CONTENTS: +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++Synod Proposes Greater Vocations Efforts, No Easing of Celibacy Rules In a draft list of propositions, the Synod of Bishops recommended no relaxation of church rules on priestly celibacy and instead proposed greater vocations efforts as the answer to the shortage of priests. The idea of ordaining married men in the Western church is "a road not to follow," said Proposition 11, one of 50 propositions presented to the synod Oct. 18. After possible amendments, the propositions were to be voted on later in the week. Catholic News Service obtained a copy of the propositions, which were read in Latin on the synod floor. The propositions contained proposals on other topics of interest during the Oct. 2-23 synod on the Eucharist. Proposition 40 said Catholics who have divorced and civilly remarried without an annulment "cannot be admitted to holy Communion" because they are in clear contrast with church teaching on marriage. It encouraged other pastoral efforts toward such Catholics. Proposition 46 said there is no "eucharistic coherence" when Catholic politicians promote laws that go against human good, justice and natural law. It said bishops should exercise prudence on whether specific politicians should receive Communion. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ CARA Honors Franciscan Sister Katarina Schuth for Seminary Research The Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate honored Franciscan Sister Katarina Schuth Oct. 5 for her extensive research on U.S. Catholic seminaries. Researchers must report their findings with wisdom and accuracy and avoid being "co-opted by partisans on either side of an issue," but they must also "have compassion and concern for those who will feel the impact of the results of the research," she said after receiving the award. Sister Schuth is a professor of the scientific study of religion at St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity of the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn. She is the author of two major studies, in 1989 and 1999, of U.S. Catholic theologates and seminaries and is co-author of a forthcoming study, "Educating Leaders for Ministry: Issues and Responses." She received the Father Louis J. Luzbetak, SVD, Award for Exemplary Church Research, named after the Divine Word priest who was CARA's founding executive director. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Archbishop to Monitor Admission of Married Anglicans to Priesthood Archbishop John J. Myers of Newark has been appointed by the Vatican as ecclesiastical delegate in charge of the process for admitting married former Anglican or Episcopal clergy to the Catholic priesthood in the United States. He succeeds Cardinal Bernard F. Law, former archbishop of Boston, in the post and will report to Archbishop William J. Levada, prefect of the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. As delegate, Archbishop Myers will oversee the special U.S. pastoral provision by which married former Anglican or Episcopal clergy who wish to join the Catholic Church can be ordained as Catholic priests. Cardinal Law had overseen the pastoral provision since it was instituted in 1981. "The purpose of the provision is to allow a pastoral way for the church to welcome those men who wish to enter fully into the Catholic faith and continue in ministry, but because of the tradition they had been following, they would not normally have been welcomed," Archbishop Myers said in a statement. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ At Closing Synod Mass, Pope Defends Priestly Celibacy At a Mass to close the Synod of Bishops on the Eucharist, Pope Benedict XVI defended priestly celibacy and expressed his "deep sadness" that Chinese bishops were not allowed to attend the assembly. The synod's work called on all Catholics to revive their commitment of faith and understand that "no dichotomy is admissible between faith and life," the pope said in a sermon Oct. 23. The Mass, celebrated in a packed St. Peter's Square, brought together several threads that have tied together the pontificates of Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict: the pope formally ended the Year of the Eucharist and the synod, both projects convened by his predecessor to refocus on the basic elements of the faith; he canonized five new saints, whose causes were advanced under Pope John Paul; and he celebrated World Mission Sunday, an event for which Pope John Paul wrote a message before his death, and reminded Catholics of the sacrifice made by missionaries worldwide. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Vocation Exploration Programs at Catholic Colleges Get Lilly Grants Eleven Catholic colleges and universities received grants of about $500,000 each to extend programs that encourage college students, faculty and staff to engage in theological reflection on the purposes and character of their lives and work. The grants by the Indianapolis-based Lilly Endowment extended for an additional three years the schools' participation in Lilly's Programs for the Theological Exploration of Vocation initiative. In all, 37 church-related liberal arts colleges and universities received $17.8 million in the latest round of grants. Since the vocation initiative began making grants in 2000, 88 U.S. colleges and universities have received support totaling $176.8 million. "These schools have integrated programs and projects that are advancing the initiative's aims: to encourage young people to explore Christian ministry as their possible life's work, to help all students draw on their faith traditions in making vocational choices, and to enhance the capacity of each school's faculty and staff to teach and mentor students effectively in these areas," said Craig Dykstra, senior vice president for religion at Lilly Endowment. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ For Monk, Baking Bread is Reminder of Spiritual Meal in the Eucharist Benedictine Father Dominic Garromone finds immediate connections between baking and spirituality. In an Oct. 27 presentation at St. Mary of Gostyn Parish in Downers Grove, while elbow deep in a mixture of flour and water, he told parishioners that baking bread reminds him of the spiritual meal contained in the Eucharist. "Each of us has a hole inside us where God is meant to be, and the Eucharist is just one of the ways that we fill that need," he said. For the parish presentation, the priest brought along a bright yellow toolbox that included the typical tools of a baker's trade -- whisks, a dough scraper and a polka-dotted rolling pin. The toolbox was the first indication that the lifestyle of Father Garromone, a teacher of religion and drama at St. Bede Academy in Peru, Ill., involved more than daily Mass and administering the sacraments. Mixing and kneading while he was talking, Father Garromone said from an early age he felt drawn to cooking and baking. In fact, he credits his mother, Mary, and grandmother Tootsie with teaching him everything he knows about the art. "I grew up in a home where baking was the norm. It's just what people did," he said. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Cause Opens for Religious Nun Slain in Bizarre Satanic Rite The cause of beatification has opened for Sister Maria Laura Mainetti, a 60-year-old religious murdered by three girls during a Satanic rite in 2000. Sister Laura, as she was known, was stabbed 18 times on the night of June 6-7, 2000, after being taken to a dark alley by two 17-year-olds and a 16-year-old. "The three hapless girls could find no better excuse to attract Sister Laura, than to convince her that one of them was expecting a child, that she had been rejected by her family and boyfriend, and that she didn't know what to do or where to go,” said Monsignor Ambrogio Balatti, archpriest of Chiavenna San Lorenzo/ "How could Sister Laura, whose birth cost her mother her life, who died a few days after her birth, refuse to help that young girl who said she was a mother?" the monsignor asked. Sister Laura had "a special predilection for young people," whom she "considered the real poor of today: She saw them lost, without points of reference, exposed to the risk of the existential void." Under interrogation, the accused said they killed the nun to "dispel the boredom of a life that was always the same in the small city," said Monsignor Balatti. Officials soon learned that the trio initially wanted to sacrifice a priest in their Satanic rite -- and their first choice for a victim was Monsignor Balatti. The killers themselves admitted that when she was dying, Sister Laura found the strength to pray for them, saying: "Lord, forgive them." Bishop Maggiolini said: "I am certain that all this will reflect positively also on the three girls: Sister Laura's is a light that will help them grow and mature." Sister Laura, who was baptized Teresina, was born in Colico, Italy, on Aug. 20, 1939. At the time of her death she was superior of the Community of Daughters of the Cross, in the Mary Immaculate Institute of Chiavenna. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Beatification of Eurosia Fabris, Third Order Franciscan and Mother of Many Consecrated Vocations On November 6 in the cathedral of Vicenza, Italy, Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins C.M.F., prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, acting in the Pope's name, read out the formula for beatification of Eurosia Fabris (1866 - 1932), known as "Mother Rosa." The new Blessed, the daughter of agricultural workers, left school after just two years of primary education in order to help her parents at their work in the home and the fields. Nonetheless, she learned to read and write, one of her favorite books being "Eternal Maxims" by St. Alphonsus Liguori. She married Carlo Barban, a widower with three daughters, by whom she had nine children, of whom three became priests. Eurosia Fabris entered the Third Order of St. Francis and, despite her lack of economic means, helped the poor and welcomed into her home a number of children orphaned by the First World War. The cause for her beatification began in 1975. In 2004, a miracle was officially recognized as having come through her intervention, in favor of a sick woman thought by doctors to be beyond recovery. The beatification was co-presided by Bishop Cesare Nosiglia of Vicenza who, in his homily, indicated "Mother Rosa represents a model of sanctity accessible to everyone, because as a wife and mother she lived, with the commitment of evangelical simplicity, ... a daily family life, accepting its pains and suffering in the constant search for the will of God." The bishop also recalled the religious vocations in the family of the new Blessed, highlighting how in many homes today they would be considered as a cause for concern, while for Eurosia "the joy of seeing her children take the path of consecrated life ... was a source of consolation." +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Trappist Ministry Serves the Living by Preparing a Place for the Dead Since 2000 the Trappist monks of New Melleray Abbey in Peosta have been making wooden caskets, using lumber from the abbey's forest. What began as an endeavor to offset sagging farm profits has become a growing business, serving clergy and laity alike. The abbey sells 850-900 caskets and coffins annually, in addition to wooden and ceramic urns for cremations. The business is fittingly called Trappist Caskets. According to its Web site, at http://www.trappistcaskets.com, these traditional caskets and urns reflect the values of monastic life. The abbey, which is in the Dubuque Archdiocese, sells directly to the public at wholesale prices ranging from $775 to $1,975. "Our goal is to balance old-world craftsmanship with reasonable prices," according to the Web site, which describes the caskets and urns as a "soulful alternative" to mass-produced mortuary products. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Nun to Receive Papal Honor for Her Work with Poor in West Virginia Marist Sister Constance Dodd, director of the Catholic Neighborhood Center in Wheeling, has been named a recipient of the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice Cross by Pope Benedict XVI in recognition of her dedication to the care of the poor in Wheeling. The Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice Cross ("for the church and the pontiff") signifies the pope's recognition of distinguished service to the church. It is the highest award that a noncleric can receive. This medal has not been bestowed on anyone in the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston for more than 25 years. Bishop Michael J. Bransfield of Wheeling-Charleston nominated Sister Constance because of her service through her leadership at the Catholic Neighborhood Center and for dedicating her life to ministry to the poor. "All of us in this city should be grateful for the gift of this wonderful religious woman who teaches all of us to love the poor," he said. The bishop will present the medal to Sister Constance during an evening Mass Dec. 10 at the Cathedral of St. Joseph in Wheeling. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Sisters Are 'Good Shepherds' to Battered Women at Chicago Shelter For 25 years, Chicago's House of the Good Shepherd has stood as a beacon of safety and healing for battered women and children caught in the physically and psychologically deteriorating hold of their abusers. A ministry of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd, the shelter has helped more than 4,000 women and their children through "a comprehensive recovery program for abused women ready to learn to rebuild their lives," said Good Shepherd Sister Dorothy Renckens, administrator of the shelter. "Our belief in the human dignity of each person lies at the heart of the program," she told The Catholic New World, newspaper of the Chicago Archdiocese.The house, whose funding comes from foundation grants, individual donations, an appeal and an annual brunch fundraiser, has 14 apartments for abuse victims and their families. Typically, a stay at the house is three to four months, although it can be extended. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ New Sacred Suncatchers Allows the Light of Faith to Shine in Your Heart and Home
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