary before races, won the Olympic gold medal in women's 800 freestyle Aug. 3.

Ledecky, 15, who will be a sophomore at Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart in Bethesda, Md., this fall, said her strong Catholic faith keeps her focused on God and what matters most in life. She and her family are longtime parishioners of the Church of the Little Flower in Bethesda.

Pick a retreat, mini or super-sized, it's your call

Missionary Sister of St. Benedict Benigna Kwapisiewicz shows Diana Piatek, Catherine Dziadek, and Claudia Cerazy pictures of her sister back in Poland who is also a nun during a summer retreat for girls at their convent in Oak Forest July14-15 under the theme "Celebrating Sunday". Karen Callaway/Catholic New World

Katherine Kingsbury and Adriana Miltko make a poster to invite others to Mass as Missionary Sisters of St. Benedict held a summer retreat for girls at their convent in Oak Forest July14-15 under the theme "Celebrating Sunday". Karen Callaway/Catholic New World

Many people tell stories of how a religiously oriented retreat helped redirect their lives. Boston's Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley told such a story in a June 2011 pastoral letter.

"As a seminarian 44 years ago I experienced the power of a Cursillo retreat," Cardinal O'Malley wrote. He recalled that the weekend retreat was conducted in Spanish with a group that included soldiers from Argentina and "undocumented Salvadoran refugees, Cubans and some Puerto Rican restaurant workers."

Explaining the shroud:

Mariana and Juan Pinto assist Donald Nols, president of the Society of the Holy Face of Jesus, as he gives a presentation on the history of the Shroud of Turin at St. Thomas More Parish, 2825 West 81st Street on Aug. 4. A copy of the famous Shroud of Turin was on display for others to touch following the presentation. Karen Callaway/Catholic New World

Doctor who performed first kidney transplant dies

Historic operation took place at Little Company of Mary Dr. James West, 98, died July 24 at his home in Palm Desert, Calif. West was the medical director of the Betty Ford Center in Rancho Mirage, Calif., from 1982 to 1989.

He was a member of the surgical team that performed the first human kidney transplant in 1950 at Little Company of Mary Hospital in Evergreen Park.

After serving as medical director at Betty Ford, West moved into the role of physician director of the center's Intensive Outpatient Program until he retired in 2007 at the age of 93. He was also a long-time member of the center's board of directors.