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News Briefs:
Mass Dec. 9 in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe
(en Español)
MADISON -- Come and celebrate Our Lady of Guadalupe! The diocesan Our Lady of Guadalupe celebration will be held Saturday, Dec. 9, at St. Joseph Parish, 1905 W. Beltline Hwy., Madison. Mass begins at 5:15 p.m.
To participate in the procession with flowers or in traditional dress arrive at 4:30. If you would like to take a special role in the Mass, call 608-821-3086. All are welcome to celebrate the Queen of the Americas.
Festival of Love & Light at St. Clare Hospital
BARABOO -- St. Clare Hospital Auxiliary offers a community holiday tradition through its Love Light Trees, evergreen trees on the hospital grounds decorated with colored lights given in honor and memory of loved ones.
The auxiliary is partnering once again this year with St. Clare Hospital and Health Services and the St. Clare Health Care Foundation to sponsor the third annual tree-lighting event called the Festival of Love and Light.
This year's Festival of Love and Light will take place at St. Clare Hospital and Health Services, 707 14th St. in Baraboo, on Monday, Dec. 4. The one-hour event will begin with time for fellowship and refreshments in the hospital's Ringling Room at 5:30 p.m., followed by an indoor program of remembrance.
Guests will then process outdoors to the St. Clare Healing Garden for a brief holiday lighting ceremony.
Love Lights can be purchased for $5 each to honor or memorialize a loved one. Love Light bulb forms are available at various locations throughout the community and at St. Clare Hospital's Unique Boutique gift shop.
Proceeds from the sales will help the auxiliary purchase medical equipment for the hospital and sponsor scholarships for students pursuing medical careers.
For more information about the festival, call Keri Olson, St. Clare Health Care Foundation, at 608-356-1449.
Breakfast with Santa
at Edgewood
MADISON -- On Saturday, Dec. 16, from 9 a.m. to 12 noon, Edgewood High School will, for the second year, host a Breakfast with Santa. Edgewood welcomes children and their parents to a pancake feast in the Edgewood High Commons.
This event also offers activities and games for kids and a turn for each child to have a photo taken with Santa.
Tickets are $5 for adults, $3 for kids age three to 12, and free for age two and under. Reservations are highly recommended. For a reservation, contact Lori Battista, director of alumni relations and special events, at 608-257-1023, ext. 133, or e-mail her at battlor@edgewood.k12.wi.us
Enter at the far right front (Commons) doors.
Knights of Columbus sponsor blood drive
MONONA -- The Red Cross will conduct a blood drive on Friday, Dec. 15, from 12 noon to 5 p.m., at Immaculate Heart of Mary School Gym, 4913 Schofield St.
The event is sponsored by Knights of Columbus Council 4586. To make an appointment, call 1-800-448-3542 or visit www.givelife.org
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Bishop Swain: Returns for Mass of Thanksgiving
By Mary C. Uhler
CATHOLIC HERALD STAFF
(See also front-page photo.)
MADISON -- It was a day of thanksgiving as Bishop Paul J. Swain returned to Madison to celebrate a Mass of Thanksgiving in the chapel of the Bishop O'Connor Catholic Pastoral Center on Sunday, Nov. 19.
The Madison priest - recently installed as the new bishop of the Diocese of Sioux Falls, S. D. - said the Mass comes at an appropriate time of year.
"As we anticipate our national day of thanksgiving, we pray in gratitude for all the gifts God has given us over the years, beginning with the gift of life itself, and Christ and His Church."
Welcome home
Bishop Robert C. Morlino of Madison greeted Bishop Swain and all those present. "We thank God for the gift he has given the Diocese of Sioux Falls - a gift we have been instrumental in," said Bishop Morlino.
"We thank God for Bishop Swain's openness and generosity in accepting the gift. We give thanks and say, 'Welcome home, Bishop Swain. Your home will always be with us.'"
The congregation gave a rousing round of applause.
Leaving Madison
In his homily, Bishop Swain said his homecoming is bittersweet. He referred to Pope John Paul II's book, Rise, Let Us Be on Our Way, which talks about how we are invited as disciples to leave behind the familiar.
"Certainly in these last weeks I have felt the jolt of leaving behind the well-known, the familiar. Over 40 years ago I arrived here in Madison not knowing how long I would stay. Then discovering how special this place is, I never anticipated leaving, until late August (when he was appointed bishop)."
Expressing gratitude
Bishop Swain said he is grateful for the chapel in the Bishop O'Connor Center, where he was ordained a deacon and often prayed. "I have lived in at least five different locations in this building and survived hundreds of meetings here. This familiar place will always be a home," he said.
Bishop Swain also said he has "cherished" memories of the parishes he has served, his fellow priests, the three bishops, and the staff members of the parishes and diocesan offices, who "put up with my plodding style and seemingly silent demeanor."
Ordination changes him
Speaking of that quiet demeanor, Bishop Swain said his ordination as a bishop has changed him. "At some point during the ordination a peace came over me that I cannot adequately describe," he said.
"When I walked out, I was different somehow. The worst part of it is that I have become absolutely chatty ever since! I trust it is the grace of holy orders."
Bishop Swain told some amusing and poignant stories of his nine-city pilgrimage throughout his new diocese. "What a joy it has been," he said, noting that a "little girl said she saw me on television when I was made pope."
Visiting a reservation
He celebrated Mass in the poorest county in the U.S., "a Native American reservation where living conditions are deplorable and job opportunities for the young are bleak.
"In its midst are three small Catholic churches served by living saints which stand as signs of respect for the people and a beacon of hope that comes only in Jesus Christ." The people enveloped him in a handmade Star Quilt, a sign of respect for his office and of hope.
"I came out of the rectory of the parish. There was a recess in the school across the street. Someone said, 'There's the bishop,' and 200 kids came running. We shared high five's."
As he heads back to Sioux Falls, Bishop Swain said, "I do so with joy and hope ever grateful for the Diocese of Madison whose familiar sustains me and whose memories I will always cherish. We pray for one another as brothers and sisters gifted by him in so many ways. May God bless you all. Give praise to the Lord (the bishop's motto)."
At the Mass, Patrick Gorman directed members of the Diocesan Choir and the Joy Choir of St. Raphael and St. Patrick Parishes.
Catholic group: Sues university for discrimination
By Kathleen Bushman
CATHOLIC HERALD STAFF
MADISON -- After the University of Wisconsin-Madison recently refused to recognize the UW Roman Catholic Foundation (UWRCF) as an official student organization, the group filed a federal lawsuit November 9 against the university claiming discrimination.
The lawsuit, backed by the Arizona-based Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), challenges a UW policy of nondiscrimination on the basis of, among other qualifications, religion, in the membership and leadership of student organizations. The UWRCF is seeking a ruling invalidating the policy, as well as monetary damages.
Charges discrimination
The UWRCF, which operates St. Paul's University Catholic Center, claims that the UW policy
discriminates against religious groups whose members share common beliefs. The lawsuit alleges that the recent refusal for student organization status is only the latest in four years of discrimination by the UW administration.
"Part of this is (the university) just not being sure where the line is between church and
state and just trying to make sure they do follow those boundaries," said Beth Czarnecki, a senior at UW-Madison and a UWRCF board member.
"But also I think that there's some on the administration of the UW that just really don't
want to fund religion. I think they see it as, if religious organizations on campus get funding, it could have a negative impact on the university," she said. "I do think there is a hostile attitude toward religious Christian groups."
Two months ago, the UW refused registered student organization status to the group, saying
that the foundation was allegedly in violation of the anti-discrimination policy and that the UWRCF is not directed by students. The group has said they do not discriminate and that anyone can become a member. Three of the UWRCF's 12-member board are students, the minimum required by UW System policy for registered status.
Lost access, benefits
The UW's decision meant that the UWRCF, which serves the school's estimated 12,000 Catholic students, lost equal access to school facilities and other student organization benefits, including student segregated fees, which are paid each semester by students and distributed to various university groups.
The UWRCF and St. Paul's deserve to get equal treatment with other groups bringing their
viewpoint to the campus, said Mike Varda, the chairman of the UWRCF board of directors.
"We've been encouraged by Bishop (Robert C.) Morlino to do this - the idea of bringing the
mission of the Catholic faith to the campus," he said. "There's no logical reason for denying any faith, let alone a Catholic faith, from the viewpoints on campus.
"This (lawsuit) is a vindication of the right of religion, not exclusively the Catholic religion, to participate in the intellectual forum called the university," Varda said.
UW officials have defended their non-discrimination policies, but at this time were unable to comment on the lawsuit itself.
The UWRCF lawsuit is the latest in a string of battles between Christian groups and the UW-system. Last month, ADF filed a lawsuit against UW-Superior, which had de-recognized the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship chapter on that campus. The university only recently agreed to allow the chapter to enjoy the benefits of official recognition while the lawsuit moves forward.
The ADF's Center for Academic Freedom earlier this year successfully defended a resident assistant's right to hold a bible study in a dormitory at UW-Eau Claire.
"It's ridiculous that we have to file lawsuits against the university system time and time again in order to protect basic First Amendment rights," said David French, ADF senior legal counsel and director of ADF's Center for Academic Freedom. "But we will continue to do so until the university realizes that it cannot continue its attacks on the religious freedom of its students."
Pope Benedict XVI:
Themes, challenges in his pontificate
By Mary C. Uhler
CATHOLIC HERALD STAFF
Second in a two-part series on George Weigel's lecture presented at the Bishop O'Connor Catholic Pastoral Center in Madison on November 9 (read part one)
MADISON -- In his lecture in Madison, George Weigel discussed four main themes emerging in the first 18 months of the pontificate of Pope Benedict XVI - as well as some "urgent challenges" facing the Holy Father.
Weigel, a noted Catholic theologian and senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C., gave his presentation as part of the St. Thérèse of Lisieux Lecture Series.
God is love
The first theme emphasized by Pope Benedict is the title of his first encyclical, Deus Caritas Est (God Is Love). Weigel said he has been struck by how often Pope Benedict comes back to the "image of God with a human face," that is, Christ who displayed his love in his sacrifice on the cross and in his resurrection.
Weigel noted that the fundamental Christian witness to the world is how lives are touched by a God "with the face of love." Unfortunately, Weigel observed, "other concepts of God are wreaking havoc on the world."
But our God is a "God of love," he emphasized.
Failure to recognize truth
Pope Benedict has also stressed the theme of truth. In his lecture at Regensburg in Germany, Weigel said the Holy Father "talked about problems created in worldly affairs by false and distorted views of God. In some strains of Islam, God is perceived as pure will. God can tell you to blow up a pizza parlor in Tel Aviv," for example, said Weigel.
Weigel said the challenge to the West - as embodied in great university cities like Madison - is a retreat from the loss of faith in reason. "There is no such thing as the truth," lamented Weigel. "There's your truth and my truth."
This has led to a crisis in the West, Pope Benedict has said. "He seems to be suggesting that when we lose our conviction that we live in a world that makes sense," we forget about human reproduction, creating the next generation. It also leads to taking of innocent human life, to forgetting that persuasion is better than coercion. If truths have consequences, then failure to recognize truths has "profound results," said Weigel.
Freedom tethered to the truth
Freedom is another main theme of Pope Benedict's pontificate. "Freedom rightly understood is not doing what we like but developing the capacity to freely choose what is good," Weigel explained. "Freedom is tethered to the truth."
The pope has emphasized that there is a call throughout the world to freely choose the good.
Universal call to holiness
The last theme mentioned by Weigel is the universal call to holiness in the church. As a theologian, Joseph Ratzinger was a key player in the Second Vatican Council. "He had a profound influence on Lumen Gentium's fifth chapter on the universal call to holiness," noted Weigel. "Everyone is called to be a saint."
This means all followers of Christ must fulfill their destiny to be "comfortable living with God forever" in heaven, as C. S. Lewis pointed out.
Pope Benedict is a "bracing antidote to Catholic Lite," said Weigel. That's the attitude of "how little do I have to do to stay in the club."
Pope Benedict emphasizes the importance of the Eucharist and the traditions of the Catholic Church.
Challenge: European church is dying
Weigel discussed four challenges facing the pope, noting that Benedict XVI - like his predecessor - faces enormous challenges. As his biographer, Weigel was well-acquainted with Pope John Paul II. "One of my most moving experiences was to be with Pope John Paul II in his chapel before Mass. One could see the weight of the church and the world upon him. It's a man-crushing burden to lay on anyone," he said.
For Benedict XVI, one of the key challenges is the death of the church in Europe. "The church is dying in its historic heartland," said Weigel, who called it a "wasting disease of the spirit."
This has had "profound social consequences," he pointed out. Europe is not only dying spiritually but socially, he said. Current demographics show that the European population is decreasing in all member states in the European Union. There are more deaths than births
and the number of children per women is very low. A recent poll in Italy showed one-half of women aged 16 to 24 have no intention of bearing children.
"This is unprecedented in human history," lamented Weigel. "Europe is healthier and wealthier but it's dying."
The demographics are creating "enormous problems," he said. The demographic vacuum is being filled by immigrants. But this has led to such problems as civil disorder in France with over 1,600 attacks on police and firemen.
Pope Benedict was elected, said Weigel, because the "cardinals believed there is one last shot of reigniting the new evangelization in Europe. We'll see what he does. The history of the 21st Century will be shaped by how he reignites a fire of the spirit. It's the only answer to the dying of the light."
Interreligious dialogue with Islam
Another huge challenge facing Pope Benedict XVI is "forging a strategic interreligious dialogue with Islam." Weigel said the pope's lecture at the University of Regensburg, Germany, in September "rubbed the edges off" the dialogue. But he seemed to say that wasn't necessarily a bad thing.
Weigel noted that 38 Islamic leaders had written a "respectful" open letter to the Holy Father. They admitted that "there are things we need to talk about," including violence,
views about God, and a just society. "He (the Holy Father) issued a challenge and they responded."
The Holy Father realizes that the failure in Islam of a doctrine using reason for religious tolerance is a major challenge. The Catholic Church ought to be able to help Islamic leaders understand the use of reason, especially since the Second Vatican Council
helped develop a theological rationale for religious freedom. "If this doesn't happen in the Islamic world, the results will be extreme," warned Weigel.
Reform of the reform of the liturgy
Another challenge facing the church is in church worship. "Cardinal Ratzinger was a leader in the reform of the reform of the liturgy," said Weigel.
He does not intend to "roll back" all the changes, but rather to "adjust some things so the reform of the liturgy might be achieved." One of Pope Benedict's criticisms was that the reform of the liturgy after the Second Vatican Council was done too quickly.
The pope will remind us about what we do in the liturgy, that we should think of ourselves in church as in a "window between heaven and earth." Weigel said the pope will emphasize that "our full, conscious, active participation is not about us but about God sanctifying his people."
Selecting bishops
A fourth challenge is the criteria for the selection of bishops in the church. Weigel said Pope Benedict realizes bishops have to be able to "speak to the world." As such, the premium will be on "boldness, rather than on safety, to build the capacity to teach the truth in a compelling way."
Weigel said Pope Benedict will continue to challenge Catholics to be a "Eucharistically-centered church." That emphasis ties together all of his key principles, he noted, for it is in the Eucharist that "we meet the God who is love, truth, and freedom, who makes us holy as he is holy. If we are a Eucharistic-centered church, all the rest will be resolved in the right way," he said.
Weigel is the author of 18 books, including his most recent: God's Choice: Pope Benedict XVI and the Future of the Catholic Church.
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