Browse › 2011 › September

September 2011

September 7

9/11 anniversary prompts spiritual reflection

September 7, 2011

RYE, N.Y. - As Chief Joseph Pfeifer of the New York City Fire Department sees it, the 9/11 terrorist attacks were a global trauma and the 10th anniversary of the attacks provides a transformative opportunity for the world community to pause and think about the tragedy’s spiritual dimension and its aftermath. On Sept. 11, 2001, Pfeifer was chief of the 1st Battalion, one of the first on the scene and in charge of directing firefighter response in the north tower of the World Trade Centre. He met his firefighter brother in the lobby of the building as Lt. Kevin Pfeifer responded to the second alarm. They exchanged a few words, and Kevin headed up the stairs. He helped evacuate workers and directed other firefighters to safety, but he was killed in the collapse of the building. “People were angry at God and they had every right to be, but that was not my experience,” Pfeifer said in an interview with Catholic News Service. “I was walking back to the firehouse from the site on the second day, when we knew there would be no more survivors. It was completely dark except for the lights we had brought in. There was no power and there was smoke everywhere.

Black, White, Other shows we are all God’s children

September 7, 2011

Who am I? This ultimate question of self-identity will cross everyone’s mind at some point in their lives. The answer, for Catholics, is quite simple: we are all God’s children regardless of race, colour, age, socio-economic status or disability. We are all equally welcome in the house of God. But in our world today, living out God’s message and recognizing the presence of God in all of creation is often undermined. Racism and other forms of discrimination develop and begin to fester in society. As a result, God’s message cannot be recognized and some individuals fail to hear God’s voice amidst all of the prejudice. In Joan Steinau Lester’s young adult fiction novel, Black, White, Other: In Search of Nina Armstrong, the 15-year-old protagonist, Nina, has an identity crisis of her own. Her world is in a muddle. In the midst of coping with the pressures of her first year of high school, Nina begins to question who she is and where she truly belongs. Nina is bi-racial, or, as she prefers to call it, “scrambled.” She is feeling torn between two worlds and feels that she has to choose between the African-American descent on her paternal side or her mother’s Irish heritage.

We must pick a side in matters of faith

September 7, 2011

My days in Madrid for World Youth Day were filled with so much grace. For a whole week, thousands upon thousands of people gathered in one spot to celebrate the fact that Christ is risen. But the secular media there did not focus its stories on the amazing concerts, fantastic catechesis, wonderful prayer events and the general atmosphere of joy that was emanating from pilgrims. It focused on the protests. At this World Youth Day, more than a thousand people gathered in one of Madrid’s city squares one night and shouted hateful words to the passing pilgrims. I experienced the aftermath — police had blocked off the entire square and my group’s hostel was a mere block away from the protests. I was actually quite riveted by the fact that this happened, and so was everyone in Madrid, pilgrim or not. That the protests struck such a chord with everyone shows one thing: in matters of the Catholic faith, you need to pick a side.

Bright future beckons Hope for Children scholar

September 7, 2011

TORONTO - At 14 Neola Husbands decided she couldn’t continue living at home with her father and his new wife. At 18 she’s starting her second year at McGill University in Montreal, her first year in the bachelor of commerce program, while she shores up a business plan that she hopes will launch a career in fashion. The bridge between a violent home and a bright future for Husbands has been group homes run by the Catholic Children’s Aid Society of Toronto. On Aug. 22 Husbands was one of 100 former CCAS youth in care to receive a scholarship from the Hope for Children foundation. She planned to use the $2,000 she received for tuition — absorbing a small part of the burden of debt she would otherwise face as a university student with no parental support. Foster kids graduate out of the children’s aid system at 18. At the age when most high school graduates are getting some help from their parents in realizing their post-secondary dreams, kids like Husbands have to make it on their own.

Lifeline lawsuit survives challenge

September 7, 2011

OTTAWA - An amended lawsuit that could impact the way pro-life clubs are treated on university campuses across Canada was re-filed Sept. 6 after surviving a court challenge by Carleton University. Attorney Albertos Polizogopoulis, acting on behalf of former officers of Carleton University’s pro-life club Lifeline, said the case has important implications for freedom of expression on university campuses. Plaintiffs Ruth Lobo and Nicholas McLeod were among five students arrested, handcuffed and carted away in a police wagon last October after trying to mount a Genocide Awareness Project (GAP) exhibit on the Carleton University campus. The GAP uses graphic photographs to compare abortion to various genocides.

Bishop must submit to questioning in priest’s lawsuit against LifeSite

September 7, 2011

OTTAWA - In a decision with potentially serious ramifications for the Church, a Quebec bishop has been ordered to submit to questioning and hand over internal Church documents to defence lawyers acting in a lawsuit filed by a Quebec priest. A Quebec judge has granted leave for lawyers to question Joliette Bishop Gilles Lussier as they prepare a defence in a defamation lawsuit filed last December by Fr. Raymond Gravel. The priest is seeking $500,000 in damages from two pro-life organizations, LifeSiteNews.com (LSN) and Campagne Quebec-Vie, (CQV), and six journalists. Gravel claims his professional reputation as a politician and Catholic priest was damaged as a result of 29 articles that described him variously as “pro-abortion,” “pro-homosexual marriage” or as a “renegade priest” who has made “heretical and anti-life statements.” Gravel contends he has “always been faithful to the teachings of the Magisterium of the Church.”

Post-9/11 world needs religion to be weapon of peace, spokesman says

September 7, 2011

VATICAN CITY - If humanity wants to build peace out of the ruins of Sept. 11, 2001, religion has to play a major role in dialogue, said the Vatican spokesman, Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi. The day of the attacks 10 years ago was "a monstrous day," he said during a presentation at Vatican Radio Sept. 6 of a new book on the aftermath of the 9/11 tragedy. Dialogue is the key to overcoming hatred and the risk of religious fanaticism, he said. "If we want to build peace for humanity, we have to be able to develop a discourse in which the religious dimension becomes an active force for peace," he said. Father Lombardi was one of a number of speakers presenting a new book written by a Vatican Radio journalist.

Financial reality and the media hordes

September 7, 2011

A few months ago, my colleague Fr. Raymond de Souza began a column about fashion trends in wedding dresses by recalling the old adage “fools rush in where angels fear to tread.” Perhaps a similar caution is in order in this case. My formal training in math ended sometime in the ninth grade, and my investment experience could be printed on the back of a business card. Nevertheless, the peaks and valleys in global markets in the past few years have made more than one person wonder if the media have played any role in how fast stock values have changed and how quickly people reacted, possibly setting up a self-fulfilling prophecy. In early August both the Dow Jones and the TSX dropped more than 500 points in a single day, wiping out almost all the much-awaited gains of 2011. The media response would have been difficult to ignore for anyone near a television or computer screen at the time; all the news networks and cable stations filled instantly with talking heads, many of them belonging to the same analysts who had tried to explain the even-worse disaster of 2008. Since there was no quick fix then, it’s unlikely there will be one now, but people continue to look for one, or at least look for a simple explanation for why this is happening.

In Fr. Judge, Jesus was there

September 7, 2011

The picture hangs in my home. At first glance it is easy to overlook him. He is slumped down, being lifted out of the rubble in a chair. The men carrying him dominate the scene, their uniforms covered in soot and plaster and ash. They are straining. He is dead. The photograph of Fr. Mychal Judge being carried out of the World Trade Centre is one of the most enduring images from 9/11, a day when even the most vivid imagination was unequal to the unfolding reality. A Franciscan priest, chaplain of the Fire Department of New York, Fr. Mychal rushed to the World Trade Centre after it had been hit. He was tending to the wounded in the lobby, blessing, comforting, administering the sacraments. In the photograph his right hand is hanging limp, as though exhausted from the blessing, the comforting, the anointing. When the neighbouring tower collapsed debris struck Fr. Mychal. They carried him out and laid him in St. Peter’s Church, just around the corner from the World Trade Centre. A photographer caught the moment, and it appeared immediately everywhere. Just as immediately it was recognized as a religious image. This was the deposition from the cross in Manhattan.

September 8

Pakistan suicide bombs shatter windows in church buildings

September 8, 2011

QUETTA, Pakistan - Two suicide bombs that killed at least 23 people and wounded 82 affected nearby church structures. The Sept. 7 blasts near the home of a top paramilitary official also shattered windows in the residence of Bishop Victor Gnanapragasam, local offices of Caritas Pakistan, and three Catholic schools. The roof of the computer laboratory of a Catholic high school also caved in. The schools were closed immediately. The Pakistani Taliban have claimed responsibility for the attacks, to avenge the recent arrest of a senior al-Qaida leader by Pakistani security forces in Quetta. "I had just taken the roll call when the blast echoed; the children started crying and screaming. 'It's an earthquake,' they shouted," said Uzma Tahmeen, a Catholic teacher.

Church must teach truth, values that save souls, the world, pope says

September 8, 2011

CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy - Catholic schools and institutions need to be "genuinely Catholic" and pass on the values that support communities and the truth that saves souls, Pope Benedict XVI said. "This saving truth, at the heart of the deposit of faith, must remain the foundation of all the church's endeavors, proposed to others always with respect but also without compromise," the pope told a group of bishops from India. In a country with large Hindu, Sikh, Muslim and Christian populations, the church must continue to teach and promote the "intellectual and moral truth" to the Catholic faithful, the pope said Sept. 8 at the end of the bishops' "ad limina" visits. Catholics must then bear witness to God's love for everyone and reach out to their neighbors, showing them by their words and actions that Christ is the way, the truth and the life, he said.

Travelling in an age of lost reverence

September 8, 2011

ROME - Given the perpetual chaos of the Eternal City, visitors might be surprised to learn of the strict regulations governing the tourist mecca known as the Spanish Steps. According to a sign, it is forbidden under Article 14 Regolamento P.U. to “shout, squall and sing” anywhere on the elegant 18th century outdoor stairs linking the Piazza di Spagna and the Church of Trinita dei Monti. It seems a case, however, where ignorance of the law is no abuse. I have never, in numerous visits to the area over the years, witnessed anyone shouting or singing. As for squalling, not even the drafters of Article 14 Regolamento P.U. could have imagined a greater lack of it. What tourists who visit the Spanish Steps do is what they seem to do everywhere else they go: have themselves photographed, self-conscious and impatient, in front of the site of their latest inattention.

Catholics share a common bond worldwide

September 8, 2011

On a recent lecture tour around the world, I experienced the universality of the Catholic Church in the local culture through the sacred mystery of the Eucharist. On four successive Sundays attending Mass in Beijing, New Delhi, Stockholm and London, I felt a unity with people I did not know, infused by liturgy that embraces us all. How different in each locale; how the same. Christ, I realized anew, binds us all wherever we are in the world. The first Sunday, I attended the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, the oldest Catholic church in Beijing. It was first erected in the middle of the 16th century and has twice been rebuilt. Shut down during the Chinese Cultural Revolution of the 1970s, the church is now in good repair. Though the Mass in English attracted foreign visitors, there were many Chinese present. Most Masses are, in fact, in Chinese. Standing guard outside the cathedral was a bronze statue of Matteo Ricci, the Italian Jesuit scientist who was one of the first Catholic missionaries to China. He arrived there in 1582 and became famous for his mastery of Chinese language, his erudition and adaptation of Chinese customs. He explained the Catholic faith not as something foreign but as the most perfect manifestation of the existing faith of the Chinese people, who believed in “the Lord of Heaven.”

September 9

Sudanese bishops call for nonviolence, patience in building South Sudan

September 9, 2011

JUBA, South Sudan - Recognizing the difficulties facing the people of South Sudan, the world's youngest nation, the Sudan Catholic Bishops' Conference called upon citizens to join with government leaders to build a country through reconciliation and nonviolence. The bishops, concluding a three-day meeting Sept. 8, said in a statement that by working together, the people of South Sudan must be "one nation from every tribe, tongue and people." South Sudan became independent July 9, six months after citizens voted overwhelmingly to secede from Sudan following decades of war. "We encourage all citizens of South Sudan, with their faith communities, civil society and political parties, to participate in building a new, prosperous and peaceful nation," the bishops said. "We encourage a culture of hard work rather than entitlement or dependency."

9/11 can’t take away our sense of optimism

September 9, 2011

TORONTO - There are lots of numbers associated with Sept. 11, 2001. More than 3,000 people were killed including 19 hijackers. Another 6,000+ people were injured. There were nearly three million square metres of Manhattan office space damaged or destroyed. New York’s gross domestic product declined $27.3 billion in the 15 months following the attacks. Nobody counts the number of prayers. At the Newman Centre at the University of Toronto, Fr. Pat O’Dea watched in horror at the face of evil revealed on television — “That’s all it is, pure evil,” he said. But he also watched in wonder at the outpouring of prayer on the downtown campus. All week long the St. Thomas Aquinas Church remained open for anyone who wanted to pray, and hundreds did, recalled O’Dea, who was pastor at the Newman Centre at the time.

Pope Benedict offers blessings on 9/11 anniversary

September 9, 2011

WASHINGTON - Pope Benedict XVI offered his blessings to U.S. Catholics as they prepared to observe the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. In a message to Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan of New York, president of the U.S. bishops, the pope said, "I join you in commending the thousands of victims to the infinite mercy of Almighty God and in asking our heavenly Father to continue to console those who mourn the loss of loved ones." Pope Benedict told Archbishop Dolan, "I extend my most affectionate greetings to you, your brother bishops and all those entrusted to your pastoral care, and I gladly impart my apostolic blessing as a pledge of peace and serenity in the Lord." The message, dated Sept. 11, was released Sept. 9 in Washington.

September 11

Pope urges life centered on eucharistic spirituality

September 11, 2011

ANCONA, Italy - A religious life centered on and nourished by the Eucharist should lead to a life marked by gratitude for Christ's sacrifice, a commitment to self-giving and real unity within the church and the community, Pope Benedict XVI said. Traveling to Ancona, on Italy's Adriatic coast, Sept. 11, the pope presided over the closing Mass of the Italian National Eucharistic Congress and held meetings with priests and married couples in Ancona's cathedral and with engaged couples in a town square. With the Adriatic glistening behind the altar platform, Pope Benedict's homily at the Mass focused on the marks of a "eucharistic spirituality."

10 years after 9/11, US comfort level with Muslims slow to change

September 11, 2011

WASHINGTON - A decade after the terrorist attacks on the United States on Sept. 11, 2001, led to a backlash against Muslims, many Americans are still uncomfortable with followers of Islam and think its teachings are at odds with American values. Slim majorities of the people polled this summer by the Public Religion Research Institute say Muslims are an important part of the U.S. religious community and that they are comfortable with Muslim women wearing burqas or Muslim men praying in public in an airport. Those majorities were less than 55 percent in each category. The report released Sept. 6 by the Brookings Institution, which partnered with the religion institute for the study, noted similarities to how Catholics and Mormons were treated in the 19th and early 20th centuries. "Throughout American history... immigrants professing faiths outside the existing mainstream have tested the commitment to religious liberty," said the report, "What It Means To Be An American." It noted that Mormons' endorsement of polygamy was seen as an affront to marriage and a threat to democracy, leading to members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints being "hounded" to "the brink of legal extinction by the 1890s."

Irish government defends prime minister's comments on clergy abuse

September 11, 2011

DUBLIN - The Irish government has stood by comments by Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny, who charged that the Vatican attempted to "frustrate an inquiry in a sovereign, democratic republic as little as three years ago." In a one-page statement issued late Sept. 8, five days after the Vatican refuted the, the government also welcomed the Vatican's expression of regret over the suffering of abuse victims. The government struck a less conciliatory note in its defense of Kenny, saying his comments in July "accurately reflect the public anger of the overwhelming majority of Irish people at the failure of the Catholic Church and the Holy See to deal adequately with clerical child sexual abuse and those who committed such an appalling act." The government also reiterated that a 1997 letter to Irish bishops from Archbishop Luciano Storero, the apostolic nuncio at the time, "provided a pretext for some members of the clergy to evade full cooperation with the Irish civil authorities in regard to the abuse of minors."

September 12

In his homeland, pope to face growing secularism, some protests

September 12, 2011

VATICAN CITY - In the days leading to Pope Benedict XVI's visit to his homeland Sept. 22-25, German media were asking whether the pope would feel at home in the country he left 30 years ago. Obviously, he visited Germany frequently while serving in Rome and kept up with friends and colleagues and with developments in church life, theology and politics. As pope, he traveled to Germany in 2005 to celebrate World Youth Day in Cologne and again in 2006 to visit Bavaria, the region where he was born and raised and served as a theology professor and bishop. After interviewing key Germans involved in planning the upcoming papal trip, Vatican Radio's German program in early September said there's a bit of a sense that the pope and Germans are strangers to each other. The country was still divided into East and West Germany when he moved to Rome as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and while the communists in the East had succeeded to a large extent in severely limiting Christian life and practice, church activity in the West still was lively.