January 28, 2005 - Issue #2
Local News | Opinion/Editorials | Letters to the Editor
Natives celebrate new Mass at St. Anthony
When Gemma Gaudio went to Mass in her hometown of Hooper Bay it was a villagewide gathering. Just about everyone in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta community was Catholic and she knew every person in the pews. At the sign of peace, people moved all around the church to greet one another.
That scene was repeated Jan. 15 in Anchorage as Native Catholics gathered at St. Anthony Parish for a newly established Native Mass.
People in colorful kuspuks stretched across pews and wove around each other to shake hands or embrace during the sign of peace at the 5:30 p.m. Mass. They sang hymns in English, Yup’ik and Inupiaq. The Native people in attendance that Saturday evening were from King Island, Stebbins, Holy Cross, Chefornak, St. Marys, Bethel, Tununak and other villages that were influenced by Catholic missionaries as long ago as the turn of the 20th century.
The Native Catholic community in Anchorage has been worshipping together for years in a small, gray conference room in the Alaska Native Medical Center on Tudor Road. Now, for the first time, they have secured a regular Mass in an Anchorage parish church. The community has been invited to worship at St. Anthony the third Saturday of every month at 5:30 p.m.
Catholic liturgies will continue at the Native medical center but priests will no longer preside there on a regular basis. Sister Donna Kramer, a Daughter of Charity who coordinates the archdiocese’s Native ministry effort, said the change is meant to prevent overcrowding in the medical center’s small conference room and to encourage people to worship in their parishes.
"One of the challenges of the archdiocese is to provide for everybody a place where they can feel at home, not just with Christ but with everybody," retired Archbishop Francis Hurley told about 200 people gathered at the Jan. 15 St. Anthony Mass. "Everybody is welcome here," he said, stepping from behind the pulpit to preach amid the congregation.
After the Mass, Gaudio said that Native people, who may originate from entirely Catholic villages, often do not feel at home in Anchorage churches where the hundreds of individuals gathered may not know the person sitting next to them.
"Native people say that when they go to the other Catholic churches they are not welcomed there. I’ve heard that so many times, that we are treated like we are different people," Gaudio said.
Teddy Mayac, a 68-year-old leader of the King Island Inupiaq people, agreed that for many Native Catholics, the urban church setting is "so impersonal." He said that of the roughly 100 King Island Catholic families living in Anchorage, about 20 percent remain active church members.
"Nobody smiles at you. Nobody says hello except for the very few who know you," he said.
Mayac, a Holy Family Cathedral parishioner and eucharistic minister, said that Native Alaskans were some of the last Americans to be evangelized by Catholic missionaries.
"We are the youngest (members) of the Catholic Church in this country. If you look at it on that basis, we are probably expecting for you to reach out to us more than us reaching out to you because you are the traditional church who have been (Catholic) the longest," Mayac explained.
Mayac also said non-Native Catholics have told him that they don’t know how to approach Native people, and in turn, some Native people are reluctant to become involved in the parish.
"There is a barrier between us," he said, adding that he hopes sharing Native Catholic traditions and spiritual symbols in Anchorage parishes will cultivate more understanding and help dissolve the barrier.
Jesuit Father Thomas Gallagher, who concelebrated the Jan. 15 Mass at St. Anthony Parish with Archbishop Hurley, lived among the Native people for 35 years in the Alaska Bush.
He said he’s glad to see a regularly scheduled Mass at an Anchorage church set aside for Native Catholic people, allowing them to recreate and share the sense of community he remembers from his time in the villages.
Erma Hagan of Chefornak said the advent of a special Mass once a month at a church makes her feel like "part of the town or part of the parish — part of the church family."
In the choir, Hagan joined in singing the carefully chosen hymns for the Jan. 15 Mass. "Amazing Grace," known as an Athabascan funeral hymn, honored the Athabascan people, on whose traditional lands Anchorage now sits.
The choir also sang the Yup’ik Lord’s Prayer, "Atamta," and an offertory song in Inupiaq.
The closing hymn, "How Great Thou Art," Mayac said, reminds Native people of the natural wonders of Alaska, with lyrics about rolling thunder, lofty mountains and singing birds.
After Mass, the church basement filled with scents of caribou stew and akutaq, a mix of seal oil, berries and whitefish. Herring eggs clinging to conifer branches were flown from Southeast Alaska for the occasion, and fry bread, pilot bread and cake rounded out the potluck.
When the stew pots had been emptied, David Chanar, originally from Toksook Bay, and Ben Snowball, from Stebbins, brought out the nylon fabric drums they have been playing together for more than a decade. They were joined by generations of people singing and dancing to a Yup’ik purification song traditionally performed before a hunt or funeral.
"We all pray the same way except our languages are different," Snowball said after the St. Anthony liturgy. "So when we share, we are together. To me that’s important — we’re all there together so that we can reach out to all people."
Longtime CSS worker leads new state office
Gov. Frank Murkowski has named a long-time employee of Catholic Social Services to head up the state’s new Faith-Based and Community Initiatives Office.
Stephanie Wheeler, who spent 12 years at Catholic Social Services in a variety of administrative roles, assumed her new position as executive director of the state office Jan. 10.
"In many ways, it’s an extension of what I have been doing," Wheeler told the Anchor last week. "It involves community building and community development."
Murkowski established the Alaska Faith-Based and Community Initiative in 2002, and he directed Lt. Gov. Loren Leman to lead the effort. In September 2003, a task force was established to determine what faith-based and community groups were currently doing and how they could be assisted in doing more.
The new office is a result of a task force recommendation.
Wheeler, who began her career at Catholic Social Services as a case management supervisor at Clare House, went on to become the program director, at different times, for St. Francis House, Clare House and Beyond Shelter.
She was director of Beyond Shelter Services, a position with oversight of case management at four Catholic Social Services programs, when selected for the faith-based office.
Talking to the Anchor after her first week on the job, Wheeler said she can see she will be working with many of "the same players, the same network" in her new position.
At the same time, she said, she hopes to bring new people and new organizations onto the scene to help with the many pressing social needs of the state.
"It’s incredibly sad to see her leave," said Yvonne Chase, executive director of Catholic Social Services, "but we are pleased to see where she’s going. She’ll still be helping us, still working for the homeless."
Chase said Catholic Social Services has been a continuing participant in discussions on the faith-based initiative.
In her new position, Wheeler envisions churches and other small groups providing the volunteers that many large agencies so badly need but often have difficulty recruiting.
"An agency may say, ‘This is what our organization is doing — can you find a faith group to help us?’ " Wheeler said.
St. Francis House is a good example of an agency that might benefit from this recruitment assistance, she said.
In a sense, Wheeler said, her office will be all about "networking."
For example, she said, her office is doing some networking with a speaker who is being brought up by the state Division of Public Health in April as part of a national program addressing the issue of sexually transmitted disease among teens.
"Many African-American teens are involved in behavior that leads to a high rate of STDs," Wheeler said. "Typically, one way to access this community is through African-American churches."
Through her office, she was able to provide the Division of Public Health with the names of African-American churches who might be interested in the program.
In addition, she said, the office will oversee some grants to small faith and community groups to help with their infrastructure or "building capacity." This might mean money for grant-writing classes or a grant for a larger refrigerator for a food pantry, she said.
Wheeler, a graduate of West High who attended the University of Alaska Anchorage and is currently finishing up a degree at Alaska Pacific University, acknowledged that "there’s a lot of mistrust" about the initiative by people who are concerned about separation of church and state.
Part of her job will be making presentations around the community to help people understand the focus of the initiative and allaying these concerns, she said.
The Anchor asked Wheeler whether, during her interview for the executive director position, she was asked to lead a prayer.
The Jan. 9 "Alaska Ear" column in the Anchorage Daily News reported that some unnamed applicants for the state position were "required" to lead a prayer as part of their interview process.
Wheeler acknowledged that two members of the panel who interviewed her asked her whether she would feel comfortable leading a prayer before the interview, " ‘and if you do, feel free.’ " Wheeler accepted the offer and led a prayer.
Wheeler said she believed the members wanted to make sure that the applicants would be comfortable giving invocations, or being at meetings of faith-based groups where invocations would be said.
To support the new office and a soon-to-be-named advisory council, $420,000 has been added to the governor’s new budget plan being submitted to the Alaska Legislature.
This money will fund Wheeler’s position, staff, advisory board activities and small grants to faith and community organizations.
New Web site, feature page launched
The Anchor Web page is back up and running after a long wait. It’s totally redesigned to be more reader friendly and to better show off our local photographs and stories. You can also send us story ideas or letters to the editor, link directly to Catholic News Service for daily samples of news and pictures from around the world, or download advertising rate sheets. Go to www.archdioceseofanchorage.org/anchor.html and let us know what you think.
Also, in the current issue we debut a page called "Community" that will henceforth be a regular feature of the Anchor. It will generally run on the inside back cover, as it does this time. The Anchor’s publisher, Archbishop Roger Schwietz, wanted a space devoted to such community-building features as a calendar of upcoming events, a longer column written by the head of an archdiocesan office or program, and a shorter column by another group working directly or indirectly to help build up the local church. In addition, the Community page may carry helpful information such as the Safe Environment Committee’s regular commentary or Lenten guidelines or the summer Mass schedule.
We hope the retooled Web site and the new Community page help bring the Catholic community closer together.
President Bush sets high expectations
in idealistic inaugural address
President Bush gave the kind of inaugural address that makes American hearts thump with pride. It was idealistic and compassionate and bold. We hope the president and the American people have the stomach to back those ideals with action.
"There is only one force of history that can break the reign of hatred and resentment and expose the pretensions of tyrants and reward the hopes of the decent and tolerant. And that is the force of human freedom."
Christianity would probably substitute "love" for "freedom" in that paragraph of the president’s speech. And some Catholic thinkers might argue that "justice" belongs in place of "freedom" — Pope Paul VI famously said, "If you want peace, work for justice."
But freedom is a relative of love and justice. Certainly free people who love their oppressed brothers and sisters will work to bring them freedom and therefore a measure of justice.
The question is, how is that achieved at the practical level? What does it mean to "break the reign of hatred" with freedom?
Bush spoke to that question in his speech, saying, "So it is the policy of the United States to seek and support the growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture, with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in the world."
Again, the idea is profound and powerful. Is it possible to end tyranny in the world? Probably not, but the ideal is still worth articulating and striving toward.
But the ideal will prove very difficult indeed to enact.
How will America go about "seeking and supporting" democratic movements in Saudi Arabia, where the ruling House of Saud is a critical oil ally? Or in Jordan — where a peaceful, progressive, benevolent monarch reigns? Or in communist China, on which America is increasingly dependent for cheap goods? It is worth noting that last year, when Taiwan, a democracy, hinted at increasing its independence from China, Bush himself publicly took China’s side and said he opposes any changes to the status quo. (The United States has maintained its "one China" policy since the mid-1970s.)
The lessons in Iraq show how complicated it can be to bring democracy to a place by force. Thankfully, Bush’s push for freedom is "not primarily a task of arms," he said in the inaugural speech. "Freedom, by its nature, must be chosen and defended by citizens and sustained by the rule of law and the protection of minorities."We agree with the idealism in the president’s address. It is important to voice such goals. But it is the corresponding action that ultimately matters. America and the world will eventually be more peaceful if Bush can turn his words into meaningful action and policy.
Solidarity will benefit Iraq, and others
The upcoming Iraqi election could be the ultimate civics lesson for established democracies around the world. We have a feeling some Iraqis will be paying dearly for casting a ballot.
Writing nearly a week before the Jan. 30 vote, it doesn’t appear likely that the elections will come off as peacefully as they did last year in Afghanistan.
Nor does it appear likely that election day in Iraq will be viewed as the milestone that it was in Afghanistan or the Palestinian Occupied Territories. There is no good reason to believe that the thugs terrorizing Iraq will stop once the country goes to the polls.
In this moment of deep uncertainty in Iraq, Americans and other free people should be with Iraqis in spirit.
Recommitting to democratic processes is one way to show solidarity with Iraqis. Telling elected representatives about the importance of that solidarity is another.
There is still a long, long way to go in Iraq, and it may be impossible without more help from around the world.
Letters to the Editor
Answering the call to help
I am willing to collect the items requested by Father Paul Cruz (Readers Respond, Dec. 17, 2004), in India if someone else would be willing to mail the package(s). He asked for such things as rosaries, statues, medals and pens and pencils for school children. Please contact me at 243-6074.
Anchorage
Quit arguing over minor points
In a world fraught with violence, poverty, intolerance and despair, I fail to see how energy expended on theological nit-picking is energy well-spent. What difference does it make if the Eucharist is offered from an earthenware vessel (Readers Respond, Dec. 31, 2004)? I do not presume to be a theologian, but I fail to see how the contents of the Communion cup, once blessed, is significantly affected by the nature of the cup itself. In war-torn or poverty-stricken corners of the world where two or more gather in His name, does it really matter what form the cup takes? Placing this kind of attention on form rather than substance reminds me of Christ’s admonition of the Pharisees: "This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines human precepts" (Mt 15: 8-9).
Eagle River
Cup ‘problem’ is insignificant
Therese Syren expressed concern (Readers Respond, Dec. 31, 2004) about the use of earthenware or crystal vessels for the Precious Blood. After reading "Redemptionis Sacramentum," the Vatican document she cited, it is clear that its authors are concerned about the use of vessels that are poorly made and easily breakable. Therese, it is not as if anyone is using paper cups at our parish celebrations! By the way, the same document points out that the bishop "governs the particular Church entrusted to him, and it is his task to regulate, to direct, to encourage, and sometimes to reprove" (no. 22). The existence of reasonable concerns about the liturgy (are we welcoming, and do the homilies exhort us to live out the Gospel? etc.) demonstrate the comparable insignificance of a "problem" with sacred vessels. I wonder what kind of cup the carpenter chose at the Last Supper?
Anchorage
Labels are nothing in politics
It was good to see that one of the Alaska Catholic Conference’s legislative priorities is restoring Denali KidCare eligibility requirements (News, Jan. 14). In 2003, Sen. Fred Dyson, with help from other pro-life Republicans, pushed through an amendment that stripped health care coverage from low-income pregnant women and children. Ironically, it was Lisa Murkowski and I who were successful in rallying support to prevent that same legislation from passing during our four years in Juneau. In 2000 it was in the form of HB260. In 2002 it was HB367. The first year after we left the Legislature, the change was pushed through. It just proves that labels really don’t mean a thing in politics.
Anchorage