January 13, 2006 - Issue #1
Local News | Opinion/Editorials | Letters to the Editor
New St. Andrew Church takes shape
The massive steel beams were erected and fastened into place within a few weeks of arriving in Eagle River, where St. Andrew Parish is building a new church. But years of preparation involving hundreds of people preceded the actual start of construction.
In the spring of 2000, St. Andrew pastor Father Leo Walsh was wondering what to do about his jam-packed church.
"We had already added the fifth (weekend) Mass," Father Walsh said, and still the parish was growing by about four families per week.
The priest was lamenting the situation at a birthday party when a fellow reveler offered to donate 12.5 acres of land to the parish.
Father Walsh jumped at the opportunity and initiated a parish discernment process. There was a large-scale survey by a consulting firm to determine parishioners’ interest in various proposals, followed by four town hall meetings, demographic studies and presentations on the U.S. bishops’ document on church-building, "Built of Living Stones."
When it became clear that the vast majority of parishioners wanted to build a new church on the donated land, the parish broke into committees and subcommittees, hired a project manager and started researching financial options. They selected an architect and a liturgical consultant and a construction company.
And they kept talking about what to build.
At one of the early town hall meetings, parishioners were eagerly voicing ideas and dreams, Father Walsh remembered.
"Those first meetings were heady," he said. "Anything was possible."
Finally someone turned and asked the pastor what he wanted to do with the land.
"Pastors come and go," Father Walsh recalled telling the parishioners. "It’s not really about me; I want what’s best for the needs of the church community far into the future."
Father Walsh said he has guided the process but that actual decision-making by and large has been the result of widespread dialogue and eventual consensus. Even when 80-100 parishioners would gather to try to piece together a church from the various iterations the architects presented to them, there always seemed to be a point when everyone agreed on a particular choice, the pastor said.
Andy Simasko, the head architect on the project, praised parishioners for being so involved in the process.
"We actually like that because it helps us know what the people are looking for," he said.
The flood of input resulted in a structure that defies classification, Simasko said.
"It has styles borrowed from different periods," he said. "It’s got some Gothic stuff in it, it’s got some Romanesque stuff in it too."
And some modern elements as well, including the arrangement of seating in a half-circle around the sanctuary rather than the more traditional side-by-side rows running the length of the church.
Father Walsh said the design reflects the parish’s unique character.
When Simasko unveiled the final rendition, people said, " ‘That’s it; that’s our church!’ " Father Walsh recalled. "That was universal."
After five years of "process" — five years of surveys, sermons and meetings, five years of focusing dreams into practical plans — the church is finally beginning to take shape.
The steel arrived last month, and Father Walsh said he expects the building to be finished by Sept. 15.
The new structure is all steel and concrete now, a skeleton of a building located on a slight rise just west of the Glenn Highway at the main exit for Eagle River.
It’s going to be big — 27,000 square feet to begin with, and built so that elements that were put on hold because of budget constraints can be added later. It will have 50-foot ceilings and seating for 1,060.
The current St. Andrew Church, built in 1980-81, seats 420 people and bulges each weekend. There are five Masses, and for big events the liturgy can be simulcast downstairs to the parish hall, where another 240 people can cram in.
"It’s going to be, ‘Welcome to Eagle River and we won’t turn you away,’ " Father Walsh said of the new church. "It’s going to be the defining architectural feature of Eagle River."
"Turning people away" is not just rhetoric in this case. At one of the Christmas Day Masses last month, ushers had to send away about three dozen people. The fire marshal is a parishioner and he was present, Father Walsh said.
The new church takes into account the growing population of the parish, which, according to Father Walsh, has gone from just under 800 families when he arrived in 1999 to just under 1,300 as of early this week.
Parish building committee chairman Bill Kontess and others studied parish and municipal population projections and urged the parish to go big so that the new church would be adequate for a long time.
"If it’s going to last for 50 years then it needs to be sized for the growth," Kontess said.
Paying for the structure will also be an enduring reality.
Total project cost is $10.9 million, according to project manager Erik Fredeen.
A capital campaign has already raised $3.3 million in pledges and cash, and the sale of the current church is budgeted for $2.5 million. The rest is being financed with a $5.1 million loan from the Knights of Columbus.
Archdiocese celebrates 40th anniversary
Catholics in Southcentral Alaska have an important birthday coming up: Feb. 9 marks the 40th anniversary of the establishment of the Archdiocese of Anchorage.
Commemorations to mark the milestone are in the planning stages, but Masses and special prayers of the faithful honoring the anniversary will begin a year of celebration the weekend of Feb. 11-12.
The first special event of the anniversary year will be Feb. 11, the fourth annual St. Francis of Assisi Awards Banquet. The event honors local Catholics who exemplify the spirit of the Italian saint in service to the people of the archdiocese. It was established in 2003, in part as a tribute to retired Archbishop Francis Hurley, who led the archdiocese from 1976 to 2001.
Forty years may not be long in a historical context, but it’s a significant anniversary in the short history of Catholic Alaska, said Sister Charlotte Davenport, archdiocesan chancellor.
"In many ways, we’ve finished the foundational years," she said. "Now, we’re building second-generation churches, we’re moving from social halls into churches."
The anniversary provides a good opportunity to look back at memories and what’s been accomplished, she added.
In 1966, Southcentral Alaska was still recovering from 1964’s massive Good Friday earthquake when a new archdiocese was carved out of the existing dioceses of Fairbanks and Juneau.
Msgr. Joseph Ryan of Albany, N.Y., was named the first archbishop and served in that capacity until 1976, when he was succeeded by then-Bishop of Juneau Francis Hurley.
Archbishop Roger Schwietz, who succeeded Archbishop Hurley in March 2001, has appointed an anniversary planning committee to help shape events for the celebratory year.
Members are Matthew Beck of Palmer, Medical Missionary Sister Joan Barina of Kenai, Father Richard Tero of Seward, and, from Anchorage, Marcy Adkins, Leandra Childs, Stacia Gillam, Mercy Sister Kathleen O’Hara and Father Dan Hebert. Maureen O’Neill and Jim Caldarola of Anchorage will serve as co-chairs.
The committee will work with several suggestions gathered at earlier "pastoral day" meetings with parish leaders from around the archdiocese and present a draft anniversary-year plan at a Feb. 10 pastoral day.
Sister Davenport said that part of the celebratory year will involve looking ahead to the 50th anniversary and developing a "10-year plan with evangelization as one of the key components."
The first celebration of the year, the St. Francis of Assisi Awards Banquet, has a short but rich history in the archdiocese.
Each year, people from throughout the archdiocese are invited to nominate individuals and groups who have given consistently of their time, talent and treasure for the good of the local church.
There are three categories: adult lay person; youth or youth group; and priest, deacon or religious.
A committee makes the final selection.
This year’s banquet promises a little extra, said Caldarola, director of the Office of Stewardship and Development, which plans the event.
Bishop William Houck, president of Catholic Church Extension, will be the featured speaker at the banquet. Earlier this year, Holy Cross Father LeRoy Clementich was presented the Lumen Christi Award, Extension’s highest honor, given for exemplary service in the home missions.
Father Clementich, who directs the archdiocese’s rural pastoral ministry, travels extensively to serve rural parishes without resident priests. At 81, he occasionally pilots his own plane and recently spent the Christmas feast serving in Unalaska.
Extension staff members held a banquet and award ceremony for Father Clementich last year at their headquarters in Chicago, but now Bishop Houck wants to honor the priest locally, and he has chosen the St. Francis Awards Banquet as an appropriate venue, Caldarola said.
For reservations for the banquet, call Rosemary Karish or Julie Alfred at 297-7700.
The deadline for nominations for the St. Francis of Assisi Awards is Tuesday, Jan. 24, at 5 p.m. For information about submitting nominations, call Caldarola at 297-7700, or Carin Bassler at 345-3584.
Parishes think big with 2006 resolutions
"Tabula rasa," the clean slate, the fresh start. The vast bulk of 2006 is still blank little squares on a crisp calendar, but the Anchorage Archdiocese’s parish leaders are already marking up their planners.
Some parishes are planning improvements to their church structures, or, in the case of St. Peter the Fisherman Mission Parish in Clarks Point, physically relocating the building. Others are beefing up faith formation or outreach efforts, or hoping for more priests to serve their area.
Our Lady of the Angels Parish in Kenai is kicking off 2006 with a mission renewal retreat. Mercy Sister Joyce Ross, parish director, said providing parishioners with an extra shot of inspiration and reminding people about the parish’s mission is a good way to start the year on the "right foot."
The five evening renewal sessions began Jan. 8, led by Oblate Father Tom Killeen, pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Cordova.
"Hopefully it will give us the incentive to practice our faith the best way we can" and keep everyone "thinking about other people besides ourselves," Sister Ross said. "That’s a big responsibility we all have."
Among other things, the roughly 175-family parish supports a mission in Nairobi, Kenya, and provides a summer opportunity for youths to travel to a rural Alaska Native village.
Sister Ross said getting young people involved in "something besides themselves" is a focus of the parish.
"That’s our hope (for 2006) — that people become more aware of our responsibilities as good stewards," Sister Ross said.
Father Scott Garrett, who’s served as resident pastor of Dillingham’s Holy Rosary Parish since August, has big plans for a little white church in the nearby Yup’ik village of Clarks Point.
Villagers crafted the church in the early 1950s, largely with scrap materials, but it sits in an area that now frequently floods. Father Garrett and the people are trying to devise a way to move the little church to higher ground, where parishioners hope to finally be able to wire it for electricity. The priest also said he hopes the church can serve as a central meeting hall for the village of about 60 people.
"It shows that Catholics are willing to invest in the community … and that communities are important to us," Father Garrett said.
Holy Family Cathedral in downtown Anchorage is planning some building renovations — though less drastic, to be sure.
This is hopefully the year cathedral parishioners will have the option of riding an elevator instead of taking the stairs to the cathedral’s basement.
When Pope John Paul II visited the cathedral in 1981, disabled people were physically carried to the basement to meet him.
The cathedral basement is slated to get an electrical upgrade and bathroom renovations this year as well. It’s part of an overall effort to make the church more accessible and welcoming, according to cathedral rector Dominican Father Donald Bramble.
"You have to be physically welcoming, not only spiritually and in terms of service. Physically, people have to be able to get around," the priest said, adding that the accommodations have been a decades-old "dream" of the parish.
Now, their fund-raising efforts and two large monetary gifts allow for the upgrades, which are compatible with the cathedral’s long-term plans for expansion.
In East Anchorage, the ethnically diverse St. Anthony Parish is focusing on how to celebrate "many cultures, one faith," according to pastor Father Fred Bugarin.
They are also hoping to help build safer neighborhoods in the new year. The parish belongs to the growing community-organizing group called AFACT (Anchorage Faith and Action — Congregations Together).
Father Bugarin said AFACT congregations may initiate dialogue sessions about "cops, clergy and kids" in an effort to curb crime. Also through AFACT, St. Anthony parishioners are helping to organize their North Mountain View community so they’ll have a voice in the city’s revitalization plans for their neighborhood.
Central Anchorage’s Holy Cross Parish is continuing its efforts to create more opportunities for adults to learn about their faith and grow spiritually. Parish administrator Sister Loretta Luecke told the Anchor that it’s important for parents and adults to continue their faith education and serve as examples for younger parishioners.
When parents drop their children off at the church now for faith education on Wednesday nights, adults can stick around for classes about marriage or Catholic Church history.
The Precious Blood Sister also said Holy Cross is trying to ensure that everyone — children, parents, families, single people, older couples and youths — has a role in the parish. The parish is planning potlucks and social gatherings to appeal to a wide range of parishioners.
"We’re trying to wake the people up and realize this is our parish and we need all of you to make that happen," she said.
About 115 miles north of Anchorage at the foot of Mount McKinley, St. Bernard parishioners in Talkeetna have been meeting every Monday evening in the church to pray and talk about the liturgy readings for the upcoming Sunday.
Parish director Renamary Rauchenstein said she hopes the adult education and faith formation program at the parish continues to flourish in the coming year. The group of about a dozen people started gathering recently when they needed one another’s help answering some questions Talkeetna’s Christian fundamentalists had about the Catholic Church.
"Do you guys worship Mary? and why do you sacrifice Jesus at every Mass? and why do you worship the saints?" were some questions Catholics were asked.
Rauchenstein said the questions have given parishioners an opportunity to increase their own knowledge and to teach others about Catholicism, which Rauchenstein said involves outreach, stewardship and "being led by God."
Father Richard Tero is dreaming of a day when more priests will be assigned to help him minister to several parishes on the Kenai Peninsula. Father Tero is the resident pastor of Sacred Heart Parish in Seward but also serves as pastor to five other parishes and missions in Cooper Landing, Kenai, Soldotna, Homer and Ninilchik.
"One of God’s great gifts to the world is the Kenai Peninsula and we only have one full-time priest," he said, adding that retired Air Force chaplain Father Bill Hanrahan, who has the benefit of a personal plane, fills in when he can from Seward.
"We could sure use prayers for more priests on the Kenai," Father Tero said.
Blessed Brother Charles has followers with Alaska connections
Editor’s Note: On Nov. 13 the church beatified Brother Charles de Foucauld, the French monk known for his humble ministry in the Sahara Desert. Blessed Foucauld inspired a number of men and women with Alaska connections to devote their lives to Christ. Here are some of those followers’ reflections.
Three ‘holy fools’ in the Russian Far East try to imitate Little Brother of Jesus
More than 10,000 people, including 1,000 priests, gathered at St Peter’s Basilica in Rome on Nov. 13 at 9:30 in the morning with the Holy Father for the last part of the process of beatification for Brother Charles of Jesus, who said in letter to a childhood friend in 1902: "The secret of my life is I have lost my heart to this Jesus of Nazareth, crucified some 1,900 years ago, and I spend my life trying to imitate him as much as my weakness allows."
It is this Little Brother of Jesus who for more than 30 years has been my dear and holy friend. His radical life in the Sahara Desert among a group of Muslims called the Taureg called to my heart all those years ago. The call came through my diocesan priesthood and the lives of my brother priests in our Jesus Caritas group, priests who traveled together in prayer and deep support.
Then came a call within a call some 15 years ago. Brother Charles seemed to be inviting me to imitate him in the Siberian Far East. The message was this: "Go and pray in the former prison camps. Offer your life for those who came as prisoners. Become my prisoner of love, to make reparation for the evil done there."
These words were spoken to my heart during a 40-day retreat in 1991 and branded my heart with the truth that I was called to be a brother there in Russia, called to prayer.
Now, 12 years later, I have two brothers more talented and dedicated to the life of service than myself. Father David Means, my faithful brother of over nine years, and Father Milosh Krakovski from Slovakia, a more recent addition, live with me this simple and joyful life. We are writing the "rule" for our brotherhood, the Brothers of the Heart of Jesus, blessed and supported by our local Russian Bishop Cyryl Klimowicz as well as the continued support of Anchorage Archbishops Roger Schwietz and Francis Hurley (retired).
There are now some young Russian men and women who are feeling called to join us in this kind of prayer and lifestyle.
Brother Charles of Jesus had three major points to his life: an incredible love of Jesus in sacrament, word and the poor; a desire to be a universal brother to every Muslim, Jew and Christian; and a commitment to opening his life to serve all who came to him, sometimes as many as 100 people a day.
"I want all the people here, be they Christians, Muslims, Jews or whatever, to see me as their brother and a universal brother," he said in another letter from 1902, when he was living in northern Africa.
During my time in Rome before and after the beatification ceremony, I witnessed the many small families that have come from that small seed who died a martyr in the Sahara. But especially the Little Sisters of Jesus is the order that has loved and followed the example of this holy man.
These Little Sisters have been in Alaska for so many years serving, as usual, in the hidden life of Nazareth. They are the true disciples of Brother Charles for me.
What is next for us here in Siberia? We are called to die just like Brother Charles, to offer our lives here to become seeds planted in the Russian soil so others may come to know and fall in love with this Jesus of Nazareth to whom we have given our hearts.
My prayer remains the one I prayed after receiving the call to go and pray in the camps some 15 years ago: "O Lord, you fill me with such joy. How can I repay for all you have done for me? Forgive my many sins but give me but one home, there at the foot of the cross with Mary my mother and queen. Teach me one thing: that is to love."
— Father Michael Shields, pastor, Nativity of Jesus Parish, Magadan, Russia
In Alaska, Little Sisters of Jesus share their views about the man who inspired their religious order
• Sister Solange Bertin, who has served in Alaska as a Little Sister of Jesus for about 50 years, in Nome, Little Diomede Island, Fairbanks and Anchorage, almost didn’t join the religious order because, as a young searching woman in France, she associated the Little Sisters with ministry in Africa, where she did not care to go. She was drawn to the order’s spirituality and type of ministry, though, and when she learned that she could serve elsewhere, she joined.
Of Brother Charles de Foucauld’s "spirituality of Nazareth," she wrote: "Simple, ordinary life of contemplation and friendship lived anywhere, on the same level with anyone (no teaching), supporting ourselves by any kind of manual work. An apostolate of presence; being rather than doing, which is exactly the kind of religious life I was looking for."
• Sister Yoshie Takaoka of Japan is a relative newcomer to Alaska, with merely a decade under her belt. She has stocked shelves at a store and worked as a newspaper advertisement inserter and now is a housekeeper at Providence Alaska Medical Center.
" ‘Just to be with him’ is the deep call of God," she wrote. "That’s what happened to Brother Charles and some of us."
She said of Brother Foucauld’s spirituality: "It is important to understand the passage in the New Testament, ‘I tell you as you did this to one of the least of my brothers and sisters, you did it to me’ (Mt 25). His experience of God was in this person in front of him."
• Sister Nobu Terasawa, also of Japan, a 45-year veteran of the Little Sisters who has served in Alaska since 1971, echoed her compatriot’s sentiments. She joined the order to carry out a "contemplative life in the midst of the world (not in a cloister)" and to live in "imitation of the life of Jesus of Nazareth, sharing the life of ordinary people."
• Sister Marie Josephe Brin, another Frenchwoman, joined the Little Sisters in 1956 and came to Alaska in 1959. She summed up her 45-plus years of service here as "a simple way of life following Jesus of Nazareth, a life shared with ordinary people, centered on the presence of Jesus in the Eucharist and in the poor, the least of his brothers and sisters.
• Sister Nirmala Sosya of Sri Lanka, a Little Sister for 34 years, moved 18 months ago from Anchorage to Nome, where she is a clerical worker at the Juvenile Justice Nome Youth Facility. In Anchorage she worked with abused children for five years. She recently returned to Anchorage to visit her old roommates and shared this with the Anchor: "Brother Charles’ gift to us is his humility." She admires the following about him: His openness toward Islam to the point that he rediscovered his own Christian faith seeing how the Taureg Muslims worshiped; his friendships with the people of all walks of life, yet focusing on the poorest; his deep love for the Eucharist; and his desire to "cry the Gospel with his whole life" rather than with words alone.
• Sister Odette Beurrier of France joined the order 52 years ago and has served in Alaska for about 40 years. Now retired, she lives in a "senior apartment building," where she continues to live out her "simple life of prayer and presence," she said. "This is my Nazareth."
"I admire his humility and the way he let himself be guided by the Holy Spirit," Sister Beurrier wrote of her newly beatified countryman. "I think this guided me throughout my life as a Little Sister, and still does."
She also offered a quotation of unknown origin about the "ministry of presence" so central to the spirituality and life of Brother Foucauld : "The ministry of presence calls us to lay aside our agenda. It invites us to find a home among a specific community of people. It asks us to enter in as both stranger and guest, respecting all that had been going on within that community long before we had arrived. It impels us to present ourselves as willing to listen and respond to the needs as they are expressed by the residents of the area."
History of the Philippines involves much conflict
Editor’s Note: When she visited Anchorage in November, Maria Ida Giguiento, who works for Catholic Relief Services in the Philippines, delivered a fascinating speech about her peace and reconciliation work in her country and in nearby East Timor. We have received permission from Giguiento to reprint excerpts from her talk ("Building Peace in Multicultural, Interreligious settings"); here is the first of four parts.
I bring you greetings of "mabuhay" from the Philippines and "assalam alaikum" from my land, Cotabato.
I was born and raised in Cotabato City, the seat of the Archdiocese of Cotabato, with which the Archdiocese of Anchorage has an ongoing partnership agreement. I grew up with the sound of the Muslim call to prayer and the sound of the church bells ringing, calling all the faithful to prayers in the early hours of the morning. I grew up feeling safe in that environment — until factors outside my control took over my life and introduced me to a violent world of wars.
Before I get into that, let me set the few parameters of this presentation.
I am not an expert in the Catholic or the Islamic faiths, or in the histories of the Philippines or the United States.
I will be speaking about my experience living and working with Catholics and Muslims in both Mindanao (Southern Philippines) and East Timor (where I worked for five years). I no doubt draw from my perspective as a Christian engaged in interreligious dialogue, and from the course I have been privileged to co-facilitate for the past six years, Religion as a Source of Conflict and as a Resource for Peace, at the Mindanao Peacebuilding Institute.
The Philippines is divided into the northern part (Luzon), the cluster of islands in the central part (Visayas) and the large island (Mindanao) in the southern part with smaller ones at the tip of the Zamboanga Peninsula.
It was colonized by Spain for 333 years (starting with the arrival of Gen. Legaspiin 1565), then sold to the United States in the early 1900s and under American rule for 33 years. The Japanese occupied it for three years (1942-1945) during World War II, and then the Americans came back and, in the eyes of some political activists, never left.
When the Spaniards came to the Philippines, they saw that in some areas (especially in the central and southern parts), there were established territories with functioning economic (trading) systems and defenses and forms of governance — the "sultanates." For three centuries, the Spaniards tried to conquer the sultanates and convert the people to Catholicism, but they had very, very little success.
The Spaniards coined a derogatory term for these fighting people — "Moros" ("Moors") — the term they gave their enemies from Mauritania and Morocco.
Catholicism spread widely in the north and central Philippines and in one part of the south, Zamboanga City, where the Spaniards managed to establish a huge fortress for defense. Islam retained its firm foothold in the southern island of Mindanao.
Mindanao was treated as separate from the other islands of the Philippines. When our national hero Dr. Jose Rizal was arrested by the Spaniards for his fiery writings that inspired the revolutionaries who were fighting for freedom from Spanish rule, he was exiled to Mindanao.
But when Spain sold the Philippines to the United States, to the surprise of the peoples in Mindanao, their island was included in the sale.
There was tension between the Americans and the islanders, particularly the Muslim population. The Americans managed to subjugate the Muslims in the southern part of their new colony swiftly (by 1914). They had more troops and better weapons, but it was more than that. The Americans also used a new model of colonial administration, sharing power with district and municipal chiefs, which earned them loyalty. Also, they employed a demographic model of colonization — now call transmigration — in which huge populations of people, often landless and ambitious, were encouraged to migrate from the north and central part of their new colony to the south.
The transmigration movement created Christian enclaves in overwhelmingly Muslim areas, that is, on lands the Muslims claimed as their own (source: "The Mindanao Peace Talks: Another Opportunity to Resolve the Moro Conflict in the Philippines" by Benedicto Bacani).
As the population of Christians grew in Mindanao, the Muslims became a minority in their land. The proportion of Muslim inhabitants to the total population of Mindanao fell from 98 percent to 46 percent by 1976.
Mindanao’s population of 14.6 million (1990 census) is now made up of approximately five percent Lumad (indigenous people), 20 percent Muslims and 75 percent migrants who happen to be Christians, according to Mindanao historian Rudy Rodil.
The Muslims now own less than 17 percent of the property on the islands of Mindanao and Sulu, mostly in poor areas far from the city centers.
According to the Bacani report cited above, 80 percent of the Muslims are landless.
Groups of Muslims formed pockets of rebellion against the colonizers and the settlers, but none achieved enough legitimacy to force the government to seriously look at their plight and aspirations until 1969.
Then-President Ferdinand Marcos was seriously looking at possible expansion of the Philippines to include the Malaysian island of Sabah. It was a time of energy crisis in the Philippines and having Sabah as one of the islands of the Philippines would have increased the offshore oil production capacity of the country.
Marcos based his claim on the claims of the heirs of the sultan of Sulu (the Kirams) that the sultan of Borneo had given Sabah to the sultan of Sulu as a reward for helping quell a rebellion in Borneo. Malaysia of course protested the claims.
While the two countries tried to settle the dispute diplomatically, people associated with Marcos decided to train a force of commandos to destabilize Sabah, then send Filipino troops there in the guise of protecting the lives of the many Filipinos living in Sabah, according to the Bacani report.
The military under the Marcos government began to recruit young Muslims in the south and trained them. On the eve of their graduation from the military training, they were told that their assignment was to invade Sabah and destabilize it.
The Muslim trainees resisted (under Islamic law, they should not kill one another, as they belong to one "ummah," or community of believers).
The military officers moved the trainees in batches of 12, brought them to the airstrip and mowed them down with guns. One survived — Jibin Arula. When he saw his colleagues fall on the ground, he ran to the hills and rolled down into the sea where he clung to a plank and stayed afloat until he was rescued by fishermen the next morning.
It took some time for the people to find out what happened on that fateful evening of March 18, 1968, on the island of Corregidor.
This massacre united Muslims across the country and the Moro National Liberation Front emerged at the forefront of their struggle for secession against the Philippine government. Fights broke out between these two major protagonists, and other players (politicians, warlords, big logging companies) started to enter the scene with the creation of paramilitary groups and militias and private armies.
Most of those who were in the rebel movement in the south were Muslims; most of the government soldiers were Christians. Many of the paramilitary groups were Christians, some were Muslims.
The rebellion in Mindanao was escalating and there was another rebellion movement led by the Communist Party of the Philippines that the government was trying to fight off. Marcos declared martial law in 1972. In 1976, he sent an emissary to Nur Misuari to come to the negotiating table and they signed an agreement in Tripoli to stop fighting and continue talking on the key points raised by Moro National Liberation Front (sovereignty, geographical control). Misuari then signed a peace agreement with the Philippine government Sept. 2, 1996.
However, some did not like what Misuari was doing, and they separated from his group and formed the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, then led by Hashim Salamat.
The government has invited the Moro Islamic Liberation Front to the negotiating table to talk through their agenda, but to date no lasting peace deal has been achieved.
This history has bred much animosity and suspicion towards each other by the different tribes, peoples and faith communities.
Next: A short background on the conflict in East Timor.
News & Notes
Longtime marriage tribunal worker retires
Miriam Donohue, who worked in the archdiocese’s marriage tribunal for 28 years, retired at the end of December. She said she never planned to stay that long, but because she enjoyed the work so much and the need was so great, it never seemed like a good time to leave until recently.
Church tribunals adjudicate marriage annulment cases for couples, rendering decisions about the validity of marriages according to canon law.
Donohue was hired in 1977 as an office secretary. She eventually came to serve also as the tribunal’s "defender of the bond," a position that required special permission from Rome because she does not have a canon law degree. (The defender of the bond is responsible for presenting evidence against annulling the marriage bond.)
Donohue, who is married to Deacon Ken Donohue, pastoral associate at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish in South Anchorage, said her first vocation was as a stay-at-home mother, but when she came to work for the archdiocese she found the peaceful, faith-oriented environment pleasant. The work itself, she said, was an enjoyable form of ministry that was sorely needed.
"I really have loved helping couples be able to return to the sacraments," she said. "That always left me with a quiet, happy feeling."
Prayer service for the unborn is Jan. 21
The Knights of Columbus will hold their annual interdenominational prayer service for the unborn on Saturday, Jan. 21, at 2 p.m. at the Anchorage Memorial Park Cemetery, 535 East 9th Ave. The event marks the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion in the United States. Usually Archbishop Roger Schwietz leads the prayer service, but he will be traveling out of state this year. Alaska Lt. Gov. Loren Leman will be the guest speaker this year, along with representatives from the Crisis Pregnancy Center and Birthright. For more information contact Jim or Ann Curro at 349-3772.
Lumen Christi takes basketball crown
Anchorage’s Lumen Christi High School last month hosted, and won, the 2A Junior Varsity State Basketball Championship Tournament. Led by Ben Tornga and Matt Romine, Lumen Christi’s co-ed squad won all four of its games. In the championship game Lumen Christi played defending state champions Faith Lutheran, who beat the Catholic school team by one point in last year’s tournament. This year Lumen Christi, coached by Randy May, won the final game 53-21 behind Tornga’s 24 points and Romine’s 22 points. Tornga and Romine made the All-Tournament Team and Tornga was high scorer for the tournament, racking up 98 points in four games. Lumen Christi’s Clair Prestegard played in the championship game after a serious car accident kept her sidelined for the majority of the season.
Meanwhile, the varsity basketball season began last month; Lumen Christi is fielding both boys’ and girls’ teams at the varsity level.
Editorials
Too few see driving as a moral act
Reckless driving has claimed more victims on the notorious stretch of the Seward Highway south of Anchorage. This tragedy should serve as another powerful reminder that driving is serious business with serious risks and responsibilities.
The offending driver in the most recent accident was a 20-year-old man in a pickup. Witnesses told police he had been traveling far in excess of the speed limit when he lost control of his vehicle and caused a horrific accident that left an Anchor Point couple dead. The young man’s license had been suspended for earlier speeding violations.
In September another 20-year-old man in a pickup caused an accident that killed two people; it was later determined that he had illegal drugs in his system.
Driving is a serious act with serious moral obligations. A Jesuit priest wrote last month in an Italian magazine that poor driving is a sin that should be confessed; in his experience, it rarely is. Pope Benedict also recently urged people to drive more carefully in an effort to save lives.
Some friends of ours religiously paste newspaper clippings about car accidents on the refrigerator, where their teenage sons are sure to see them repeatedly throughout the day. Over time the images of those charred, twisted vehicles may help dissolve the illusion of immortality so many young men carry.
Of course young males aren’t the only ones who drive carelessly, but their car insurance is highest for good reason.
There can be a silver lining to the latest carnage on the Seward Highway if it causes drivers to remember their moral responsibilities on the road. Have enough concern for human life to slow down, drive defensively and avoid driving altogether if your ability to do so safely is compromised.
Youths support restrictions on ‘choice’
A new Zogby poll provides reasons for pro-life people to be hopeful as the 33rd anniversary of Roe v. Wade approaches. The survey of 1,000 high-school seniors found that, although there is strong support for "a woman’s right to choose," support is even stronger for restrictions on abortion.
We have noted in this space many times that it’s easy to support "choice" — who wouldn’t? — but when one probes beyond that euphemism, attitudes begin to shift. The "right to choose" becomes more complicated when one explores the ramifications of the choice to abort an unborn child.
The new poll backs up that assertion. Though half of the youths described themselves as pro-choice, the majority also favor restricting it in most of the "fairly common" circumstances that the pollsters presented. While 89 percent said abortion should be allowed when the pregnancy presents a "serious threat to the woman’s health," 60 percent oppose abortion rights for poor women who can’t afford more children, and 71 percent oppose them for married women who don’t want more children.
Similarly, while 62 percent of the youths polled support the 1973 Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion, two-thirds of them also favor parental consent for a minor’s abortion. Is there any other activity for which a majority of 18-year-olds would impose parental consent on themselves?
Perhaps more telling is the poll’s finding that two-thirds of the students say abortion is always or usually "morally wrong." A full 80 percent said a high school senior who got pregnant should either keep the baby or give it up for adoption; only 13 percent said she should have an abortion.
Does this forecast good news for pro-lifers? We hope at the least it signifies that young people extend their thinking about abortion beyond the concept of "choice."
The injustice of abortion becomes apparent when people look at it with an open mind — something young people seem to do more easily than older, "wiser" folks. An open-minded analysis of abortion will naturally venture beyond mere "choice" into deeper moral territory.
What am I free to choose? What are the effects of my choice? What are my responsibilities concerning this choice?
The Zogby poll suggests America’s young people fare pretty well in such territory.
Letters to the Editor
Danger coming to schools
I recently saw a program on EWTN about education in matters of sex. EWTN went into what was going to happen in the public schools if homosexual teachers and students in public schools are proud and open about their sexual orientation. The words "father" and "mother" are going to be old-fashioned. (Saying comes before reading, and I’m wondering whether any children with fathers and mothers are even going to be able to learn how to read.) Notwithstanding that there will be many social problems teachers will have to solve. Heterosexuals will be considered "those racists." Those who know what the word "chastity" means will have no problems, whether homosexual or heterosexual. Impulses do not cause anyone trouble unless they can’t be controlled. EWTN really scared me here. Teachers might have to teach the "know-how" of both classes to help children determine their sexual orientation. I am a racist now who belongs in a pigeon hole. I think parents should be alerted to this.
Anchorage
Many worked to build church
Congratulations to the parishioners of Our Lady of Guadalupe on the wonderful dedication of your new church. Back on Dec. 12, 1976, I was Msgr. Lunney’s assistant when Archbishop Hurley dedicated the old church, now the parish center, and blessed the image of Our Lady that now is in front of the Eucharistic chapel. Monsignor asked me to visit the Trappist Monastery of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Lafayette, Ore., near Mount Angel where I went on retreat. "See what you can find, like pictures, brochures, etc.," Msgr. Lunney said. The Trappist abbot told me about a doctor who had paid to have several exact-size copies of the image that hangs in the basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City. They were copies of that same image that Our Lady put on the tilma of St. Juan Diego on Dec. 12, 1531, and that he filled with roses that she told him to pick and bring to the bishop as a sign that she wanted a church built there. The abbot said there was one copy left that we could have if we promised to place it prominently in our new church. The parish did that in the center for 29 years. Now the image of Our Lady is in your beautiful new church. The doctor even paid for the framing in Anchorage, because the abbot gave it to me rolled up to carry back on the plane. Please pray for that unnamed doctor, the Trappists of Our Lady of Guadalupe and your first pastor, Msgr. Lunney, and first Archbishop, Joseph Ryan, who were inspired by Our Lady to have her image and beautiful church in Anchorage. May Our Lady help us all spread the story of Guadalupe — this apparition that helped to evangelize 2 million Aztec people to the faith within a couple of years of her visit to St. Juan Diego.
Seward
No Eucharist would be unfair
I am writing this short note to let you know my feelings about rumors that the Eucharist may not continue at Our Lady of the Angels because it has no on-site priest. In fact we do have two very devoted sisters — so how unfair this is. That is my highlight, going to Mass. With so many changes within the Catholic Church, after a while it won’t be Catholic but some other church. Latin is definitely gone and a few other things that I think makes a church Catholic. I think that if priests could marry (if they want) we would maybe have more men coming in. I am happy with Sister Joyce and Joan. They work and try so hard.
Kenai
Join second pro-life walk
The first "Right to Life Walk-West Coast" was last year, in January. We had more than 8,000 people participating. It was broadcast on EWTN with Mother Angelica. It was a huge success! We are having our second one this year on Jan. 21. Everyone is welcome to walk with us and participate in all the many churches’ activities. The big Mass just before the walk is celebrated in the cathedral of San Francisco. And we will walk along the waterfront. Come and show your support for this worthy cause. Save our babies!
Anchorage
Eucharist is center of church
The Eucharist was given to us by Christ and to me it is a very important part of my life. Pope St. Pius X even changed the age when children could receive the Eucharist because he considered the Eucharist so important. In my mind the Eucharist has always been the center of our church. If we can have only a prayer service, many of our people will not come to church at all. It is the Eucharist that brings people to the church and helps us to have the close community we have. I have always thought the Eucharist is what separates us from the Protestants. We are the ones that believe this is the Body and Blood of Jesus. This is our strength for the week. Where do we obtain our life to live the way we should without the Eucharist? As Archbishop Hurley so beautifully explained in his column in the Dec. 16 Anchor, a Communion service is not Mass. But it is still sharing of the two gifts of God: Scripture and Eucharist. When we are all together in Kenai for a Communion service, Jesus is there in our midst.
Kenai