June 27, 2008 - Issue #13
Local News | Opinion/Editorials | Letters to the Editor
Local News
Rendezvous with the pope
146 pilgrims set to travel with Anchorage Archdiocese to Sydney
Years of preparation are rising to a crescendo as nearly 150 pilgrims make final preparations to travel with the Anchorage Archdiocese for a rendezvous with Pope Benedict XVI at World Youth Day in Australia.
The 146 pilgrims who plan to travel with the archdiocese on July 7 hail from all over the state — and beyond. A total of 88 pilgrims are under age 19. The rest are young adults and parental chaperones.
Three priests are expected to join the trip, one from each of the state’s three dioceses. St. Elizabeth Ann Seton pastor Tom Lilly is expected to represent the Archdiocese of Anchorage.
"Archbishop Schwietz wanted to come with us, but with his new appointments to the super-committees for the (U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops), and his responsibilities in Juneau, he won’t be able to attend," said trip organizer Bob McMorrow. "But I know we are in his thoughts and prayers."
The archbishop plans to hold a send-off Mass before the pilgrims leave.
According to Catholic News Service, the Anchorage contingent will join 13,000 fellow Americans and roughly 225,000 total pilgrims in Sydney. That number is lower than many previous World Youth Days (A record 4 million people attended the Manila, Philippines World Youth Day in 1995). Distance and increased travel costs were major factors for the low numbers this year.
McMorrow said expenses were higher than expected, due to airlines and the cost of fuel, but they managed to keep expenses as low as possible by being creative with travel and lodging.
For the last three years, local youth have sold literally thousands of cookies, washed hundreds of cars and worked tirelessly at other fundraisers and auctions to raise money for trip. One young woman, Cody Beltrami, decided to design and sell t-shirts especially for the pilgrimage.
While the logistics of arranging passports, visas and money is important, the most crucial aspect for preparation is spiritual, according to trip leaders.
"We’ve been preparing three years for this," said Dana Galle, the chaperone for the Eagle River group. "This year, beginning in January, we’ve prepared spiritually by holding prayer meetings, Stations of the Cross and a retreat."
In addition, the group aims to do several service projects for the parish.
"As a way to give back to the church as a thank you for their support," Galle said.
Youth say they’ve been taking time to pray in preparation for the big trip.
World Youth Day in Alaska Local young adults, ages 18 to 40, will have an opportunity to enjoy a Mass with the pope in Sydney, Australia without ever leaving Alaska. World Youth Day, Alaska Style is a one day retreat offered at Holy Spirit Center in Anchorage on July 19 from 1 to 10 p.m. Anchorage Archbishop Roger Schwietz will attend the event, where participants will have a chance to witness the papal Mass via a live satellite cable feed from Australia. In addition to the Mass, other activities are planned, centered on the Holy Spirit and the mission of Pentecost. Various talks, prayers (including the Stations of the Cross) and a reconciliation service will be offered. Social activities are also part of the mix, including a barbecue and live music from local musicians. The cost is $10 for those who pre-register before July 5 and $12 at the door. For more information, contact Cindy Lentine at 297-7711 or log onto www.archdioceseofanchorage.org/ documents/WYDRegistration.pdf. World Youth Day on cable TV EWTN, the Catholic cable channel is planning extensive WYD coverage as well. EWTN is available on GCI cable channel 122 and on channel 18 part-time. In the Mat-Su, the network airs on MTVA-TV channel 6. For those with access to satellite, ETWN shows on channel 261 on the DISH network and on channel 370 for DirecTV subscribers. The network also offers live streaming video at www.ewtn.com. |
"I’ve been saying a lot more rosaries and reading Bob’s (McMorrow’s) book," said Mark Holley, a Holy Rosary student. Bob McMorrow and his wife Karen wrote a book called "A Pilgrim’s Guide to World Youth Day," several years ago. Dozens of dioceses across the United States have used the book for preparation.
"There is a whole chapter on preparing spiritually — it’s the most important aspect of our pre-departure," McMorrow said. "Over the years I have noticed that the more we emphasize what a pilgrimage is and how to enter into one spiritually, the more people received from it."
That spiritual element will remain once the travelers arrive in Australia. The first stop on the agenda is Cairns, Australia, located on the northwest corner of the continent. There the group plans several excursions out to the Great Barrier Reef and into the tropical rainforest village of Kuranda.
"There we will have a couple of days for retreat, focusing on the beauty of God’s creation," McMorrow said.
The first week will be a bit more laid back, McMorrow said, in order for people to adjust to the time zone difference and spend a few days in community.
In an effort to foster a retreat-like atmosphere, the group has a no-technology policy, meaning that iPods, mp3 players, laptops and similar devices will be left behind. The idea is to give people a chance to get to know one another and also to allow for time to pray in silence.
After spending a week in Cairns, the group will fly into Sydney for the main World Youth Day events.
"Each morning there is a catechetical site and Mass," McMorrow explained. "In the afternoons, groups are free to check out workshops, concerts, art displays, etc."
For many, the excitement is palpable.
Youth said they are excited about the chance to travel to a foreign country and meet the pope.
"It’s going to be nice to see the pope and to see all the young Catholics from all over the world get together," said Edward Johnson, a high school teen from Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Kenai. "People who go to World Youth Day have such a vibrant faith."
"I’m really excited about all the sites and of course seeing the pope and being with everyone," said Cody Beltrami, a junior from St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church.
McMorrow said the youth’s excitement fuels his own passion for the event.
"World Youth Day is the most impacting, life changing event for young people that I’ve ever seen," he said.
Dominican recalls evolution of Anchorage Cathedral
Fr. Bramble closes out second stint in Alaska
Dominican Father Donald Bramble has experienced Holy Family Cathedral from two different incarnations: one as an associate pastor 30 years ago and one as the pastor of the downtown parish since 2002.
Now, he’s saying good-bye again, this time heading for a first-time adventure driving the Alaska-Canadian Highway with a friend as he begins a well-earned sabbatical. Long-time parishioners as well as new friends are sorry to see him go.
"He’s an all-round good man," said Jerry Strang, a member of the stewardship committee at the cathedral.
Like all Dominicans – they are, after all, the "Order of Preachers" — Father Bramble is a wonderful homilist, said Strang.
People described the 58-year-old Dominican as witty, clever, a tad mischievous, very intelligent and kind.
Father Bramble was ordained for the Western Dominican Province in 1976 and was a new and energetic priest when he arrived in Anchorage in 1978. He left Anchorage for the first time in 1983.
"Holy Family was much more of an Anglo, middle- and upper-class parish back then," he recalled. "And the town was crazy from the pipeline."
Today, Father Bramble’s hair is grayer than it was in 1978, and the cathedral has changed as well. Like much of Anchorage, it is now bursting with diversity.
"It’s more blue-collar," Father Bramble said. "We have Hispanics from every country in the world."
The Cathedral even has parishioners from the Caribbean who speak "patois" – a mixture of French, English and African. There are Tongans, Filipinos, Koreans and Vietnamese, as well as Alaska Natives and pioneer Alaskans.
Anchorage is also a bigger more cosmopolitan place, where people don’t recognize you on the street quite as often as they did in the "old" days, Father Bramble noted.
Besides being pastor of the archdiocese’s flagship parish since 2002, Father Bramble spent four years as vicar general of the archdiocese. He explains that position fairly simply – "if the archbishop is out of the diocese the vicar general is in charge" – but the job carries with it as many other duties as the archbishop is willing to delegate.
In Father Bramble’s case, that meant many tasks, including involvement in one of the more unpleasant issues of the day – the clergy sex abuse scandal. It fell to him to help deal with some of the fallout from abuse charges against Monsignor Francis Murphy, a priest who spent several years in the archdiocese.
Father Bramble hopes to unwind from these stresses at a Dominican house in Las Vegas, where he plans to spend a sabbatical, his first in 38 years, "reading theology that I’ve wanted to read for a very long time."
But no one expects the erudite Dominican to sink quietly into retirement, surrounded by theology books. No, he expects that after his sabbatical he’ll continue working with one of his passions – adult education – and perhaps serve as an associate pastor at one of the Dominicans’ many parishes.
During Father Bramble’s first tenure in Alaska, he left his mark in adult education. Together with Mercy Sister Arlene Boyd, he taught Scripture and other adult classes and was instrumental in the preparation of the first class of permanent deacons ordained for the archdiocese nearly 26 years ago.
Born in Quebec in 1950, Father Bramble moved to Los Angeles in 1952, and grew up going to Catholic schools there, surrounded by a large Catholic family, which included a priest uncle and a sister who joined a religious community.
After spending some time at Cal State in Los Angeles, it came as no surprise to his family when the young scholar entered the Dominican School at Berkeley in 1970.
Father Bramble, who holds a masters degree in social work, said counseling and social outreach have been constants throughout his priesthood.
Another constant is his identity as a friar and his devotion to community life.
"A few days in a monastery convinced me, I am a friar," he explained.
A monk’s monastery becomes his permanent home, Father Bramble added. Dominicans, on the other hand, are friars who move from friary to friary but still live in community with other priests.
But, he added, "my community life has been enriched by getting to know the diocesan priests I’ve worked with here. It’s been a privilege."
Father Bramble’s replacement as pastor reflects the growing diversity of
the American and Alaskan church as well as the diversity within the Dominican
Order. Father Francis Hung Le, a 46-year-old native of Vietnam, will become
Holy Family’s newest pastor this fall.
Religious sister leaves legacy of justice
Sister Scanlon heading back to Boston
Sister Barbara Scanlon is known for a willingness to speak her mind and an unwavering sense of social justice.
After ten years of diverse ministry at Holy Family Cathedral in Anchorage, the energetic Sister of St. Joseph is heading back to her order’s motherhouse near Boston. She leaves behind a legacy of social justice.
Sister Scanlon received the St. Francis of Assisi Award in 2007 from the Archdiocese of Anchorage for her service, which includes prison ministry, ministry to the homeless and a special dedication to young people.
Sister Scanlon’s concern for the poor and vulnerable stretches back decades.
In 1970, she and a small group of associates founded "Bridge Over Troubled Waters," a ministry to Boston area youth that still thrives.
"It’s a multi-component program," Sister Scanlon explained. "It has a residential program, outreach, street work, help for runaways and pregnant adolescents, and counseling. And, it has a mobile medical van and dental clinic. I used to drive the thirty-foot medical van once a week." she said, adding with a grin, "It was so fun."
She worked with the program for 27 years before moving to Alaska.
Sister Scanlon’s parents were Irish and she claims to be "one hundred percent Irish and then some."
When she was a baby, her parents returned to Ireland to live, "but the economy there was so poor we returned (to the U.S.) My mother would have loved to stay and raise us there."
Sister Scanlon was in Ireland long enough to learn Irish Gaelic as her first language, and she remembers the beauty of the Gaeltacht — the Irish speaking part of Connemara where her family lived.
"But I remember my uncle saying, ‘you can’t eat beauty.’"
At seventeen, a young Scanlon joined the St. Joseph Sisters in the Archdiocese of Boston where her family had resettled. She added that, "nobody expected me to last long."
Everyone thought she was merely following – for a while — in the footsteps of her older sister who had joined. That was in 1952, and Sister Scanlon and her older sister – also still a religious – will live together when she returns to Massachusetts.
Sister Scanlon’s background includes degrees in social work and education.
She considered herself an East Coast girl until she made a sabbatical at Gongaza University in Spokane in the late 1990s and someone suggested she consider Alaska "because they need sisters up there."
At Holy Family since 1998, she heads up local prison ministry, provides spiritual direction, oversees ministry to the homebound and hospitals, and ministers to the homeless who frequent the cathedral. She also works with the St. Vincent de Paul Society and writes "A View from the Back of the Church" for the cathedral bulletin. That is just a fraction of her work.
She has also served as the Victim Assistance Coordinator for the archdiocese following the nationwide clergy sex abuse revelations.
In preparing to head back East in August, Sister Scanlon is thankful for her chance to serve the church in Alaska.
"I’ve enjoyed every minute of my being here," she said.
State bishops conference changes location, focus
Education, social justice to be primary goals
The Alaska Conference of Catholic Bishops office has a new home, a new director and is in the process of retooling its mission to better serve the state’s Catholics.
The office recently moved from Juneau to the Pastoral Center in downtown Anchorage. In addition to a new physical location, the office is also looking at realigning its mission.
"We’re moving the model towards education and informing people," Anchorage Archbishop Roger Schwietz said. "Given that the legislative session is now shortened (to 90 days) we felt it would be better served to have the office in a central location."
The ACCB will still maintain a presence in Juneau and have a lobbyist when needed to help advocate for the bishops, the Archbishop added.
Heading the newly relocated office is a woman with a familiar presence in the local church. Mary Margaret Stein, formerly of Stein’s Church Supply of Alaska and who most recently completed work as the Director of the Engaging Muslims: Religion, Cultures, Politics community education project sponsored by the Cardinal Newman Chair of Catholic Theology at Alaska Pacific University, has been appointed to head the office as executive director.
"Right now we are in the process of reorganizing and re-envisioning the office to look at how we will serve people," she told the Anchor.
That new vision will include a priority towards education on certain issues that relate to Alaska Catholics, Archbishop Schwietz said.
He added that the office hopes to communicate information about how Catholics should respond to global climate change as well as relay the results of listening sessions that Alaska bishops have held with rural communities across the state.
Stein said the new office aims to be a point of contact to help point people in the direction of various resources.
"I’m here to be a channel for education," she said. "If people need things they can come here. This office can help people find good resources and recommendations."
One of the ways the office hopes to do that is through technology.
"We are looking at setting up a Web site to fulfill these goals," Archbishop Schwietz said. "As we get further into the electronic age we can take advantage of it and try and be more present to people."
Stein stressed that the office exists to assist local Catholics.
"We hope this office will be a place where people can go and get directions," she
said. "And have the confidence that we are giving the right information."
Brother Charles’ 50th anniversary
On June 21 Brother Charles P. McBride, C.S.C., a Brother of Holy Cross, Midwest Province, celebrated his 50th Anniversary of Religious Vows at a ceremony at Sacred Heart Basilica, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana.
Brother McBride spent 25 years serving the Archdiocese of Alaska from 1979 – 2004, most of those years as the Director of Communications. At the invitation of then Archbishop Francis T. Hurley, he came to Alaska with Brother John McMuldren and Harold Ruplinger to operate St. Theresa Summer Camp in Soldotna and begin a youth ministry program. The highlight of his 25 years of service in Alaska was the visit of Pope John Paul II in 1981. Brother McBride also was chairman of the GCI CREDO ecumenical religion cable channel for more than 22 years in Anchorage. Brother McBride will be in Alaska June 24-July 10 to visit friends throughout the archdiocese. A native of Chicago, Illinois, Brother McBride joined the Holy Cross community after a year at Holy Trinity High School Chicago, Illinois, in 1954. He was the last high school graduate of the Brothers’ Juniorate program in Watertown, Wisconsin in 1957. He made his first vows January 26, 1958 at St. Joseph Novitiate, Rolling Prairie, Indiana.
Over the years Brother served in Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana and for nearly 25 years as Communications Director of the Archdiocese of Anchorage. The past four years he has been serving as Communications Director for the Midwest Province. Besides his teaching U.S. History and journalism, the major work of Brother Charles over the years has been in the areas of communications, public relations, photography, and student recruitment.
Abortion clinic to open in Juneau
Abortions are returning to Alaska’s capital for the first time in 15 years as Planned Parenthood of Alaska is set to open a new abortion business this summer. The facility will offer abortions in the first trimester of pregnancy, as well as some other medical services.
The facility will be located near the campus of Bartlett Regional Hospital.
LaRae Jones, secretary of the Juneau Pro-Choice Coalition, told the Juneau Empire that abortions have not been available in Juneau for over a decade.
As a result, women in Southeast Alaska — as many as 200 each year — fly to Seattle to get abortions.
"It is very expensive and prohibitive in many cases for people to do that," Jones said.
She said she has helped Planned Parenthood officials put together $150,000 of the $1.2 million needed to build the new abortion center.
Meanwhile, John Monagle, a member of the board of Alaskans for Life, told the Empire newspaper he’s distressed that a new abortion business will be built and hopes local pro-life advocates oppose it.
"I hope by the end of the summer we can bring it up fresher and that (the community) will give it a second thought," Monagle said.
In 2007, there were about 1,700 abortions in Alaska, according to state records.
Fr. Walsh is ‘Doctor of Theology’
Father Leo Walsh, Pastor of St. Andrew Parish and Vicar of Clergy for the Archdiocese of Anchorage, successfully defended his thesis "Encounter in Magadan: A Critical, Historical Analysis of Issues Related to Proselytism as They Manifested Themselves in the Russian Far East, 1989-1992." On June 18, Father Walsh received the title doctorate in Sacred Theology from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (commonly known as the Angelicum) in Rome.
Father Walsh was born in Anchorage in 1964 and grew up in Our Lady of Guadalupe
Parish. He is currently the pastor of St. Andrew Parish in Eagle River as
well as Vicar for Clergy, Vocations Director and Ecumenical Officer for the
Archdiocese of Anchorage. Father Walsh is the first priest incardinated (or
legally attached) to the Anchorage Archdiocese to complete doctoral studies.
Alaskans attend Native conference
Four Alaskans are headed to the 69th Annual Tekakwitha Conference in Edmonton, Alberta July 2-6.
Gemma Guadio, Theresa Mikes and Father Gerald Brunet will join director of Native Ministry Sister Donna Kramer in representing the Anchorage Archdiocese at the conference.
The Tekakwitha Conference represents close to half a million Native Catholic members from more than 300 tribes and first nations in the United States and Canada. This year’s conference theme is "One Heart, All Nations."
In addition to the conference, Sister Kramer said the Alaskans plan to visit a shrine near the waters of Lach St. Ann.
"Miracles have been known to happen there, " Sister Donna said. "We’ll pray with the first Nations there as part of the conference."
Tekakwitha was an American Native woman and a Catholic who took a vow of perpetual virginity. She devoted her life to teaching prayers to children and helping the sick and aged until she became very frail and weak herself. She died in 1680, at age 24. In 1980, Pope John Paul II declared her beatified.
For more information about the conference, visit http://groups.creighton.edu/tekconf/.
Medical Mission Sisters
Religious Profile
Editor’s note: This is the eleventh in a series of profiles that highlight religious communities in the Archdiocese of Anchorage.
The Sisters’ mission states that they are called to be a healing presence at the heart of a wounded world, to witness to the integrity of all creation. They are called to build one world where the gifts of all people, all cultures and all creation are affirmed and celebrated. The sisters commit themselves to promote healing and wholeness in all aspects of life and to act where this integrity is threatened. They also seek to aid the poor and oppressed.
Sister Joan Barina is the only member serving in Alaska. She currently works as a pastoral associate at Our Lady of the Angels church in Soldotna.
The Sisters are an international society, founded in 1925 by an Austrian doctor, Anna Dengel, to serve Muslim women who at the time could not be seen by men. Today, the Medical Mission Sisters come from all over the world and serve on five continents (Asia, Africa, South America and Europe). Sister Barina came to Alaska as a medical technologist for the Native Health Service in 1976.
Of the four original members of the Medical Mission Sisters, three came from different nations. Today the 625 Medical Mission Sisters come from 23 different nations, serving in 18 nations.
Sister Barina plans to continue serving in Alaska.
Vocations and more info: Contact the Medical Sisters via their Web site at www.medicalmissionsisters.org or by mail at 8400 Pine Road, Philadelphia, PA 19111.
Catholic Daughters add new members, officers
Catholic Daughters is one of the oldest and largest organizations of catholic women in the Americas. It will hold its 52nd Biennial National Convention from July 16-20, 2008 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Catholic Daughters from 1,400 local chapters in 45 states across the country and in Puerto Rico, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Guam and the Virgin Islands may attend. Delegates from Anchorage are Linda Fleener, Joan Alles, Mary Rapp and Geri Kottre.
NEWS AND NOTES
Eagle Eye Retreat
Adults age 21 and older are invited to attend this year’s Eagle Eye Retreat in Girdwood July 20—Aug 3.
Put on by the Brothers of St. John, the retreat includes four days of monastic type prayer, adoration, theological and philosophical studies along with recreation and fellowship. For more information, call 351-2837 or email mcenuar@-yahoo.com
Food drive nears
The Odom Corporation will host their annual food drive June 28—29th this year.
The Canned Food Drive, which runs from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Sears Mall parking lot, will benefit St. Francis House and other non-profit organizations. For more information, call 222-7327.
Free pickup for Bishop’s Attic
Bishop’s Attic is offering free donations pick-up this summer.
To schedule a time for pickup call 279-6328. The Bishop Attic is also selling a new cookbook as a fundraiser. At $3 each the books are on sale at the 1100 Gambell Street store. Proceeds go to support Catholic Social Services and programs at the Anchorage Archdiocese.
Columns
Work is needed to keep sacraments from declining
Editor’s note: The following text is adapted from an address by Anchorage Archbishop Roger Schwietz, which he gave during the U.S. bishops June 12-14 general meeting in Orlando, Florida.
Older U.S. Catholics are more likely to say that they know and practice their faith.
Several recent studies, for example, show that 99 percent of pre-Vatican II Catholics (those born before 1943) have celebrated all the sacraments of initiation. Of the Vatican II generation (those born between 1943 and 1960) 94 percent have received all the sacraments of initiation. The decline continues with the post-Vatican II generation (born between 1961 and 1981) with only 91 percent and only 85 percent of the youngest generation — the Millennials born after 1981.
When it comes to celebrating the sacrament of matrimony, a recent report by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate, an institute from Georgetown University, finds that 30 percent of married Catholics did not marry in the Catholic Church or have their marriages subsequently convalidated.
The youngest Catholic generation has the highest chance (41 percent) of being married outside the Catholic Church. In addition, among unmarried Catholics in this youngest generation, only 46 percent say it is either somewhat or very important that they be married in the Catholic Church.
It seems to me that the appreciation of the sacrament as well as the actual experience of living it is declining as we look into the future.
Clearly, then, our efforts to teach the faith and invite community participation needs to be geared in large measure toward younger generations who will be the husbands and wives, the mothers and fathers, of tomorrow. This youngest generation is often difficult to reach if we think about using only the traditional outreach methods, such as diocesan newspapers and other printed materials. The average reader of a diocesan newspaper is a 62-year-old woman, I am told.
Our task is challenging, but we are not without reason for hope. Young adults take their faith and the call to service seriously even if their relationship with the institutional Church is tenuous.
It is interesting to note in the CARA study that young adults who attend Mass at lease once a month are most likely to observe Lenten practices. Additionally, nine percent of Catholic men and 15 percent of Catholic women still consider serving the church as a priest, deacon or religious. That amounts to some 4 million people who consider these vocations. The importance of our Newman ministries on college campuses is clear, since those who attend Catholic colleges and universities are more likely to consider a vocation as a priest, deacon or religious.
Marriage is also an essential vocation in the church and we must promote and support it among all generations of Catholics — beginning with young adults but not forgetting the older ones.
Efforts to strengthen marriages among middle-aged Catholics, where divorce rates are highest is also a priority. Thirty-eight percent of those born between 1943 and 1960 have experienced divorce as compared to 16 percent of all other Catholics.
Fidelity in marriage gives a positive example to younger generations, as indicated by the fact that married Catholics are more likely to have parents who are (or who were before their death) married to each other.
The areas that need our continued attention are: effective marriage preparation, support systems for young married couples, and renewed efforts to impart the church’s teaching on divorce and remarriage. Outreach to Catholics not married in the church (38 percent of all married Catholics) is also a necessity. These efforts must take into account the growing Latino population in our churches, especially the young adults, 45 percent of whom are Latino.
In the CARA research and in similar studies there is one consistent conclusion about marriage. It is simply this: religious affiliation, belief and practice are related positively to marital stability and the reverse is also true. There is a mutually reinforcing relationship between strong religiosity and strong marriages. According to the CARA research findings, people who attend Mass more regularly are more likely to adhere to church teachings about marriage, more likely to be married to a Catholic spouse, and less likely to be divorced.
A shared religious life is one of the most important predictors of a successful marriage.
There are several reasons for this. Religious institutions provide a support community and a cultural refuge for married couples and their children, and especially for recent immigrant families.
This kind of institutional support may be especially important today. Compared to decades past, childrearing families are demographically less dominant and the public sphere is less oriented to families with children. Parents face a less hospitable childrearing culture.
Religious belief in marital permanence is associated with higher levels of marital quality for both men and women. When couples see marriage as a lifelong commitment, they tend to make high personal investments of time, attention and affection in their relationship with the expectation that they will mutually benefit over the long term. They are less likely to indulge in day-by-day calculations of who is doing more and who is getting a better deal — a habit of mind that can lead to resentment, conflict and a emotional withdrawal.
Finally, shared religious observance promotes greater emotional investment in marriage by men. This is an important finding because today’s wives evaluate marital quality largely on the basis of emotional well-being.
This research confirms the wisdom of this bishops’ conference in placing, as a high priority, the strengthening of marriage among all Catholics. Recent research will help us focus anew and enhance our commitment to teach about the gift of marriage.
The writer is the Archbishop of Anchorage.
This disease can be overcome
Has anyone in your family suffered from the disease of alcoholism?
I have seen the effect in my family.
Fourteen years ago I had one of those quiet encounters with Christ in the Blessed Sacrament while in prayer. I heard this call in that deep place of the heart where God speaks: You now will only drink my Precious Blood.
I knew it meant that all alcohol would be given up. I had been to Russia twice already and had participated in the Vodka toasts that go on and on and leave the participants fairly drunk. As my Irish ancestors would say, "I took the pledge." I have rejoiced many times in these years of non-alcohol and I clearly see why the Lord had asked me to give it up.
I was not prepared for the devastation and pain and disorder this disease causes in families. I have a small parish of 250 people. I can honestly say all 250 are either directly dealing with the problem of alcoholism or are suffering from a close family member who may not even know he or she is alcoholic. I have invited Al-Anon speakers from outside Russia into the parish to help these family members but as of yet we don’t have a local Al-Anon group. (Al-Anon is a group like AA but for family members who suffer from the effects of another’s alcoholism. They gather to support and become healthy)
I have suffered the pain of not being able to help someone who can’t stop drinking, a good person, but a sick person. I have felt so helpless watching families grow sicker and sicker by the disease.
In one family, the mother laid paralyzed from many years of alcoholism, facing the cross of Christ at the foot of her bed. I asked her to embrace Christ and this cross and find peace before she died. She did. Her son was one of 30 street people who died from poisoning from bad "sama-agon," a Russian version of moonshine, which is often the cause of death or poisoning.
We recently sponsored a conference with some professionals from Poland for doctors, health care workers, teachers, and other interested parties. There were 150 participants. The greatest reaction was when speakers witnessed to their sobriety. I could see written on the faces of the participants this question, "is there a way out?"
The local center for rehabilitation is known as "the swinging doors." They come, they sober up, they leave and they come back. The professionals knew so little about AA and the help of the 12-step program. One great gift from this conference is there is now an AA meeting in this center run by the two small AA groups in Magadan.
Is there a way out? Sober alcoholics speaking to practicing alcoholics is the way out. AA is the way out. I have learned that sobriety is possible if you want it bad enough.
I have a young man living with me. I think my residence serves as a halfway house — a place to help a person begin to live a normal sober life after many years of drinking. I offer a place for one person at a time to sleep, to pray and above all work on the steps.
He hasn’t been sober for long but already he thanks God. For the first time he is thinking straight and not getting into fights. He has also just recently found a good job.
In addition, he is sharing what he has found and is attending AA meetings.
If you know someone who suffers from this disease or you yourself wonder if you are an alcoholic, know that there is a way out. Please hear me. I have to repeat this to myself 100 times a day as I see the terrible carnage left from this disease, but nonetheless there is a way out. Find the nearest AA meeting or Anon meeting and begin to become healthy, hopeful and happy. If I can find these groups in Magadan you can find them anywhere.
The writer is pastor of Church of the Nativity in Magadan, Russia. The church is a mission of the Archdiocese of Anchorage.
Be prepared when presenting your Catholic faith
Q — I am in the US Army and a Roman Catholic. It seems a large number of soldiers these days are attending extreme evangelical fundamentalist (non-mainline) churches. I mention to them that I am Catholic and baptized as a baby and they say that I am damned unless I do an adult baptism and profess to be "born-again" according to John 3:3 and John 3:7. What’s the best way to engage them?
First of all, be careful about engaging people whose intentions are to undermine your Catholic faith. As a soldier, you know that one should never wander into a hostile area without the proper resources. Never bring a knife to a gun fight. If you do choose to engage or simply cannot avoid it, then here are some things to keep in mind: 1.) Know your Catholic Faith. "Catholicism for Dummies" is a good start, but I suggest Bishop Wuerl’s book, "The Catholic Way," or Pennock’s, "This is Our Faith." 2.) Know your Bible, especially the gospels and the rest of the New Testament. People from certain fundamentalist traditions will surprisingly have knowledge of only those few passages which reinforce their position. Invite them to a more thorough knowledge of Scripture. 3.) Be very open about your own journey of faith and how you have come to find the fullness of the truth in the Catholic Church. No one can argue with you about your personal testimony of faith. 4.) Don’t feel like you have to have all the answers. If you don’t know something or are unclear about a certain point of doctrine, say so. Then use that opportunity to set up a time when you can both discuss the matter further. They will appreciate your honesty. Ignorance is no sin. Far better to admit you don’t know something than to give a distorted picture of the faith. 4.) Always be charitable. Never give in to the temptation of triumphalism or worse, name calling. Never be patronizing. Remember, you may have the fullness of the truth on your side, but "the truth without compassion is the hammer that destroys."
Q — I hear that you own an airplane. While I think that’s really cool, I thought that priests took a vow of poverty. What gives?
While it is true that priests in religious orders take the evangelical councils of poverty, chastity and obedience, as a diocesan priest, I do not. Instead, I take a vow of obedience to the archbishop of Anchorage and a promise of perpetual celibacy. Good question. More on this next month.
The writer is pastor at St. Andrew Church in Eagle River and a lifelong Alaskan. To send Father Leo Walsh a question, e-mail him at lwalsh@caa-ak.org
Death awakens mystery, raises questions
It was a wet, drippy morning, the leaden sky hanging low and mournful over the cemetery.
Our friend, Tom O’Grady, was being buried in Anchorage. Tom was killed in a private plane accident while flying Outside, and his death, at the youthful age of 57, was a shock to the community.
He was a wonderful man, but even though his children and mine went through our parish school together, I didn’t know just how wonderful until I heard the tributes to him during his vigil. People talked about how he had helped them, changed their lives for the better, opened his home to them.
Even though it was a premature death, by the standards of the living, it was joyful to experience the celebration of a life well-lived.
It was a similar experience, just a few days later, to hear about the death of Tim Russert, a devout Catholic and NBC’s "Meet the Press" moderator. I was shocked, feeling again almost as if a member of my own community had been taken away abruptly. How could we have an election without Tim explaining it all to us?
Someone remarked that the death of Tim Russert was a great occasion of evangelization — how many times did commentators mention his Catholic heritage and allude to his "Jesuit education" to explain his fairness, his conviction, his devotion to truth?
Just as Tom O’Grady’s vigil bore witness to a life lived according to Christian principle, Tim Russert’s death bore witness on a national scale. They both gave us something beautiful in death.
I suppose death has been on my mind more than usual for the past few weeks, because my own mother died in early May. Unlike Tom O’Grady and Tim Russert, my mother was very old. Her death was also the occasion for a celebration of a life well-lived.
But no matter what age or what the cause of death, death itself opens for us all kinds of questions. Our Christian faith provides us with many reassurances about life beyond death, and most cultures have experienced the truth of some kind of life continuing. But still, we are left with mystery, and a hollow place in our hearts.
Someone sent me these poignant words: ". . .and all who know this life will know it too briefly. . .and all who leave this life will leave it too soon. . ."
My brothers, who stood vigil with my mom as she died, told me that her death was like birth. They watched her struggle, and even timed her breathing. Right at the end, she opened her eyes which had been shut tight – she was blind with macular degeneration – and gazed wild-eyed at something in her future. Then she died. She was born into that future, but she left us behind.
The Irish Catholic theologian John O’Donohue, who himself died at a young age this year, has a wonderful section on death in his book "Anam Cara." He, too, talks about death as birth, and about the old Irish traditions surrounding death. Even among the pagan Celts, there was a belief that the souls of the dead are very near. This fits with our Catholic concept of the Communion of Saints, another beautiful mystery.
Facing our own death is probably the single most important thing we can do to live this life fully and well. And yet as a culture, we turn our faces away from death.
O’Donohue, in "A Blessing for Death" assures us: "You are not going somewhere strange. You are going back to the home you never left. May you have a wonderful urgency to live your life to the full."
The writer is a stewardship and hospitality coordinator at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church in Anchorage
iPods, shopping malls and quiet moments
In winter, although not often, schools and businesses enjoy the occasional snow day in Alaska.
Since the summers are so short in the Great Land, why can’t we have a couple of weather days in the summer as well, when it’s too nice to be inside? I asked my boss that before being admonished to get back to work.
But, it is so easy at times to forget the great beauty found in the state.
At the recent Alaska Catholic Youth Conference, I volunteered to help drive some of the participants to Flattop mountain. While waiting for transportation to the various social activities, I ran across a couple of kids, who were headed to Dimond Center Mall.
I can understand youth from Nome or Two Rivers wanting to go to the Dimond Center, but Anchorage youth? With its slightly musty, sour odor, I didn’t see the draw of that compared to the crystal, sweet, freshly scented Alaskan air on Flattop.
The youth responded that they had already climbed Flattop "like a billion times" this summer and wanted something different.
Before opening my mouth, I remembered the old adage about the pot calling the kettle black. Me, I am fortunate enough to have a spur of the coastal trail literally across my front yard, and I haven’t been taking full advantage of it until recently.
What an awesome gift. I kicked myself for not using the trail more. Especially after living in the flatlands of Indiana, I should know better.
Like many Alaskans, the rugged and beautiful lands of our state cry out to me to set my sights heaven bound. I can’t help but see God in his creation around our state.
On a recent evening, I took a walk on the trails around Westchester Lagoon. I paused, watching the ducks and the loons gracefully swim around and I felt like I was achieving full bliss.
The moments when I am truly happy are moments like that, in nature, or laughing and hanging out with good friends, sharing those moments.
I often get caught up worrying about money or longing for more. It’s during those moments that I must remember to simplify life and trust in God.
I ended up not driving to Flattop during the ACYC conference and went back to the office to get some work done.
That night, when I returned to the conference, some of the St. Benedict’s youth came running up to me, faces flushed, telling stories about how much fun they had sliding down Flattop in the snow at the top and of their other experiences on the mountain.
Youth preparing to go to World Youth Day with the archdiocese are giving up their iPods, cell phones and other technologies when they head for their Australian pilgrimage. Although many (and I’m sure I would do the same) balk at leaving technology behind, trip leader Bob McMorrow tells me that youth later appreciate the mandate because it allows them to focus more on God.
So instead of a day off from work, maybe I really need a day off from technology — a chance to simplify life, listen, even for a moment, and just be with God.
The writer is assistant editor of the Catholic Anchor
Editorials
Changes coming to the Anchor
The Anchor is undergoing several changes to accommodate new realities. The first change for readers comes next month, when we begin publishing once a month during the summer months (June, July and August). We will also publish once in December. The rest of the year, we will continue to publish twice a month. This enables us to cut operating costs during slower summer months. In addition, the Anchor is putting more resources into making our Web site dynamic with fresh content throughout each week. More details regarding the Web site are coming soon. As for now, the next Anchor will hit mailboxes on July 18th. Stay tuned for more.
Stewardship of the unborn
As recent developments in Juneau highlight (see page 15), Christians can never tire from sharing the Gospel.
Planned Parenthood is scheduled to open a new abortion clinic in the state’s capital this summer, where more than 200 Alaskan women will likely have abortions over the next year.
It comes as little consolation that the Juneau-based pro-life group, Alaskans For Life, plans to picket and protest the clinic’s opening.
The picketers might save some babies but the reality is that Juneau has allowed this gruesome practice to find a foothold into their community and it will be difficult to uproot.
It is not easy to determine the best and most effective response to the opening of a new abortion clinic. Ultimately, the hearts of men and women must change so that unborn human children are not viewed as commodities to either love or destroy as we please.
It takes courage for groups like Alaskans For Life to speak up for the unborn but it takes greater effort to match those words with the work needed to support a culture and infrastructure that fosters life.
Women who plan to have abortions in Juneau this year certainly need to hear that human life is immeasurably valuable. However, they also need concrete options, hotlines, support groups, free diapers, baby blankets, counselors and generous churches that will help them bring their babies into the world – a world of less than ideal circumstances.
This past year in Anchorage, a crisis pregnancy support group (Birthright) was forced to close, partly because there were too few volunteers to keep the program running.
Thankfully, Catholic Social Services Pregnancy Support and Adoption Services agreed to continue many of the services that Birthright provided. These groups need all the help and support they can get. They often run on a shoestring budget and rely heavily on donations and volunteers. Yes, we must proclaim the Gospel but we must also shoulder the burden when people agree to embrace the truth.
Below are the contacts for two local groups that could use support in helping pregnant women keep their babies:
CSS Pregnancy Support and Adoption Services: 276-5590
Crisis Pregnancy Center: 337-9292
Staying relevant
In order to be more than background noise, Catholics must be able to find common ground with abortion-rights supporters.
According to Ethicist Margaret Somerville, that might be easier than many think.
Summerville, one of Canada’s leading intellectuals, spoke May 28 to attendees of the Catholic Media Convention in Toronto.
Summerville regularly engages in public debates in Canada, where she is often at odds with those who advocate for abortion rights, euthanasia, embryonic stem cell research and human cloning. Despite the vast differences she may have with someone, Summerville said she tries to find some basic common ground at the beginning of the conversation.
"We must remember that most of our opponents are trying to do what they think is right," Summerville told the Catholic media. To find common ground, we must look for the areas of life where our values overlap with those who disagree with us, she noted.
It is not enough to use arguments based on religious beliefs, which many
people may not share, she explained.In arguing against abortion, for example, we must show how more widely accepted
secular values like freedom, care for the most vulnerable, and the profound
love between mothers and their children are all undermined through the violent
act of killing an unborn child.
Email a letter to the editor
Unavoidable differences
The more my family discovers ways to practice our faith, the harder it becomes to avoid the stark reality that we are Catholic Christians.
My wife and I both grew up in devoutly Evangelical Christian homes, for which we are immeasurably thankful. Many of our dear friends and family members, however, do not share our Catholic faith – a faith we officially embraced four years ago this summer.
Our journey from Evangelical Protestants to Catholics was not quick or without struggle. After several years of soul searching, we came to believe that the Catholic Church was the original community that Christ founded in order to unite Christians to himself. Joining that community, however, meant that we would be distinguished from our loved ones who did not share our convictions about the Catholic Church.
Catholic traditions and practices make it nearly impossible to seamlessly meld into the Protestant Christian sub-culture of America, let alone the secular culture at large.
Take for example something as common as making the sign of the cross before and after prayer.
While this little gesture might come instinctively to many cradle Catholics, my wife and I have debated about when and where we and our three small children should make the sign of the cross. At home as a family – certainly. In church – definitely. But what about those occasions when we are the lone Catholics at a social gathering?
In these situations, crossing oneself is visible reminder to all present that we are members of that ancient church, which also claims to most fully embody Christ’s original intent for Christian community. This one little gesture makes us stand out a bit and at times it can be awkward.
Holy Days of obligation are another instance, especially during Alaska’s summer camping season, when being the lone Catholic family in a group creates an interesting dynamic come Sunday morning.
If there is a Catholic Church near the campground, we have an obligation to rouse our weary bodies in order to worship and commune with Christ in the Mass. Catholic teaching requires this for our spiritual growth, in order that we don’t forget the source and summit of our life. And yet, again, by leaving the campground to go celebrate the real presence of Christ, we tend to stick out.
Then there are the crucifixes hanging on our walls, rosaries in the car, baptismal water at the foot of the stairs and feast days and ash crosses on our foreheads to begin Lent. All these serve as red flags that we are Catholic.
It is not that these practices are intended to make us stand out. Their primary purpose is to help deepen our spiritual life and call us to greater prayer and devotion to Christ. It is one of the reasons my wife and I were so drawn to the Catholic Church in the first place. It just so happens that these practices also blatantly reveal our beliefs to the world.
As we mark our fourth year in the Catholic Church, and despite the occasional awkwardness during that time, I am fundamentally thankful for the many practices and reminders available to Catholics.
Yes, the rituals can become rote and robotic. Yes, it is possible to walk by the kitchen crucifix without noticing it or dash up the stairs without dipping a finger into the holy water. It is also possible to make the sign of the cross without even knowing it. But this shouldn’t be a big surprise. The great struggle of any Christian’s life is to remain present to God, to thank and praise him even when we’re tired or busy.
Four years after joining the Catholic Church, I still struggle to pray, battle old vices and need plenty of grace and forgiveness. But Catholic devotions and practices make it that much harder to drift mindlessly along.
The Catholic Church is certainly distinct (and often counter-cultural) but she is first and foremost a great gift from Christ and a guide on the long road to glory.
Letters to the Editor
Conscientious objector needed support
When a Fort Richardson-based paratrooper, Michael Barnes, recently appeared in the U.S. District Court to challenge the Army’s decision to deny his petition of seeking the status of conscientious objector, I thought the courtroom would be over-flowing with local parishioners, rallying behind this man.
Here is a young man, a husband, and a father, who had come to realize his beliefs could no longer allow him to participate in this conflict.
"How would I justify to the Lord that participating in war is serving him?" Barnes wrote. "I cannot. War is evil, and nothing but evil comes from it. Many of those who participate in it lose their souls along the way."
I assumed that those who abhor violence and murder would be there to support Barnes in his brave decision. Surprisingly, the support from the religious community was negligible. Where was the outrage? There was none. The silence was deafening. This inaction is truly shocking. The Catechism of the Catholic Church and the moral theory of Just-War should bring many of us together showing support and giving compassion towards this man, his family, and any others who have a change of conscience.
Susan Bright, Anchorage
Parishes need priests
The Archdiocese of Anchorage has at least several parishes without resident priests. We have other parishes with multiple priests. Some of these priests are sent out via car to serve outlying parishes either once a week or once a month. For parishes without priests, these rare visits do little for their spiritual growth or the local Catholic family. With the cost of fuel skyrocketing it appears that the practical solution would be to staff these remote locations with the "extra priests." This would serve a twofold purpose, to place into those communities a representative of our faith, and allow for the possibility of growth within our Catholic faith. There could well be growth in these outlining parishes, which will enhance the propagation of faith. The parish family is not complete and cannot grow, without its head, which is the pastor.
Mark J. and Hannelore Kelliher, Eagle River
Anchor informs reader
As a mom of 4 children I rarely find time to read anything from cover to cover. However, I do make one exception. Every Saturday, I look forward to getting the mail to see if the Catholic Anchor will be a part of it. If it is, I make the time to sit down and read it in its entirety. Over the last three years I have witnessed significant improvements in the content and scholarship of the Anchor. The coverage of local to worldwide events in the Catholic Church makes me truly feel as if I do belong to something universal and greater than myself. The articles and editorials are catechetical and thought provoking. I appreciate your ability to keep me connected and informed about what is going on not only in Alaska but also throughout the world in the Catholic Church. The Catholic Anchor has become its name, a Catholic anchor for our family.Thank you and keep up the great workEileen Aaron, Palmer
Celebrate our priests
The past few weeks have been filled with very special anniversaries, which should not quietly slip by. Four wonderful priests recently marked anniversaries to the priesthood: Father Thomas Brundage (20 years), Father Ben Torreto (23 years), Father Bill Fournier (35 years) and Father Stan Allie (50 years).
For all the above, thanks be to God. Many community and parishioners did not know of these anniversaries but wish they had. While respecting the priests’ wishes for modesty, perhaps we could put a bit of celebration of the priesthood back into the church. For without these holy men, where would we be?
There is great reason for joy and celebration! We are eternally thankful for each and every one, and their many blessed years of unselfish service.
Linda & Gregory Miller, Palmer
College guide a help
Thanks to the Catholic Anchor for the May 16 article ("Newman Society’s top 21 Catholic Colleges"). Parents please note that one college recommended by the Newman Society, Thomas Aquinas College, has a policy that no student will be turned away for financial reasons. Moreover, they are routinely on U.S. News and World Report’s Top 100 Hundred Buys in U.S. College Education, which considers quality as well as cost in the mix. The campus is adjacent to a national park and 20 minutes from Ventura Beach. Visit thomasaquinas.edu to see their exquisite new chapel (Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity) now nearing completion.
Theresa Syren, Anchorage