John Paul the Great:
Fatherly strength and compassion

		The Catholic  Difference  George Weigel

A year ago, the world stopped, quite literally, to honor a Polish priest and bishop who had touched hearts, minds, and souls unlike anyone else of his era.

Millions poured into Rome to pay homage to Pope John Paul II. Two billion people participated in his funeral by television. In the year since his triple-casket of cypress, zinc, and walnut was buried in the crypt of St. Peter's basilica, millions more have come to pay their respects, to leave flowers, and to pray.

Why? What did John Paul II do, such that his death elicited such an unprecedented response from virtually every corner of the globe? What did John Paul II mean?

Historians will be exploring those questions for centuries. On this first anniversary of what he called his "Easter," let me suggest, all too briefly, what he meant to so many individual lives, and what he meant culturally, as a teacher of our times.

Paternity embodied

In Rome last April, it struck me that John Paul II had drawn such love and loyalty because he embodied paternity in a world increasingly bereft of fatherhood, with its unique combination of strength and mercy. The past 12 months have transformed that intuition into a conviction: at the root of John Paul II's magnetism was his remarkable capacity to communicate paternal strength and compassion, qualities which the world may not have known it was seeking, but which millions embraced when they were offered.

Karol Wojtyla could embody paternity because he had reflected on it for a long time: on his natural father, a man of granite-like integrity; on his spiritual father, Cardinal Adam Stefan Sapieha, the "unbroken prince" who took him into his home as a clandestine seminarian and who ordained him to the priesthood; on his experience of spiritual paternity with the young men and women who, with him and around him, formed a network of friendship and fraternity that would outlive his death.

'Conquered by love'

In his 1964 drama, Radiation of Fatherhood, Wojtyla suggested that becoming a father meant being "conquered by love," which liberates us from the "terrible" (and terribly false) freedom of self-absorption. To be conquered by love in this way was to be liberated in the deepest sense of human freedom: for only in "the radiation of fatherhood . . . does everything become fully real."

That was what John Paul II's paternity meant: in a world of delusions and illusions, he made things "fully real," because his spiritual fatherhood was a reflection of the fatherhood of God.

Then there was John Paul II, the pope who taught that "the Church proposes; she imposes nothing" - but who proposed, time and again, a powerful, alternative reading of how we might understand ourselves at this moment in human history.

Countering post-modernism

The mandarins of post-modern culture insist that the roots of our religious and moral traditions are irretrievably lost, such that men and women today can't have access to what our ancestors believed to be true; John Paul II taught that Christians always have access to the origins of their faith and their way of life because the source of Christian truth, Christ, is alive and present to his church.

Post-modern culture teaches that agreement about the truth of things can never be reached across historical epochs or between cultures; John Paul II taught that every human being, no matter what the cultural or historical circumstances, can hear a saving word of grace and mercy from God.

Post-modernism teaches us that knowledge is incoherent, that there is simply no way to put the world's story together; John Paul II proposed Christian faith as a comprehensive, coherent, and compelling account of human nature and human community, of human origins and human destiny.

A man of reason in a season of irrationality; a man of compassion amidst murderous passions; a man of conviction whose convictions opened him to genuine dialogue about differences; a man who asked nothing of others that he hadn't risked or suffered himself - this was paternity embodied in a world bereft of, but desperately seeking, a sense of purpose and direction. This was John Paul the Great.

George Weigel is a senior fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C.

Cremation:
An alternative to the traditional funeral

		Tomorrow's  Decisions Today  Tom Hanlon

During the past few years the staff of the Catholic Cemeteries has met with increasing numbers of families who have expressed interest in cremation rather than traditional burial.

Whether or not these families choose cremation remains to be seen, but what is clear is that there is both a lack of knowledge regarding church teaching on cremation and, also, a need to know what options are available for those who select it as part of their funeral plans.

Rather than paraphrase or interpret church teaching, I would like to quote from a pamphlet published by the Committee on the Liturgy, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. The name of the publication is Reflections on the Body, Cremation, and Catholic Funeral Rites. A copy can be obtained by going online at www.usccbpublishing.org or calling 800-235-8722. All text in quotation marks in this article comes from this source.

	Previous columns: Mar. 23, 2006 edition: • Cemetery arrangements: Many options to weigh, consider Mar. 9, 2006 edition: • Funeral arrangements: Good idea to make them in advance Feb. 23, 2006 edition: • Funeral: Plan for meaningful liturgy Feb. 9, 2006 edition: • Funerals: Benefits in pre-planning

Confusion by Catholics, especially elderly ones, comes from the fact that "Disposition of the bodies of deceased Catholics by means of cremation is a fairly recent development. Canon 1203 of the 1917 Code of Canon Law forbade the practice and this prohibition continued until 1963.

"The May 8, 1963 instruction Piam et Constantem issued by the Holy Office stated that the practice of burying the bodies of the faithful is by all means to be kept but allowance was made for cremation in cases of necessity as long as it was not chosen as a sign of denial of Christian teaching, especially that of the resurrection of the dead and the immortality of the soul."

Cremation allowed

So in 1963, the ban on cremation was lifted for cases of necessity. Then this 1963 concession was later incorporated into the 1983 Code of Canon Law in canon 1176: "The Church earnestly recommends that the pious custom of burying the bodies of the dead be observed; it does not, however, forbid cremation unless it has been chosen for reasons which are contrary to Christian teaching

"Although cremation is now permitted, it does not enjoy the same value as burial of the body. Catholic teaching continues to stress the preference for burial or entombment of the body of the deceased.

"The Catholic Church strongly prefers that the body of the deceased be present for its funeral rites since the presence of the body most clearly brings to mind the life and death of the person. Therefore, the Bishop's Committee on the Liturgy recommends that cremation take place following the funeral liturgy.

"However, when circumstances prevent the presence of the body at the funeral liturgy, the Committee believes that it is appropriate that the cremated remains of the body be present for the full course of the funeral rites including the Vigil for the Deceased, the Funeral Liturgy, and the Rite of Committal. The funeral liturgy should always be celebrated in a church. The cremated remains of the body should then be reverently buried or entombed in a cemetery or mausoleum.

Scattering of ashes

"The remains of cremated bodies should be treated with the same respect given the corporeal remains of a human body. This includes the manner in which they are carried, the care and attention to appropriate placement and transport, and the final disposition.

"The practices of scattering cremated remains on the sea, from the air, or on the ground, or keeping cremated remains in the home of a relative or friend of the deceased are not the reverent disposition that the Church requires. Whenever possible, appropriate means for memorializing the deceased should be utilized, such as a plaque or stone that records the name of the deceased."

It often comes up in conversation with Catholics that the ashes of John F. Kennedy, Jr., were scattered. Therefore, why can't their ashes be scattered?

Kennedy's ashes were not scattered. He was given a burial at sea. The urn containing his ashes was committed to the deep intact.

Urns and columbaria

In order to satisfy the requirements of the church regarding the disposition of cremated remains of Catholics, some Catholic cemeteries have available columbaria (niches) for placement of urns, areas in the cemetery dedicated exclusively for the burial of urns, and, also, the opportunity to bury an urn in a grave with a family member as long as all necessary permissions are obtained. My suggestion would be to contact the cemetery of your choice to inquire what is available to meet your need.

The church also asks that the remains of a deceased Catholic be placed in a worthy vessel, a container that would be considered permanent. This does not have to be an expensive urn. But the concern is that the container not be something along the lines of a masonry jar either. Larger cemeteries, such as the Diocesan Cemeteries, have suitable urns that satisfy the requirements.

Hopefully, the series of articles on funeral planning have been of some help to Catholic families. I encourage anyone interested to call a funeral home and the cemetery of your choice to obtain further information.

If you live in the Madison, Janesville, or Beloit area, the Family Service personnel in the office of our Diocesan Cemeteries are there to help you with any questions you may have.

Tom Hanlon has been the director for the Department of Cemeteries for the Diocese of Madison since 1995. He has had a long career in funeral service.

Family: Hopes for lots of children

		A Culture  of Life  Kimberly Hahn

I am one of five children, happy consequences of a marriage overflowing with love. My parents planned on a certain number of children; however, they acknowledged God had a better plan and treasured us whether or not we were planned.

It was so much fun growing up in a big family that I hoped my future spouse would want a lot of children. My desire was not rooted so much in a conviction about openness to life as in wanting to imitate my family's example.

Having children

Scott and I fell in love while attending Grove City College in Grove City, Pa. We had a sense of a call to serve Christ together. I realized one day as we were talking in a hall on campus that though we were already engaged, we had never discussed whether or not we would have children or how many we would have. I picked my timing carefully.

"Scott, you do want to have children, don't you?"

He quickly rejoined, "Sure, but not too many."

I thought, Oh, no. I'm marrying a ZPGer and didn't know it! (A "ZPGer" is a person who wants Zero Population Growth, so he limits his family to two children to maintain the current population level instead of causing the population to grow.) I took a deep breath, yet tried to appear casual. "How many is not too many?"

"I think we ought to keep it down to five or six."

Now I had to appear casual for a different reason. "Yes, let's think small: no more than five or six," I said, suppressing a smile.

Early discussions

Months later, premarital counseling with my father, who was also my Presbyterian pastor, included a discussion about contraception - not whether or not to use it, but what kind we were going to use.

We all believed that Christian stewardship involved careful family planning, especially since we were heading off to seminary with few finances to support a family. Contraception was obviously the prudent choice.

My father said, "What are you going to do for birth control?" I said, "I am going to take the Pill."

To which he replied, "As your pastor, I have no difficulty with that, but as your father, I have some concerns."

I allayed his fears with some supposed facts the gynecologist had given us, and we moved on to another topic. End of discussion. Dad knew that as our marital love grew, our desire for children would grow. For now the focus was on us as a couple and our marriage ceremony.

Early married life

Our wedding was a wonderful celebration of God's call on our lives to form a new family in service to him. But, to the best of my knowledge, children were never mentioned as part of the ceremony. (This is in contrast to a Catholic wedding, in which the couple commits publicly to receive children from God and to educate them for God.)

Three weeks later, Scott and I journeyed to New England for Scott to attend Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. After I worked full time for a year while Scott studied, we were both able to get onto an educational track. This time of study together proved life-changing for both of us.

To be continued . . .

Kimberly Hahn, mother of six, is co-author of the bestseller Roman, Sweet Home, Our Journey to Catholicism, with her husband Scott Hahn. This column is syndicated by www.OneMoreSoul.com and is reprinted from Kimberly Hahn's book, Life-Giving Love (St. Anthony Messenger Press).

New cord blood laws:
Expected to save many lives

	Guest Columnist  Patrick Delaney

While disputes over the ethics of embryonic stem cell research (ESCR) continue to plague public policy debates, medical treatments using morally acceptable adult stem cells - from the umbilical cords of newly born children - have provided successful therapies for no less than 40 life-threatening diseases.

Thanks to a new Wisconsin law signed by Governor Jim Doyle last December, and broadly supported by state and local pro-life organizations, "cord blood" will now be made more available to provide life-saving treatments for thousands of patients who might otherwise lose their lives.

'Miracle' cure

One such patient is five-year-old Jeremy Thoms of Eau Claire, who was born with a rare condition called Krabbe's disease - a genetic neurological defect that causes the shortage of a necessary enzyme for the proper function of nerve cells. Left untreated, the vast majority of these young patients suffer the degeneration of brain neurons and die by the age of two.

Jeremy's older brother Alex lost his life in 1988 to the disease. Knowing that Jeremy had a 25 percent chance of inheriting the same condition, his parents Randy and Tanys Thoms had him tested for the disease at birth. He was diagnosed with Krabbe's, but the Thoms were given hope by submitting their son to a new experimental cord blood therapy developed at Duke University Medical Center in North Carolina.

Unlike Jeremy's own blood, newly transfused umbilical cord blood from this treatment contained stem cells with the gene needed to produce the missing enzyme. Though Tanys Thoms reports that her son does have some problems walking and keeping his balance, he is otherwise doing "great" both cognitively and physically. The prognosis for a normal life is very good.

In addition to providing treatments for Krabbe's disease, stem cells from umbilical cord blood have been successfully used to treat more than 40 diseases including sickle cell anemia, leukemia, Hodgkin's disease, multiple myeloma, osteopertosis, and breast cancer.

Legislative remedy

Despite the therapies now being developed using cord blood stem cells, thousands of patients are routinely denied treatment due to a shortage of supply. While Jeremy's story has a happy ending, Wisconsin State Representative Steve Wieckert (R-Appleton) found the death toll due to this supply shortage "unacceptable" and sponsored a bill last year to do something about it.

"It's tragic that cord blood is now being thrown away, when there is a desperate shortage of it for treating childhood leukemia and many other diseases," Wickert said in a statement before the legislation became law. "My bill will encourage the collection of it, and help save lives."

State Senator Joe Leibham (R-Sheboygan) joined Wieckert in co-authoring Assembly Bill 270 and Senate Bill 127. The legislation requires a pregnant woman's principal health care provider to notify her of the option to donate blood extracted from the umbilical cord of her newborn child to a blood bank.

The requirement to offer the option must be made before the 35th week of pregnancy. It only applies if the donation has no monetary cost to the mother, her health care insurance provider, or to the hospital in which the delivery will occur for collection or storage.

Federal legislation

Just five days after passage of the state law on December 5, 2005, President Bush signed the federal Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Act of 2005 (H.R. 2520).

This act, sponsored by Representative Chris Smith (R-New Jersey), was passed in the House of Representatives 431-1 last May, but was delayed in the Senate for several months prior to its unanimous approval in December. It provides funds to develop the needed infrastructure to support an anticipated influx of new cord blood donations. It also authorizes federal funds for research and therapy involving cord blood and bone marrow treatments, and creates a new federal program to coordinate a nationwide public bank for the collection and storage of cord blood stem cells.

According to Matt Sande, director of legislative affairs for Pro-Life Wisconsin, the Wisconsin legislation "dovetails nicely with federal efforts to create a nationwide network of cord blood banks. Once public umbilical cord banks are up and running throughout the nation, legislation that facilitates cord blood donation will be that much more effective."

Cord blood vs. ESCR

While advocates of ESCR have promised tremendous results - though its techniques rely on the killing of human embryos - Susan Armacost, legislative director for Wisconsin Right to Life, points out its failures contrast sharply with cord blood successes.

"Embryonic stem cells have not been used to treat one single person," she said. "There have been no human trials with embryonic stem cells because those cells grow uncontrollably and would create tumors if put into a human being."

In a letter to the U.S. Senate last summer, Baltimore Cardinal William Keeler, chairman of the Committee for Pro-Life Activities, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, clarified the moral and practical failures of ESCR.

"It would be bad enough to promote such destruction of life if it had been found necessary to save patients with devastating diseases," he said. "In such a case it would be important to remember that the end, however worthwhile in itself, does not justify an evil means. But in fact, the practical argument for funding ESCR fails even on its own amoral terms.

"To insist now on a broader policy of promoting ESCR, using federal funds to encourage more destruction of human embryos, would fly in the face of the medical evidence and violate even the most minimal standards of respect for early human life," he said.

Patrick Delaney is a theology and history instructor at St. Ambrose Academy in Madison and a former assistant director of public policy for American Life League of Stafford, Va.