2008 Archive

  • Issue of July 20th – August 1st

    Church responds as violence spikes

    It started in April, when headlines screamed “36 shootings, 9 homicides” over the course of one weekend. Since then, the violence has continued, with news of shootings nearly every day.

    The violence has touched the Catholic community, with Catholic school students and adult Catholics among the victims, and violence occurring near and sometimes even on church property.

    Humanae Vitae 40 years later

    Pope Paul VI’s historic encyclical declared contraception immoral

    Certainly the older generations remember the vivid reactions, all around the world not only in secular circles, but also among Catholics, evoked by the encyclical by Pope Paul VI on moral values with regard to transmitting human life, titled Humanae Vitae.

    July 25 marks 40 years since it was published. The occasion was the reason for Pope Benedict XVI to confirm the encyclical’s relevance in today’s world during a special international scientific congress, titled “Custodians and Advocates of Life,” held at the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome, in May.

    Pilgrimage to Lourdes

    Following in the footsteps of St. Bernadette

    About 180 Catholics from the Archdiocese of Chicago will join their brothers and sisters in faith from all over the world in celebrating the 150th anniversary of the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary to St. Bernadette in August.

    Cardinal George will lead the Chicago pilgrimage. This spiritual journey, titled, “Our Lady of Lourdes: A Message of Grace, Hope and Joy,” was open to people of all ages from all areas of the archdiocese, with special encouragement to people in need of healing.

    Chicago Catholics can participate in pilgrimage without leaving area

    Catholics from the Archdiocese of Chicago can take part in an “at home” Lourdes pilgrimage at Chicago-area churches and shrines Aug. 1-8.

    The series of celebrations is designed to unite the faithful here in prayer with the participants of the Archdiocese of Chicago Lourdes Pilgrimage 2008.

    Holy Rosary, St. Anthony merge saying ‘it’s a wedding’

    Holy Rosary Church survived for 126 years, through an arson fire, a changing neighborhood and the wrath of railroad tycoon George Pullman, who opposed its presence in the far South Side Pullman neighborhood he built.

    But Holy Rosary couldn’t survive red ink, and the parish merged last month with nearby St. Anthony of Padua Church in ceremonies marked by both tears and smiles. The new parish goes by the St. Anthony name.

    Saul of Tarsus before Damascus

    Following in the footsteps of St. Bernadette

    St. Paul is one of the best-known personalities of the ancient world — a historian’s dream come true. Not only do we have some of his own letters, we also have an account of his life’s work in the Acts of the Apostles (attributed to St. Luke). Paul is referred to in other ancient writings within 50 years of his death, and by that point his own letters were copied and distributed so far and wide that he would have been amazed.

    Because of this, we have a better idea of Paul’s life than we do of many major figures of the Roman Empire. We certainly know more about Paul than we do, humanly speaking, about Jesus, who left no personal writings at all.

  • Issue of July 6th – July 19th

    Pope John Paul II’s secretary pays a visit

    Polish Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, archbishop of Krakow, spent three days making pastoral visits to Chicago’s Poles

    Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, Archbishop of Krakow, visited the Windy City June 27-29 and provided Catholic Poles with a historically memorable feast. As a friend and long-term personal secretary to their beloved Pope John Paul II, Cardinal Dziwisz came to Chicago as a guest of Cardinal Francis George and Auxiliary Bishop Thomas Paprocki, the liaison to Polish people in Chicago.

    Chicago was one of a few places the Polish cardinal visited while traveling to North America for the International Eucharistic Congress in Quebec City, Canada, as a representative of the Polish Bishops’ Conference.

    Interview with Cardinal Dziwisz

    Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz’s visit to the city was highly anticipated within the Archdiocese of Chicago and the Polish community. The former secretary of the beloved Polish pope shared his thoughts with the Catholic New World on life with Pope John Paul II and his life now as archbishop of Krakow by responding to written questions.

    New school breaks ground on West Side

    The audience of about 200 people at the June 26 groundbreaking for the new Christ the King Jesuit College Preparatory School included movers and shakers, prominent business leaders, civic leaders, officials and church prelates.

    The speakers on the dais included Cardinal George, the pastor of more than 2.3 million Catholics in the Archdiocese of Chicago, and Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley.

    But the person who got the most attention when she approached the microphone was 13-year-old Shaquocora Henderson, a recent eighth-grade graduate from KIPP-Ascend Charter School, who is among the 120 students who will make up Christ the King’s founding class.

    Confirmation gives us armor to be Jesus’ soldiers

    God calls each of us to be soldiers of Christ. We are challenged to boldly proclaim the Gospel, and as Pope Benedict XVI recently reminded us, even in the most challenging of settings — the streets of the world.

    Soldier-saints like Joan of Arc and Ignatius Loyola knew they could not withstand battle without protection. Neither can we engage in the dramatic spiritual battle that surrounds us unless we arm ourselves.

    Through baptism, we become adopted sons and daughters of God. Yet, the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that: “by the sacrament of confirmation, [the baptized] are more perfectly bound to the church and are enriched with a special strength of the Holy Spirit. Hence they are, as true witnesses of Christ, more strictly obliged to spread and defend the faith by word and deed (No. 1285).”

  • Issue of June 22nd – July 5th

    Celebrating the Apostle Paul

    From June 29, 2008, to June 29, 2009, the universal Catholic Church will celebrate the Jubilee Year of St. Paul

    Pope Benedict XVI previously announced a special jubilee year dedicated to St. Paul, saying the church needs modern Christians who will imitate the apostle’s missionary energy and spirit of sacrifice.

    The pope said the Pauline year will run from June 28, 2008, to June 29, 2009, to mark the approximately 2,000th anniversary of the saint's birth.

    “Dear brothers and sisters, as in the (church’s) beginning, today, too, Christ needs apostles ready to sacrifice themselves. He needs witnesses and martyrs like St. Paul,” the pope said earlier this year.

    The Pauline year will feature numerous special liturgies and events in Rome, the pope said, but should also be celebrated in local churches and in the sanctuaries, religious orders and other institutions that have a special link to St. Paul.

    In a special way, the Pauline year will be ecumenical, reflecting the saint’s commitment to the unity and harmony among all Christians, he said.

    The Catholic New World will offer stories throughout this special year highlighting the famous apostle’s influence in the Archdiocese of Chicago and among its people

    John Paul II’s secretary to visit Chicago’s Polish community

    When Pope John Paul II’s righthand man steps off a plane in Chicago on June 27, he’ll warmly remind Catholics here of the late pontiff.

    He’ll also reach out to Chicago’s Polish Catholics in his role, since 2005, as Archbishop of Krakow, Poland.

    Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz’s visit will strengthen the bonds between Poles here and the church in Poland, said Bishop Thomas Paprocki, who serves as the Archdiocese of Chicago’s liaison to Polish Catholics.

    Gas prices drive up the cost of doing good

    Drivers have had to dig deeper and deeper into their pockets to fill their gas tanks in recent months — and that includes people who drive for charity.

    Al Kaczmaryn has been delivering Meals on Wheels for Catholic Charities in Lake County for eight years. He started driving two days a week; now he does two routes — a total of 22-24 people — five days a week.

    Gas was a bit less expensive then — somewhere in the neighborhood of $1.50 a gallon — but Kaczmaryn isn’t one to count the cost. He’s never figured out how much his volunteer driving costs, and he’s not about to try now. But he is happy to be driving a four-cylinder Nissan that gets good mileage, he said.

    Catholic cafe The Ark feeds the spirit and soul

    Zaid Jazrawi has owned businesses his entire life, but never one like The Ark Cafe and Treasures at 1209 N. Noble St.

    “It is my first business after my conversion. That is why I always trust in Jesus and Mary in prayer” he said.

    Parallel to the vision of the Sanctuary of Divine Mercy at St. Stanislaus Kostka Church a block away, The Ark hopes to be a safe haven where people can simply “be,” outside of everyday chaos. Unlike the silence that will characterize the future Sanctuary, The Ark offers a space to unite in friendship and community.

  • Issue of June 8th – June 21th

    Our Lady of the Sign unveiled

    St. Stanislaus Kostka Parish presents iconic monstrance as part of new Divine Mercy shrine

    Nine years of prayer, work and faith culminated on the Feast of the Visitation, May 31, when curtains parted in the sanctuary of St. Stanislaus Kostka Church, 1351 W. Evergreen Ave., to reveal an iconic monstrance of Our Lady of the Sign, Ark of Mercy.

    It’s just the beginning, however, of what will be the Sanctuary of Divine Mercy, the official shrine to the Divine Mercy devotion in Chicago.

    Archdiocese of Chicago welcomes eight new men to permanent diaconate ministry

    The Archdiocese of Chicago welcomed eight new permanent deacons May 25.

    The men were ordained by Cardinal George at St. Cletus in La Grange after they completed years of preparation and discernment. The men now will minister to their parishes by assisting at Mass and celebrating sacraments such as baptism and matrimony, preaching homilies and engaging in acts of service.

    ‘We are all God’s family’

    Catholics join members of other faiths in march, vigil for immigration reform

    About 1,000 people made their way into Chicago’s historic Holy Family Church May 29, singing and praying as they walked — one woman on her knees — to declare that “We are all God’s family,” and ask that immigration policies that separate families be changed.

    The people came from Chicago and its suburbs, with groups of Latinos and Anglos mingling as they walked in procession from the John Paul II Newman Center at the University of Illinois at Chicago, 700 S. Morgan St. to Holy Family, 1080 W. Roosevelt Road, a distance of a little more than a half-mile.

    Pfleger asked to ‘step back’ after controversy

    After nearly a week of controversy, Cardinal George told Father Michael Pfleger, pastor of St. Sabina Parish, to “take a couple of weeks of leave” to “put recent events in some perspective.”

    The cardinal’s June 3 statement, reprinted on this page, noted that Pfleger did not agree that stepping away from the parish temporarily was the right move.

    Guide to Catholic Chicago 2008 Marian Shrines

    For the past few years, we’ve taken you on a spiritual tour through the area with the Catholic Guide to Chicago. This year we wanted to explore how much we all love Mary by taking a look at the expressions of honor for her throughout the Archdiocese of Chicago, and there are many.

  • Issue of May 25th – June 7 th

    ‘It will be a life of great joy.’

    Cardinal passes on advice to new priests during ordination; families come to celebrate

    Minutes after being ordained, Father Przemyslaw Wojcik stood beaming with happiness and granting his first blessing to well-wishers.

    He felt charged up after a joyful ordination ceremony on May 17. “It was this unbelievable feeling of being part of the mission of Jesus Christ,” he said.

    Wojcik said he felt some spiritual, sacred moments during the ceremony when the priest candidates prostrated themselves, laying on the floor in a gesture of humility. The choir sang out the names of the saints, and Wojcik said he could feel the saints’ energy.

    “It wasn’t just us praying, it was all the saints praying,” he explained.

    They had plenty of human company. More than 150 priests attended the ordination ceremony, starting the day with a dignified procession into St. Juliana Church, 7201 N. Oketo Ave., Chicago. They were followed by the archdiocesan bishops and Cardinal Francis George, while hundreds of family members and friends of the priest candidates filled the rest of the pews. These ordinations took place at St. Juliana because Holy Name Cathedral is undergoing repairs

    Cardinal will ordain two Canons Regular of St. John Cantius

    In ceremonies May 29 at 7:30 p.m. at St. John Cantius Church, 825 N. Carpenter St., Cardinal George will ordain two professed members of the Canons Regular of St. John Cantius as priests for the Archdiocese of Chicago.

    The Canons Regular of St. John Cantius is a Catholic religious community of priests and brothers founded in the Archdiocese of Chicago in 1998. Members devote themselves in parish ministry to a restoration of the sacred in liturgy, art, music and church history.

    Christ’s death is ‘re-presented’ through the Eucharist

    The Second Vatican Council declared that taking part in the Eucharistic sacrifice (Mass) is the “source and summit” of the whole Christian life. Further, the council documents teach that through the action of the Eucharist human beings offer Jesus, who is the Divine Victim, to God along with themselves.

    In making this declaration, the council cited a sentence from John’s Gospel that implies that the Eucharist is meant to strengthen and make real our relationship with God. “And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself” (Jn 12:32).

    School builds on strengths

    Once nearly closed, St. John Berchmans finds ways to attract families in growing community

    Three years ago in February, Allan Syc, a corporate attorney from the northern suburbs, read in the Chicago Tribune that St. John Berchmans School — from which he had graduated in 1961 — was to close.

    In her home across the street from the school, Angie Garza, heard the same news.

    The school was one of 23 whose closures were announced the same day. Its enrollment, at 240 students, was higher than many of the soon-to-close schools, but it bore a debt of $300,000 to the archdiocese.

    And while neither Syc nor Garza had any formal relationship with the school at that time, both came out for a community meeting on whether — and how — the school could be saved.

    Environmental academy sees dream start to bloom

    St. Monica Catholic Academy on the Northwest Side looks like lots of other Catholic schools: clean and neat, with lots of student-created artwork on the walls.

    But the seeds of an idea are germinating, beginning to grow and bear fruit.

    St. Monica is the first environmental academy in the Archdiocese of Chicago, with a curriculum its faculty wrote in cooperation with education experts from the Chicago Botanic Garden.

    Cardinal George was to highlight the school’s efforts at a press conference May 22 with new Catholic schools superintendent, Dominican Sister M. Paul McCaughey, leaders from the Chicago Botanic Garden and the city of Chicago.

    Memorial Day: Honoring those who died for our freedom

    Each year, Memorial Day is observed in Catholic cemeteries throughout the Archdiocese of Chicago with special field and memorial Masses. This year’s schedule is as follows:

  • Issue of May 11th – May 24th

    Come, Lord Jesus
    Thousands attend Charismatic event

    If Norma Ibarra were to summarize how she would characterize the Hispanic Charismatic Renewal Conference held recently at the University of Illinois-Chicago Pavilion, she would say it in a word: healing.

    Many of the nearly 10,000 of the faithful who attended the twoday conference at this university location came charged with faith.

    Ministering within a culture not your own

    Churches in the archdiocese are no strangers to cultural diversity.

    But that doesn’t make it any easier for people of different cultures to understand one another, to welcome one another and to offer the pastoral services parishioners need.

    Precious Blood Father Robert Schreiter explored the difficulties of “Ministering in a Culture Not Your Own” in an April 29 presentation at Sacred Heart Parish in Palos Hills. The presentation was hosted by Centro Espiritu Santo, a formation center of the Archdiocese of Chicago in Vicariate V that works to improve leadership formation for Hispanic ministry.

    “There is no clear answer on this,” Schreiter said.

    11 men to be ordained for archdiocese

    Cardinal George is expected to ordain 11 new priests for the archdiocese May 17 at St. Juliana Church, 7201 N. Oketo. The men are a diverse group, with five from Poland, two from Tanzania, two from Mexico, one from Colombia and one from Ecuador. All accepted the Archdiocese of Chicago’s invitation to leave their homeland and minister to the church here.

    The men are a younger group than those ordained in recent years, with an average of about 29.5 years old. Last year’s class of 13 had an average of nearly 33. They were welcomed as young men at Abramowicz Preparatory Seminary, for seminarians coming from Poland; Tuite House, for African-American and African young men discerning a call to the priesthood; and Casa Jesus, a house of discernment for young men from Latin America. The Catholic New World congratulates them.

    Chicago’s Nurse Parade celebrates 50th anniversary, honors patients

    When Mary Cunningham marched in the festive Chicago Nurse Parade in 1958, the fanfare of the marching bands and the applause of spectators made for a fun day she still remembers.

    She returned May 4 to the place where it all began, Our Lady of Sorrows Basilica, 3121 W. Jackson Blvd., for a Mass marking the 50th anniversary of the last Nurse Parade. The parade made a big impression. “You were so proud to be a nurse,” said Cunningham, of Park Ridge, of that parade on May 9, 1958.

  • Issue of April 27th – May 10th

    Viva il Papa!
    Pope brought a message of joy and hope to U.S.

    Benedict XVI achieved objectives critical to future of Catholic Church in America

    On his first trip to the United States, Pope Benedict XVI achieved three objectives that could be considered critical to the pastoral future of the American church.

    First, the pope brought a certain closure to the priestly sex-abuse scandal that has shaken the church for more than six years, expressing his personal shame at what happened and praying with the victims.

    Second, he set forth a moral challenge to the wider U.S. culture on issues ranging from economic justice to abortion, but without coming across as doctrinaire or bullying.

    Chicagoans see pope as a 'real person'

    When Pope Benedict XVI came down the stairs from the chartered Alitalia Boeing 777 - nicknamed "Shepherd One" by journalists and air-traffic controllers - that brought him and his entourage from Rome April 15, he was greeted by Catholic school students singing "Happy Birthday," military personnel and their family members waving gold-and-white Vatican flags and warm greetings from President and first lady George W. and Laura Bush.

    Dozens, if not hundreds, of Chicagoans added their voices to the warm welcome to Pope Benedict over his six-day visit to Washington, D.C. and New York.

    Cardinal George says pope 'well received'

    It was hard to miss our own Cardinal George among those traveling with Pope Benedict XVI on his trip to the United States. As president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Cardinal George was the official bishops' representative to the pontiff during his six days here. The cardinal was among the few to receive him upon his arrival, to sit with him during meals and join him at the altar during the celebration of the Eucharist.

    He shared with the Catholic New World some of the highlights of the visit.

    Deacon's encounter with pope feeds his soul

    From the moment "Shepherd One" landed at Andrews Air Force Base on April 15 I was glued to my television in my room at Mundelein Seminary. As I surfed through the channels, all had the same images; the 265th successor of St. Peter making his way down the stairs from the papal plane with zucchetto in hand and in a very unlikely stride for an octogenarian. I followed his steps in Washington, D.C. through the wonders of television and Internet, and on April 17, I took a plane from O'Hare International Airport headed to New York. Among the things that I packed in my carry-on bag were all the remarks the pontiff had made up to that time. I read carefully each one, as deep down I was getting ready to experience first hand the unity of the supreme shepherd together with his flock.

    Words of Pope Benedict spoke 'directly to us'

    Young adult shares how seeing pontiff in New York inspired hope in Christ and courage to live in him

    "Dear friends, only God in his providence knows what works his grace has yet to bring forth in your lives and in the life of the Church in the United States." With these words, Pope Benedict XVI began to close his homily at Yankee Stadium on April 20, and in a greater sense, encapsulate the entire message of his apostolic journey. When we heard our Holy Father was coming to the United States, we had a great desire to welcome him and bring his message back to Chicago. Young adults face an immense challenge to escape from the noise of our culture in order to hear God's voice. In light of this, Pope Benedict's message of hope comes at a crucial time for all of us.

    Pope celebrates, shares personal touch on visit

    Pope visits Cardinal Dulles

    Pope Benedict XVI took a few moments out of his demanding schedule for a private meeting April 19 with one of America's pre-eminent theologians, the ailing, 89-year-old Cardinal Avery Dulles.

    Organ recipients, families gather to remember and pray

    Ben Mazzone felt the presence of someone with him this Easter as he prayed during Mass at St. Benedict Church on Irving Park. He felt the presence of the woman whose lungs he now breathes with. All he knows about her is that she was young, and she died in Buffalo, N.Y. "I believe in the communion of saints," Mazzone said. "I will meet her one day." Mazzone lit a candle for her April 10 at "Let Yourself Begin Again," a candlelight ceremony at Loyola University Medical Center's Paul V. Galvin Memorial Chapel for organ transplant patients and their families to honor and remember their donors. The event recognized National Donate Life Month.

     

  • Issue of April 13th – April 26th

    He is coming!

    This week, Pope Benedict XVI will make his first visit to America since his election in 2005. It's an exciting time for Catholics in the United States.

    Chicagoans get ready to welcome Pope Benedict to the United States

    On April 20, Yankee stadium will be brimming with a crowd expecting something other than baseball. They will come to see Pope Benedict offer Mass, just days after his 81st birthday, during his first visit to the United States. This Mass event is being organized by the Archdiocese of New York and the tickets for this event were dispersed throughout U.S. dioceses. They received more than 150,000 requests for only 46,000 available tickets.

    Cardinal George shares his insights on the pope and this historic visit

    When Pope Benedict XVI steps off the plane in Washington, D.C., one of the first people to greet him will be our own Cardinal George. As president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the cardinal will greet the pontiff on behalf of all the U.S. bishops. He will also travel with the pope during his time here. The Catholic New World asked Cardinal George to share some of his insights on Pope Benedict XVI and his trip.

    Pope Benedict's message to America for trip: pray

    Here is the Vatican text of Pope Benedict XVI's message, in English and Spanish, to Catholics in the United States. The pope will visit the U.S. April 15-20.

    Logistics: Keeping track of details for pope's U.S. Masses

    From the huge windows of his office overlooking St. Peter's Square, Pope Benedict XVI's chief liturgist can, and does, keep track of every detail that goes into preparing a papal liturgy. The papal venues in the United States are not directly under his nose, but Msgr. Guido Marini still knows every detail of the two evening prayer services and three Masses Pope Benedict will celebrate in Washington and New York April 15-20.

  • Holy Name will stay closed until further notice

    Repairs to roof structure to take longer than anticipated With Holy Name Cathedral closed until further notice, organizers of several events are scrambling to find alternate sites, while the clergy and pastoral staff work to maintain service for worshippers in other buildings. Weekend Masses are being celebrated in the parish center auditorium, with daily Masses in the parish center's lower level club room. Baptisms are celebrated in the cathedral chapel - which remains open during repairs to the main building - and confessions are being heard in the chapel at Casa Jesus, which occupies a former convent building next door to the cathedral.

  • Yearly chrysanthemums mark longest marriage

    It was Thanksgiving Day of 1937 at a football game when they first met. He was out on the field and she was a cheerleader for the opposing team. "She was my rival - I booed the first time I saw her!" said James D. Lee of St. Clotilde's parish. He and his wife, Florence, were honored by the archdiocese as the longest-married black Catholic couple in Chicago. "Later on that night, I saw her at a dance, and I didn't boo this time - I asked her for a dance."

  • Black married couples come together to renew, rejoice, reflect

    "Live in me, Lord, for I may be the only Jesus this generation may see; I will be flesh for you if you will be spirit for me." These words, from the song "Live in Me Jesus" by Calvin Bernard Rhone, transformed John and Pamela Ashford's marriage. The couple from St. Ailbe Parish, 9015 S. Harper Ave., spoke at the archdiocese's Black Marriage Day prayer service on March 30 at St. Clotilde Parish, 8430 S. Calumet Ave. The event brought together black couples married for more than 50 years, and any other couples wishing to attend, for a renewal of vows and a celebration of successful marriage.

  • Issue of March 30th – April 12th

    Holy Week and the sacred Triduum

    Journey through Holy Week In baptism, the Lord gives us his greatest gift In the last lines of Matthew's Gospel, the risen Jesus instructs his disciples to "Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Mt 28:19). This mandate has a sense of urgency and necessity because the ultimate fulfillment and destiny of all human beings is to be in communion with God and one another.

    Remembering the tragic riots of 1968

    When looting and fires broke out on the West Side after the death of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Catholics throughout Chicago mobilized and aided victims When St. Malachy's School had a reunion two years ago, a lot of the people who came back didn't even recognize the old neighborhood, said Fred Jones when asked what had happened to one of the worst-hit areas during the riots following Rev. Martin Luther King's assassination 40 years ago this month. Until about 10 years ago, large parts of Lawndale were still a patchwork of burned out lots and empty storefronts, "and now you've got homes starting at $250,000," said Jones, a retired teacher who helps out these days at St. Malachy's front office.

  • In baptism, the Lord gives us his greatest gift

    In the last lines of Matthew’s Gospel, the risen Jesus instructs his disciples to “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Mt 28:19).

  • Young people take on a mission for God

    It’s a chilly morning, and the eight young women in the former convent at Our Lady of Victory Parish are off to a slow start. After morning prayer and breakfast, they are seated in a circle to talk about the day ahead, when they will take the Gospel to the streets.

    They are among several dozen young people dispersed to about a dozen parishes in Chicago for a Holy Week “Youth Mission,” organized by Regnum Christi, an apostolic movement affiliated with the Legionaries of Christ.

  • Issue of March 16th – March 29th

    Coming into the fold

    Converts to the faith share their journeys to the church

    Each year during the Easter Vigil Mass, people of various backgrounds, religious and otherwise, step up to the altar - after months of religious instruction - and proclaim that they want to be members of the Catholic Church. They enter into the fold in what is for many, a very moving moment. Conversion is a journey we are all on and it doesn't end until death. But we can learn from each other along the way. The Catholic New World spoke to two recent converts and to some soon-to-be converted to gain insight into what attracts people to our faith.

    Religious leaders, others pray and rally for young victims

    Eighteen Chicago public school students have been killed by gun violence since the school year started in September. One is too many, according to Father Michael Pfleger, pastor of St. Sabina Parish, Mayor Richard M. Daley and a group of religious leaders, public officials and parents of slain children who gathered at St. Sabina March 11 to announce two initiatives under the banner of "Save Our Children."

    Chicago priest says: 'It's my turn to go'

    Defying danger, Father Matt Foley, pastor of St. Agnes of Bohemia in Chicago's Little Village, has decided to go to Iraq to "bring the Word of God" at a time when "prayer and faith are indispensable." An inconsolable mother who still cries over the death of her son in Afghanistan was what compelled Foley to make the decision to volunteer as an Army chaplain.

  • New Good Friday prayer sparks discussion

    On Good Friday this year, worshippers in at least one congregation in the Archdiocese of Chicago are expected to hear a Latin prayer that has sparked ongoing discussion among Catholics and Jews about what the church really is praying for. The text, made available only in Latin with no official translations, begins: "Let us pray for the Jews. May the Lord our God enlighten their hearts so that they may acknowledge Jesus Christ, the savior of all men," according to a translation from Catholic News Service.

  • Parishes offer Divine Mercy devotions March 30

  • Issue of March 2nd – March 15th

    Called to conversion

    RCIA candidates participate in Rite of Election

    Rosa Jimenez from Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish holds up the Book of the Elect during the Rite of Election at Holy Name Cathedral on Feb. 17.It was one of five ceremonies held at the cathedral for people who will become Catholic or complete their sacraments of inititation at the Easter vigil. Overall, about 2,200 adults are expected to come into full communion with the church: 500 to be baptized, 500 who have been baptized in other denominations to become Catholic and 700 Catholics to receive First Holy Communion and confirmation.

    Holy Name Cathedral closes for structural repairs

    As of Feb. 26 Holy Name Cathedral was closed for repairs. Extensive safety measures have been taken and structural fixes will be made at the historic church located at 735 N. State St. All Masses, including Sunday Masses, will be moved to the cathedral's Parish Center auditorium, according to a statement from the archdiocese's Office for Communications. "It was certainly not the news we wanted to hear," said Father Dan Mayall, pastor of Holy Name Cathedral. "We're still hopeful that the place will be open by Easter."

  • High school president named superintendent

    Dominican Sister M. Paul McCaughey, a graduate of Catholic schools in the archdiocese, will take the reins as superintendent of Catholic schools July 1. McCaughey, who currently serves as president of Marian Catholic High School in Chicago Heights, will make the transition from leading one high school with about 1,500 students to an archdiocesan system with 98,000 students in 217 elementary and 39 secondary schools. "It's going to be interesting," said Mc- Caughey, a member of the Dominican Sisters of Springfield. "I plan to go and see some representative schools within the system, and to make myself available during the transition."

    In the footsteps of the apostles: five years later

    Bishops Garcia-Siller, Kane and Paprocki reflect upon their ministry and learning

    March 19, 2003, was a chilly, damp day in Chicago, the kind of day when the dark skies made the city seem an inhospitable place. But inside Holy Name Cathedral, the welcome could not have been warmer for three new auxiliary bishops who were ordained. With worshippers packing the pews and shoulder to shoulder along the walls, two favorite sons - Thomas J. Paprocki and Francis J. Kane - and newcomer Gustavo Garcia-Siller became the newest shepherds of the church in Chicago.

    A city built with lots of faith

    Exhibit looks at how Catholics influenced Chicago

    In June of 1926, more than a million Catholics came to Soldier Field and the University of St. Mary of the Lake in Mundelein for the 28th International Eucharistic Congress. The Catholic school children that made up the choir for the opening Mass alone numbered 60,000. The event was "a very public attempt to blend Catholic and American cultures, and it was a statement about the coming of age of an immigrant church," according to the Oct. 17, 1999, edition of the Catholic New World. So when the Chicago History museum decided to mount an exhibit on "Catholic Chicago," researchers and curators had a lot of material to work with. The exhibit opens March 8 and will run through Jan. 4, 2009, with sections on the historical role of parishes in the city, the role Catholic schools have played, how Catholic communities support their members, worship in the city and changes in the church since the 1960s.

    God acts through the sacraments and changes us

    By participating in these celebrations, we experience the Lord's saving, redeeming presence

    I teach a class in the sacraments for the archdiocesan deacon and lay ecclesial minister formation programs. Each year, in the first class, I ask for a definition of the word sacrament. Without hesitation more than a few people respond, out loud, in unison: "an outward sign instituted by Christ to give grace." This is, as many will recognize, the answer to question number 574 in the Baltimore Catechism ("What is a sacrament?") The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines a sacrament using the same formula, expanding it slightly: "The sacraments are efficacious signs of grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the church, by which divine life is dispensed to us" (No. 1131). We believe that in the celebration of the sacraments, something happens. The sacraments are not simply ceremonies. Certainly they are liturgical celebrations, and we hope that they are celebrated as beautifully as they possibly can be.

  • Issue of February 17 th – March 1st

    Old St. Mary's: 175 years strong

    Parish continues to reinvent itself

    In April 1833, Chicago wasn't much more than a small frontier settlement, a collection of houses and commercial buildings surrounding Fort Dearborn. It was not yet a town, let alone a city.
    But it housed enough Catholics to petition Bishop Joseph Rosati of the Diocese of St. Louis for a priest to start a parish.
    "We, the Catholics of Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, lay before you the necessity there exists to have a pastor in the new and flourishing city. We count about 100 Catholics in this town. We will not cease to pray until you have taken our important request into consideration," their petition said.
    St. Mary of the Assumption was born May 5, 1833, when Father John Mary Ireneaus St. Cyr arrived and celebrated the first Mass in a log building near the Sauganash Tavern, where he was staying. Shortly thereafter, a log building was built at State and Lake streets for worship.

    Around the church in 365 days

    Nicaragua, Israel, Uganda and Spain all in one night. A dream: 365 days in 365 different places, each destination a new opportunity to experience Christ made flesh in our world today. "Forget about it," the dreamer was told by his spiritual director. "If you can forget about it, then it was nothing; but if it keeps coming back to your heart, then it is something of the Spirit, and we need to pay attention to it." He could not forget.

  • Issue of February 3rd – February 16th

    Witnesses to the Gospel of Life

    Young and old stand up and speak out against the culture of death on 35th anniversary of Roe v Wade

    Jesus, youth, prayer and religious vocations were the dominant themes of the archdiocese's 2008 March for Life Pilgrimage to Washington, D.C. And, of course, witnessing to the dignity of life for the unborn on the 35th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion. It's dubbed a pilgrimage by the archdiocese's Respect Life Office and it truly is. High school and college students, chaperones, priests and individual laypeople boarded five charter buses on Jan. 20 at St. Lawrence O'Toole Parish in Matteson, following a send off Mass with Auxiliary Bishop Thomas Paprocki - and settled in for the long-haul 12-hour, over-night bus ride to Washington, D.C.

    Finding more than physical balance in gym

    Marcia Berke has been trying to put some balance in her students' lives in more ways than one.

    The new physical education department chair at Resurrection High School, 7500 W. Talcott Ave., recently bought four "bosu" balls and four rocker boards with part of the $1,140 grant she got from the Illinois Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance.

    University staff learns about Catholic identity

    St. Xavier University, billed as Chicago's oldest, was founded by the Sisters of Mercy in 1846, there was no doubt as to what made it a Catholic institution, or, more specifically, a Mercy institution.

    Even 50 years ago, students and visitors would have seen a uniformly Catholic student body and sisters in habits in classrooms and hallways, said Mercy Sister Sue Sanders, the vice president for heritage and mission

  • Issue of January 20th – February 2nd

    Starting over in Chicago

    St. Gregory School goes the extra mile to reach out to refugees

    Finding a new home here Thierry Mubugora is a soft-spoken young man, who fidgets with his calculator while he searches for words in English. "I like St. Greg's," he said. To explain why, he switches to speaking French and turns to Catholic Charities' caseworker Dagmara Drazewska for the translation. "There were fights in his old school every day," she translates.

    Around the world's religions

    Suburban sixth-graders get a whirlwind tour of faiths The sixth-grade students of St. Mary School in Riverside pad quietly up the stairs, through a hallway and into a temple building at the Chicago Greater Hindu Temple in Lemont. They gather in a room with shrines to various deities set into the walls, and watch quietly while a priest with a towel around his waist bathes one of the statues of the deities. The guide explains who the various deities are, and that they have more than one name. The way they are worshipped also varies by geographical region, he explains, because the practice of Hinduism grew up over more than 6,000 years in local communities that did not always have much contact with one another.

    Baby Finn's family finds hope in faith

    When Fintan Shiltz's parents got the phone call a little after midnight Dec. 26, it was the Christmas gift they had been waiting for. Their youngest child, born Sept. 18, would get the new heart he needed to survive. But Mark and Gina Schiltz knew their gift came with an incredible price: another family had lost their baby on Christmas Day.

    Archdiocese passes annual child-protection audit

    The Archdiocese of Chicago is in compliance with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops charter for child sexual-abuse prevention following a 2007 audit by The Gavin Group. A letter sent to Cardinal George from William Gavin of The Gavin Group, dated Jan. 1, 2008, stated "the conclusions reached as to the compliance of your archdiocese with the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People are based on the completeness and accuracy of the information furnished by the archdiocese.

  • Issue of January 6th – January 19th

    Works of mercy focus of cardinal’s Christmas Day

    Christ told his followers in Matthew 25 to feed the hungry, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked, visit the sick and imprisoned and bury the dead. Catholics call these “works of mercy.”

    On Christmas Day, Cardinal George focused on the works of visiting the sick and imprisoned when he celebrated Mass for men detained in Cook County Jail’s maximum-security Division 10 and blessed children hospitalized in Chicago’s Children’s Memorial Hospital.

    Fire will not destroy San Rocco Oratory

    San Rocco Oratory will be OK.
    That’s the prevailing message a few weeks after a Dec. 23 electrical fire damaged much of the Chicago Heights building.
    “As long as we stay together as we have all these years we’ll be OK,” said oratory member Vera DiMaggio, 51, of St. John, Ind.

    Legacy of Mother Cabrini lives on

    Relic reawakens spirit of Mother Cabrini’s mission
    On the 90th anniversary of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini’s death, Dec. 22, the Shrine of Our Lady of Pompeii held a Mass to end a tour of the relic of her arm bone. For the past six months, this remnant of America’s first saint has been brought to many churches, reaching each of the Archdiocese of Chicago’s vicariates.
    “It has been an opportunity to share the gift that Mother Cabrini is to us, to deepen our consciousness of her spirituality,” said Missionary Sister of the Sacred Heart Joan McGlinchey, the archdiocese’s vicar for religious and also a member of the congregation’s general consulate in Rome.

  • Pope Benedict XVI and Iraq War top Catholic news in 2007

    The national debate over immigration issues was the top religious news story of 2007 and Pope Benedict XVI was the top newsmaker, according to an annual Catholic News Service poll.
    Catholic response to the war in Iraq took second place among the 30 news stories on the ballot, while developments in the stem-cell field came in third.
    Pope Benedict dominated the newsmakers list. President George W. Bush was a distant second, followed by Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta. The poll was the 46th annual survey of CNS client newspapers