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July 2012

July 18

Vatican passes first test against money laundering, finance crimes

July 18, 2012

VATICAN CITY - As the Vatican continues working to comply with international standards against money laundering and financing terrorism, it still needs to beef up internal inspection and supervisory powers, said a long-awaited report by European finance experts. Overall, the Vatican met nine out of 16 "key and core" recommendations, thereby passing its first major test in an effort to become more financially transparent and compliant with international norms. "The Holy See has come a long way in a very short period of time and many of the building blocks" of a system to combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism "are now formally in place," said the first report on the Vatican by "Moneyval" -- the Council of Europe's Committee of Experts on the Evaluation of Anti-Money Laundering Measures and the Financing of Terrorism.

Cardinal Collins helps Markham celebrate its diversity

July 18, 2012

MARKHAM, ONT. - Markham's 140-year journey from village to city has taken the Toronto suburb from near perfect uniformity of German Lutheran farmers lured north from Pennsylvania to a religious mosaic that includes a mosque and synagogue that share the same parking lot. Canada's newest city of more than 300,000 on the northeast shoulder of Toronto celebrated its religious diversity with a visit from Cardinal Thomas Collins July 17. "We're the most diverse city in Canada," declared Mayor Frank Scarpitti before presenting Collins with a commemorative scroll. Collins also presented Scarpitti with a framed message of encouragement.

July 19

Crowds flock to New Jersey tree with a scar some claim resembles Mary

July 19, 2012

WASHINGTON - A scar on a tree on a West New York, N.J., street that some claim looks like Our Lady of Guadalupe is "a natural occurrence," said Jim Goodness, a spokesman for the Newark Archdiocese. But he told Catholic News Service he hopes the devotion it has prompted might lead people to think more deeply about their faith. Crowds began to form at the site July 14. News reports indicated that hundreds of people have come to the site, now dubbed the "Virgin Mary tree." Located on the corner of 60th Street and Bergenline Avenue, the tree has been taped off and is under watch by city police and volunteers.

Jesuit expelled from Syria says country needs regime change

July 19, 2012

ROME - Italian Jesuit Father Paolo Dall'Oglio was expelled from Syria in mid-June after he intensified his public calls for democratic change in the country. "The blood on the ground must be respected and religious leaders must speak out," Dall'Oglio told Catholic News Service in Rome July 18.

SSPX recognizes papal authority, hints discussions will continue

July 19, 2012

VATICAN CITY - Hinting at a willingness to continue discussions with the Vatican and recognizing the full authority of the pope over the church, the traditionalist Society of St. Pius X said it must defend church teaching from error. "As for all the novelties of the Second Vatican Council, which remain tainted with errors, and for the reforms derived from it," the statement said, "the society can only continue to uphold the affirmations and teachings of the constant magisterium of the church."

Vatican inquiry into U.S. nuns raises questions of conscience

July 19, 2012

WASHINGTON - Conflict between the Leadership Conference of Women Religious and the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith over the reform of LCWR boils down to whether one can "be a Catholic and have a questioning mind," the conference's president said in an interview on National Public Radio's Fresh Air program. Franciscan Sister Pat Farrell also said in the July 17 interview that she would like to see discussion about whether "freedom of conscience in the Church (is) genuinely honoured."

D&P extends African aid

July 19, 2012

The Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace is expanding its commitment to 18 million west Africans in the Sahel region threatened with starvation. The Catholic aid and development agency is working with Caritas Internationalis to launch food and seed distribution projects in Mauritania, Chad and Senegal to reach 300,000 people. The new projects are in addition to programs for 19,500 households in Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso. D&P is funding the Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso program along with Canadian Foodgrains Bank.

July 20

Fr. Thomas Rosica - The Good News of July 2002 still fulfilled today

July 20, 2012

World Youth Day 2002 in Toronto was not a show, a rave party, a protest or photo opportunity. It was an invitation and a proposal for something new. Against a global background of terror and fear, economic collapse in many countries and ecclesial scandals, World Youth Day 2002 presented a bold, alternative vision of compelling beauty, hope and joy. We may choose to speak of our World Youth Days as something in the past — that brightened the shadows and monotony of our lives at one shining moment in history in 2002. Some may wish to call those golden days of July 2002 “Camelot” moments. That is one way to consider the WYD — fading memories of an extraordinary moment in Canadian history.

World Youth Day 2002 - Six days in July that transformed Toronto

July 20, 2012

Somewhere in Toronto today there’s a 10-year-old kid who got a second lease on life at World Youth Day 2002. Dr. Katherine Rouleau remembers that premature baby with all the awe and confusion doctors regularly bring to miracles. “We had a baby who was quite sick. Actually, it was a newborn of a couple who were so grateful that their premature child had survived that they showed up at Downsview at the crack of dawn in the sweltering heat,” recalled Rouleau. Rouleau was medical director of World Youth Day 2002. On July 28 a decade ago she had 800,000 potential patients corralled into an open field at the north end of Toronto. Many of them had endured a night of cold and rain, praying the Divine Office and singing through the night. Under the morning sun, people continued streaming in. And then it was raining again as Pope John Paul II arrived to celebrate Mass with them.

Teen poised to become Guam's youngest athlete to compete at the Olympics

July 20, 2012

AGANA, Guam - Sixteen-year-old Pilar Shimizu is no stranger to setting records. Not only is she poised to become the youngest athlete ever to represent Guam at the Olympics, the rising senior at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic High School also will be the first female in 20 years to represent the island nation in swimming when she competes in London at the games that open July 27. Shimizu qualified for the Olympics by breaking the Guam record in the 100-meter breaststroke with a time of 1:16:19. She bested the 20-year-old record held by Olympian Tammie Kaae.

July 21

Survey shows low U.S. confidence in organized religion

July 21, 2012

PRINCETON, N.J. - Americans' confidence in "Church and organized religion" has been on the decline since 1973 and Catholics' confidence in that institution remains lower than that of Protestants, according to the results of a new Gallup survey. Forty-six per cent of Catholics express "a great deal or quite a lot of confidence" in the Church and organized religion, compared to 56 per cent of Protestants.

July 22

Prayer, faith guide Maryland swimmer in quest for Olympic gold

July 22, 2012

BETHESDA, Md. (CNS) -- When teenage swimming sensation Katie Ledecky slices through the water during the 800-meter freestyle race at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, she may not be able to hear the roaring cheers of adoring fans back home, but she's convinced they will be with her in spirit. "Everybody has been so great this year. During this whole experience, I realize more than ever that I have the best community," said Ledecky, who will be a sophomore at Stone Ridge School of the Sacred this fall.

July 23

Denver prelates offer consolation in wake of Aurora shootings

July 23, 2012

DENVER - Archbishop Samuel Aquila of Denver and his auxiliary, Bishop James Conley, offered prayers and support to the victims, survivors and the community after a gunman killed 12 people and wounded 59 more during a July 20 midnight screening of the movie The Dark Knight Rises in Aurora, Colo. "For those who were killed, our hope is the tender mercy of our God," the bishops said in a joint statement. "'Neither death nor life,' reflected St. Paul, 'can separate us from the love of God.' "For those who were wounded — physically, emotionally and spiritually — our hope is in their recovery and renewal. To them we offer our prayers, our ears to listen, and our hearts to love. The road to recovery may be long, but in hope we are granted the gift of new life." Aquila and Conley also prayed for the shooter. "We hope also for the perpetrator of this terrible crime, and we pray for his conversion. Evil ruled his heart last night," they said July 20. "Only Jesus Christ can overcome the darkness of such evil." James Holmes, 24, who had been a doctoral student at the University of Colorado before he dropped out, was arrested in connection with the mass shootings. Police said Holmes was still wearing a bulletproof vest in the movie theatre's parking lot when he was apprehended. Aquila, who celebrated an evening Mass for those affected by the shooting, and Conley said Regina Caeli Counselling Services of Catholic Charities in the archdiocese would offer counselling over the next few weeks to those who need it. "We look for opportunities to pray with our community," the bishops added. "And we continue to work to support families and communities in forming people of peace." Joanne Schwartz, executive director of Progress Now Colorado, said: "Today we offer condolences to the families affected, and to all of our neighbours in Aurora as they struggle to cope with this terrible act of violence. And we call on Congress and elected officials at every level to put aside partisan differences, and take action to stop the gun violence that takes place every day across America." Schwartz noted in her statement that after the Columbine High School slayings, also in Colorado, in 1999, "Republicans and Democrats came together to support closing the 'gun show loophole' by an overwhelming margin: a model of co-operation we should aspire to today."

July 25

Bishop Kirkpatrick joins Toronto archdiocese

July 25, 2012

ST. CATHARINES, ONT. — During Bishop Wayne Kirkpatrick's July 25 ordination, significant figures in his life raced through his mind. "I was thinking of my parents," he told The Catholic Register, after becoming the newest auxiliary bishop of the archdiocese of Toronto. "I was thinking of Bishop Thomas Fulton who ordained me." He was also thinking about the years he spent at the Cathedral of St. Catherine of Alexandria in St. Catharines, where the ordination took place. "I've been here for 14 years altogether and I was ordained here." Kirkpatrick said his new ministry is going to be a greater responsibility. "Definitely in the laying on of hands, I could feel that responsibility coming upon me." Born in St. Catharines on June 5, 1957, Kirkpatrick studied at St. Jerome's College at the University of Waterloo, earning a bachelor of arts in philosophy before entering St. Augustine's Seminary in 1980 where he completed a masters of divinity before being ordained to the priesthood in 1984. He also studied at Saint Paul University in Ottawa, where he earned a Licentiate (masters) of canon law in 1990. The move to the archdiocese of Toronto is going to be difficult, Kirkpatrick acknowledged. "It's always difficult to uproot but I think life is a series of uprootings," said Kirkpatrick. "This is a big one but certainly one that with the prayers and support of the people of St. Catharines and Toronto, I'll be able to make that." As auxiliary bishop, Kirkpatrick will oversee care of the pastoral needs of the northern pastoral region of the archdiocese of Toronto. He has also been appointed as episcopal vicar for religious institutes of men and women in the archdiocese and episcopal vicar for the francophone community. As well, he is now titular bishop of Aradi. St. Catharines' Bishop Gerard Bergie called the ceremony both beautiful and moving. "I can't help but feel pride, not a sinful pride, but pride in that the diocese has provided a wonderful ceremony and provided a wonderful priest to the archdiocese of Toronto," said Bergie. Kirkpatrick will be greatly missed, said Bergie, who has worked with the new bishop since arriving in the diocese in November 2010. "We started in the seminary together so I've known him for many years. When I was new to the diocese, he was a great help to me and always there for me, very supportive, very knowledgable, so I'll always be indebted. "Truly, Toronto's gain is our loss," he added. Laurier LePage, a senior server at the Cathedral for the past 28 years, grew up in the same area in St. Catharines as Kirkpatrick and the two were schoolmates. "As he became a priest in St. Catharines, I started to see him again… I was glad to see him come back. It was great. It was like old times together again." Deborah LePage, Laurier's wife, lived two houses down from the Kirkpatricks. "From seeing him play cowboys and Indians in the backyard, then to a priest, then to a monsignor and now, this is unreal. It's really unreal. "It just makes my heart throb," she said. "I was in tears." Thomas Brown, 40, a parishioner at the Cathedral of St. Catherine of Alexandria, has known Kirkpatrick for about 15 years. "I'm just so happy for him to become a bishop," he said, adding that he'll miss him very much. During the homily, Cardinal Thomas Collins said people's lives are touched by the ministry of an apostle of the Lord. "As bishops, we need to work hard to be spiritually fruitful," he told the packed cathedral. Mentioning courageous saints such as Francis de Sales, Charles Borromeo and John Fisher, Collins described various challenges they faced such as evangelizing a society that had fallen away from the faith. "The challenge is great but we have mighty heroes," he said. The episcopal motto chosen by Kirkpatrick is "Abide in me," said Collins. "And these words guide all of us as disciples," he said. After the ordination, Kirkpatrick was absorbing the events of the day, which took place on the feast of St. James. "I'm the kind of person that reflects upon all that's taken place so as the day wears on and tomorrow I'll be thinking more about what's taken place." Investiture with ring, miter and pastoral staff The Ring The first insignia to be received by the bishop during the rites of ordination is the ring. Upon handing over to the newly ordained bishop the ring, the principal ordaining bishop says, "Take this ring, the seal of your fidelity. With faith and love, protect the bride of God, His holy Church." The ring symbolizes discretion, since rings were used to seal private documents and the ring represents the symbolic marriage between the bishop and the Church. The Miter The next insignia which is given to the newly ordained bishop during the rites of ordination is the miter. The miter is a headdress which points upwards towards heaven. It is a mark of the bishops' office and a symbol of their authority. The Crozier (also called the pastoral staff) The last symbol given to the newly ordained bishop is the crozier. The principal ordaining bishop says, "Take this staff as a sign of your pastoral office: Keep watch over the whole flock in which the Holy Spirit has appointed you to shepherd the Church of God." Each bishop is a symbol of Christ the Good Shepherd. The crozier also symbolizes the responsibility that the bishop has in leading all to Christ.

425,000 pencils collected, endless possibilities to go

July 25, 2012

VAUGHAN, ONT. - It took Hannah Godefa almost half her life to collect 425,000 pencils for students in Ethiopia. Now, one year after sending the bulk of the load to her parent’s native country, Godefa is going to see what else the students in the impoverished African nation need. “I cannot wait to see what needs to be done so that we can do an even better job next time,” said the 14-year-old who left on July 24 for a five-week visit to the Horn of Africa, the northeast region of the continent where Ethiopia is located. “I’m just going to go and visit the schools that I sent pencils to. You know really get a sense of what there is still left that is needed to be done.” This is Godefa’s fourth trip to Ethiopia where she’s been sending pencils, school supplies and letters from her Canadian classmates to students since 2006. During her visit, Godefa, appointed the Youth and Goodwill Ambassador in 2011 by the Ethiopian government, will collaborate with students, school staff and Ethiopia’s minister of eduction to determine the next phase of her social justice activism. The project, dubbed Pencil Mountain, began after Godefa’s parents brought her to Ethiopia to introduce her to her family, heritage and culture. During this initial visit to Axum, a northern city where her grandmother lives, Godefa befriended a local and wished to continue the friendship as pen pals — a request she was denied. “I couldn’t understand why this happened,” said Godefa. “I approached my parents about the idea and they explained to me that, in the simplest way possible, because she didn’t have writing supplies or writing materials it wouldn’t be possible to communicate.” But Godefa wouldn’t take no for an answer. Prior to stepping back onto Canadian soil, Godefa knew what she would do: collect and deliver 20,000 pencils to the Ethiopian students. With ambition burning and her parents’ support, the then Divine Mercy Catholic Elementary School student presented her idea to principal Opiyo Oloya who admitted to being hesitant at first. Luckily for the students in Ethiopia, Godefa’s enthusiasm was infectious and with a little persuasion her former principal agreed to support Pencil Mountain. “Hannah was a very persistent young person and you just can’t say no to her,” Oloya, now a York Catholic District School Board superintendent of education, said. “Soon the pencils started coming in to the school by boxes, and it went on and on.” Not only did support from her entire community pile up — including politicians, local media and residents — but so did the pencils, 5,000 more than her goal. “So in 2006 I went back to Ethiopia and delivered the pencils there,” she said. “Then when I came back I wanted to do it again but I wanted to do even more than what I had done before because I knew that I had an amazing support system in Vaughan.” She wanted to do more alright, 10 times more, setting her new quota at 200,000 pencils along with various other school supplies. An ambitious goal with an admirable quality surpassed only by the amount of support received. This included support from several schools in the York Catholic board that banded together to battle it out fundraiser style, starting the Pencil Collection Competition, one of the most significant sources for attaining the writing utensils but far from the only. “The support came from people from all walks of life,” said Godefa, who also received a transportation-cost sponsorship from Ethiopian Airlines. “I really like to put emphasis on young students and the schools in my community because they are really the ones who got everything going.” Upon her return to Vaughan’s St. Elizabeth Catholic High School this September, they’ll be the ones she’s calling upon again as Pencil Mountain enters its third phase. “It’s really important to have youth involved in these type of projects because obviously, as we’ve heard many times before, the youth are the leaders of tomorrow. But what’s really important to understand is that youth are leaders of today,” said Godefa. “If you give children the opportunities that they need, I’m telling you they are going to change the world.” For information on Pencil Mountain and Godefa, visit www.hannahgodefa.org.

ACCESS Charity event showcases singers, dancers, actors and poets ‘using their gifts for good’

July 25, 2012

MISSISSAUGA, ONT.- An award-winning faith-based hip-hop dance crew, an eight-year-old singer, an improv comedy group and spoken word artists were some of the artistic talent that showed their stuff at ACCESS Charity’s Arts for Change July 14. Arts for Change is all about promoting local, artistic talent to inspire others to get involved in their communities, said Daniel Francavilla, president of ACCESS Charity. “It is important to express the talents and gifts you have been given,” said Francavilla. “Some of the youth artists here never had their work displayed publicly or a couple of them had little experience performing, so this gave them that opportunity to use their gifts for good.” About 200 people were in attendance at Mississauga’s Gateway Centre for New Canadians for the “Celebrate Community” event. There were many rounds of applause evoked by the soft chords of Jarryd Fillmore’s guitar playing, the high-pitched soprano of Josephine Paul’s voice, improv Elbow Dragon drama troupe and dance crew I Rock With The One, among various others. Canadian-Iranian poetry hobbyist Vanessa Azizan did not feel shy when she took the stage in front of unfamiliar faces. “When I got on the stage, I just felt this energy rush through me looking at those faces,” said Azizan. Her poem centred on the silent voices in Iran and their rights and she hopes it inspires people to be more informed about Iran and the censored information in that nation’s media. She hopes it will inspire people to search for the truth behind these stories. “The media is one-sided, it doesn’t show their side of the story. I was trying to show their voices,” she said. “I always wanted to inspire people but I never knew how to do it (until) I attended the ACCESS Charity Youth Making a Difference Conference earlier this year. It inspired me to want to share my story.” Adrienne Beaudry, program manager with partner organization Volunteer MBC, attended with daughter Emilie. “At this stage, there’s no one telling you what you can or cannot do,” she said. “You are able to explore without restrictions and ACCESS Charity promotes that by supporting local talent.” The proceeds are being used to fund a “Youth Making a Difference” award that will be given to a youth in the community who have been committed to social justice and change coming next year, said Francavilla.

YSN blog turns one

July 25, 2012

In its first year, the Youth Speak News blog has garnered more than 15,000 hits from as far away as India, Ukraine and Saudi Arabia. Youthspeaknews.org started in August 2011 as a companion to The Catholic Register’s coverage of World Youth Day in Madrid through daily reports and photographs. The blog’s busiest day was the last day of World Youth Day on Aug. 21, with 355 pageviews. Post-World Youth Day, the blog has evolved into a platform for Catholic youth to voice their opinions and reflect on their view of the world. Made up primarily of contributions from past and present Youth Speak News writers and Youth Editor Vanessa Santilli, it’s a space for youth to express themselves in a less structured way than in the paper. If you’d like to contribute to the YSN blog, we’re happy to consider guest columns from youth on topics of faith or even submissions with a more creative flair, starting in the fall. To get in touch, contact [email protected].

Giving and receiving on Street Patrol

July 25, 2012

Heading to St. Patrick’s Catholic Street Patrol, I was apprehensive. The premise of the weekly event is to hand out sandwiches, drinks and snacks to the homeless on the streets of downtown Toronto during the hot summer months. But the idea isn’t to give some food and move on. It’s to engage the homeless and to offer friendship to those on the outskirts of society. With whole wheat turkey and mozzarella sandwiches in tow, I joined the group walking to Nathan Phillips Square. Just before reaching our destination, our group leader spotted two men she thought might want a sandwich. I hung back at first, then joined the group. A friend and I chatted with Bill for about 10 minutes. He talked about how he worked on the Rogers Centre when it was built (called the SkyDome back then) and how his father just had a big operation. He told us he’d be going in to the hospital for surgery soon, but he was nervous because he didn’t want to be worked on by the med students. Bill didn’t want a sandwich, he had just come from the Lawyers Feed the Hungry Program at Osgoode Hall. As the organizers had told us, many people on the street just want some company. It’s still nourishment, just a different type. As we entered the main area at Nathan Phillips Square, we encountered a group of about 10 homeless people gathered close together, made up of both men and women. After giving out one sandwich, others started approaching me asking if they could have one, too. I asked others in the group if they wanted one as well and ran out of sandwiches. I thought it was going to be an uncomfortable experience, but it wasn’t. It was just people interacting with other people. I think that’s the best lesson of all. We’re all just fellow members of humanity and regardless of the amount of money to our name, both giving and receiving dignity and respect are priceless. Sure, recipients of Street Patrol gain. But, whether they realize it or not, so do the participants. Going home that night, I opened the fridge to make a sandwich. Seeing a variety of cold cuts to choose from, it felt like absolute abundance. Fittingly enough, my father shared a page from a book he tore out while doing some stonework on an old factory earlier that day. It was a list titled, “Rules for Being Human.” Bullet two resonated with me: “You are enrolled in full-time informal school called life. Each day in this school you will have the opportunity to learn lessons. You may like the lessons or think them irrelevant.” The last statement read, “You will forget this.” I’ll try my best not to forget what I learned at Street Patrol. And if I do, I can always go back next week.

Surviving the tourists is half the battle in Europe

July 25, 2012

I recently returned from my triumphal 60th birthday tour of the UK and Europe, which included visits to London, Paris and Milan. Since I first started these transatlantic treks more than 20 years ago, I find that the older I get, the more I become a Catholic tourist, adding churches and cathedrals to book and music shops, museums and theatres on my itineraries. Whether you’re attending Mass or just checking out the ecclesial digs and saying a prayer, the universality of the Catholic Church means that, regardless of the language spoken, you always feel at home in a very profound sense. The only impediment this eager Catholic tourist ever comes up against is when the touristic component at one of these sites starts to outweigh the Catholic. I used to worry that my aversion to crowds was a kind of snobbery. Isn’t it an unadulterated good thing to see swarms of people piling into a church even if they aren’t the kind of people who would ordinarily be drawn to attend a church in their hometown? Who am I to sit in judgment of the purity of their motives in coming here? Clearly, it’s a delicate business. When I visited the Vatican in 2005, it was in late October, which happily turned out to be (not, I assure you, as the result of any shrewd planning on my part) about as close as you’ll ever get there to an off-season. Yes, there were thousands of other people but unlike some of the horror stories I’ve heard, I wasn’t held to a time limit while viewing the Sistine Chapel, in spite of the crowds there was a quiet and prayerful atmosphere inside St. Peter’s and the weather wasn’t so clammy and hot that I thought I’d pass out. Except for a brief altercation with a pickpocket on the packed Rome subway, I had a wonderful visit to the Eternal City. My visit to Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris wasn’t so blessed. While the wait to get in only took about 10 minutes, the place was packed with tourists who brazenly ignored the multilingual sign at the door to keep quiet. I suppose they were at least making an effort to “keep it down,” filling the air with a constant buzz of whispered ooh’s and aah’s. Every second one of them wielded a camera device of some sort, contorting or stretching their bodies as they held their infernal image-snatchers aloft. This only confirmed me in my lifelong decision to never pack a camera when travelling. It’s the same maddening, focus-busting behaviour one encounters at so many weddings when the need to document a special occasion elbows aside the original experience and cruelly renders it less memorable. In Milan we toured that great sprawling city (with the immense Gothic cathedral, the Duomo di Milano, at its centre) and making excursions out to nearby towns. We visited Pavia, where the mortal remains of St. Augustine of Hippo (who died in 430) are contained in an exquisitely carved marble ark which dominates the presbytery of the Basilica of St. Pietro in Ciel d’Oro. Despite the renown of its permanent saint-in-residence, St. Pietro is sufficiently “out of the way” that its sacred aspects are not overrun by its secular appeal. There has been a church at this site since the early 600s. Though it was substantially rebuilt in 1132, the “new” building was designed to conform to the old levels and lines with the result that when you come in from the street today you take a few steps down to get onto the floor which used to be level with the small piazza outside. It is another one of those sublime instances when you suddenly apprehend what the poet/priest Gerard Manley Hopkins was getting at when he wrote that, “Time has three dimensions.” My general advice to the aspiring Catholic tourist would be to approach the more world-famous churches with, if not caution, then with a layer of armour to help you deflect the many distractions that will assail you when you find yourself in the company of people who come to gander rather than to worship. (Goodden is a writer in London, Ont. His latest book is No Continuing City.)

A serious musical you can blame on Rio

July 25, 2012

The history of American musical theatre has served up plots and song lyrics so brainless they could make opera blush. But a new Canadian musical set among the homeless children of Rio de Janeiro takes on serious issues as it dances, sings and jokes its way across the stage. Rio: The Musical is getting a critical test run at the New York Musical Theatre Festival this month. If it passes the test it could wind up playing to New York audiences on Broadway, telling a story of murder, homelessness and family to a samba beat. “There are certainly frivolous musicals,” veteran musical composer Joey Miller told The Catholic Register. “I save my money.” From South Pacific’s take on racism to Cabaret’s exploration of Nazi rule, there are plenty of examples of serious theatre in the guise of musicals. Miller and his writing partner Mitch Magonet want to fit their musical into that tradition. “There has to be a theatricality to it, but it has to be truthful,” said Miller. Miller and Magonet have worked on Rio off and on for eight years. Getting into both the New York Musical Theatre Festival July 9 to 29 after having already been in last year's National Alliance for Musical Theatre festival Oct. 11 and 12, both in New York, gives their project a certain cachet among new musicals. Miller frankly admits he and Magonet stole the plot from Oliver Twist. Twelve-year-old Pipio arrives in Rio from Brazil’s poor northeast during Carnival on an impossible quest to find his mother. He falls in among homeless children who steal for an older master thief and he befriends a young woman trapped in an abusive relationship. A murder right off the top sets things in motion. Musically, Brazil was the right place to set the story, said Miller. A percussionist by trade, Miller has spent decades studying samba, bossa nova, forro, choro and countless Brazilian rhythms. “They say about Brazilians, without music they can’t exist,” said Miller. Miller and Magonet use rhythms as leitmotifs, signature music attached to each character. “It was the music that drove us. It’s like an inspiration,” said Miller. But Brazil is also right culturally, he said. “There’s something special about Brazil. It’s the samba, it’s the favela, it’s the whole culture with the importance of family,” Miller said. Once in the New York festivals, Catholic University of America chose Rio as an ideal challenge for students of its Benjamin T. Rome School of Music musical theatre division. Dark, gritty subject matter set in a very different culture was part of the attraction for Denise Puricelli, Catholic University assistant professor of music. For Puricelli, serious intent fits with a Catholic university. “One of the things we’re charged to do, actually, is to encourage people to contemplate social ills and contemporary problems,” she said. “It is a question — what kind of material should we do? You can either hide from it and only do things that are very wonderful or you can talk about things that make people stop and ponder... Schools that hide these strong, ugly parts of life are doing the students a disservice.” Puricelli was musical director for a two-week workshop of Rio. It was opportunity for students to be part of the process as the writers and director edited, pruned and added songs and dialogue. “For the kids, being able to have the composers right in the room, being able to ask questions from them — it was a great experience all the way around,” said Puricelli. Crowdsourcing on Kickstarter.com raised $40,000 to mount a bare-bones production for the NYMF festival, along with $80,000 from a private backer. Very early in its development Mirvish Productions in Toronto workshopped the first act. Miller doesn’t yet know what will happen to the play after the New York festivals. Miller would love to see a full production on stage in Toronto, in New York, even in Rio. “This is where we turn to prayer,” he said.