Catholic New World - News Digest

News Update

Abramowicz fundraiser

Cardinal George and the auxiliary bishops will be in attendance at the annual benefit dinner for the archdiocese's Bishop Abramowicz Seminary Sept. 12 at the Sheraton Chicago Hotel & Towers, 301 E. North Water St. There will be a silent auction and cocktails at 5 p.m. followed by dinner at 6 p.m.

The Bishop Abramowicz Seminary Program has annually recruited seminarians in Poland since September 1999. With the approval of their respective bishops, these seminarians freely elect to leave their native Poland and complete their seminary training at Bishop Abramowicz Seminary in Chicago and then at the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary. After ordination, these priests serve in parishes throughout the Archdiocese of Chicago, including those that have a significant number of Polish parishioners as well as parishes that serve other cultures. Tickets are $175 each. Call Camille Kopielski at (847) 394-2520.

Schools conference

The 2010 Strengthening Catholic Schools Conference will be held Sept. 18 from 8 a.m.-12:45 p.m. at Nazareth Academy in LaGrange Park.

The conference is intended for all pastors, whether or not their parish involves a school, principals, presidents, boards of specified jurisdiction and advisory board members, finance and development board members, parent organization officers and members, legislative action persons and all other school community personnel and volunteers.

The conference will include board formation, marketing, finances, Catholic identity, academic excellence, educational legislation and family service projects. John Croghan, chairman of the archdiocese's Board of Catholic Schools, will moderate a panel discussion with members of the board's executive committee. Register through your principal or email to Caroline Braas at cbraas@archchicago.org

News Digest

Dress Codes: Aide deciphers papal apparel for nonliturgical events at the Vatican

When a pope attends a public event like a general audience in St. Peter's Square or meets a head of state in the papal apartment, he's not exactly free to "wing it" with his wardrobe. His choice of outfit is dictated by a precise protocol.

Recently a Vatican official published two extensive articles in the Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, in an effort to help observers decipher the papal dress code.

Cardinal urges House to support permanent ban

The chairman of the U.S. bishops' Committee on Pro-Life Activities is urging members of the U.S. House of Representatives to support proposed legislation that would permanently forbid federal funding of abortion. Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston- Houston said the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act, H.R. 5939, introduced by Reps. Chris Smith, R-N.J., and Dan Lipinski, D-Ill., would "write into permanent law a policy on which there has been strong popular and congressional agreement for over 35 years: The federal government should not use taxpayers' money to support and promote elective abortion."

Use of new Missal translation to begin in Advent 2011
15-month period of education, training starts

Catholics in the United States will begin using the longawaited English translation of the Roman Missal on the first Sunday of Advent in 2011, Cardinal George said Aug. 20.

The cardinal's announcement as president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops marks the formal beginning of a more than 15-month period of education and training leading to the first use of the "third typical edition" of the Roman Missal at English-language Masses in the United States on Nov. 27, 2011.

Chicago native takes reins of Vatican institute

For Jesuit Father James McCann, it all started with taking a course in the Russian language while in high school. "They were offering different languages" to students, said McCann, 61, a Chicago native. "I probably put down Russian as my third choice. But what I think they did was that they took everyone who put Russian down as any choice at all and put them into the class."