November 2, 2007 - Issue #22
Local News | Opinion/Editorials | Letters to the Editor
Local News
Summit looks at forming archdiocesan school system
Common practices would unite four schools
The Archdiocese of Anchorage took another step towards creating a unified Catholic school system, with common policies and practices in all four archdiocesan schools.
On Oct. 20, principals and pastors from each of the schools met for a leadership summit at Holy Spirit Center. Joining them were administrative assistants and representatives from several school boards.
Part of the day addressed the running of school boards, including how to form committees within a board and how committees then go about doing their work.
The day also focused on the school board’s relationship to a principal and the principal to a pastor.
"It was a wonderful meeting," said Adrian Dominican Sister Ann Fallon, who previously held the title of education consultant but has been recently named superintendent of schools by Archbishop Roger Schwietz.
"The reviews I’ve received have been wonderful," she said of the meeting. "It was planned to see how much common ground the schools had — it’s an avenue into a Catholic school system."
Another feature of the summit was what Sister Fallon called "commonality." The goal of a Catholic school system would be to bring common policies into all the schools.
"What kind of by-laws do we have? What length of terms for board members? How are they appointed?" Sister Fallon said.
Father Tom Lilly, whose K-6 program at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Elementary School in South Anchorage is nearly filled to capacity, said he felt the meeting helped bring Catholic education in the archdiocese "to the next level."
"The day was very rewarding," he said. "It brought together talented and dedicated people from all four schools and parish communities to share their collective ideas for the future of Catholic education in the archdiocese."
He praised Sister Fallon and Nora Ortiz-Fredrick, associate director for schools in the office of Stewardship and Development, for their "sincere efforts" in organizing the day-long summit.
In attendance were: Jim Carden and Father Lilly from St. Elizabeth Ann Seton School; Jim Yeargan and St. Benedict pastor Father Steve Moore from Lumen Christi High School; Suzanne Cyr, principal of the new Our Lady of the Valley School, and the three pastors whose populations feed that school, Father Jim Oberle from Our Lady of the Lake Church in Big Lake, Father Tom Brundage from St. Michael Church in Palmer, and Father Bill Fournier from Sacred Heart Church in Wasilla. Joshua Lewis, the new principal at St. Mary School in Kodiak, also attended.
Although both Lewis and Cyr are new principals, at least one current principal has indicated he won’t be back next year. Jim Carden, who has served at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton for three years, gave notice last school year that 2007-2008 would be his final year, so he could spend more time with his family.
Sister Fallon praised Carden for giving such advance notice, and said the summit also discussed how a school goes about finding a new principal.
"The retiring principal doesn’t serve on a search committee," she said, adding that this surprised some attendees. The reason, she said, is that new principals represent new ideas and goals and the search shouldn’t necessarily be for an identical principal, no matter how exceptional they were.
In all, the superintendent added, the summit was a great "first step" on the road to a comprehensive Catholic school system.
Religion and War
Local religious leaders explore ‘just war’ theories
A Catholic, a Jew, a Muslim and a Buddhist all walked into a dimly-lit room, sat down on tall wooden stools and proceeded to hold a rousing 2-hour conversation about a Mark Twain poem and whether war is ever truly "justified."
This scene unfolded in a small downtown theater in Anchorage recently, where more than 60 people turned out for the Oct. 22 gathering at Cyrano’s playhouse. Attendees hailed from a wide range of religious and philosophical backgrounds – from fervent believers to vowed agnostics. The common denominator, however, was a desire to hear from a panel of religious leaders.
The question of the night was, "How can God be on everyone’s side?"
After a dramatic reading of Mark Twain’s anti-war poem, "The War Prayer," four panelists addressed questions from the audience. The gathering, was spearheaded by an Alaska Pacific University project called "Engaging Muslims," and the discussion covered everything from pacifism to proselytizing with a little end-times theology thrown in. The night concluded with hands held in the air, many questions still burning.
Given the fact that Buddhism doesn’t even have a concept for God or any definite teachings regarding just war, the Rev. Koun Franz, from the Anchorage Zen Center, admitted he was at a bit of a loss in discussing one of the main themes of the night: the conditions for just war.
"When we speak of god, we are speaking of what is truly vast," the shaved-headed and fully-robed Buddhist monk said in his opening comments. "From a Buddhist perspective then, we speak of enlightenment as that quality of all things which is true."
And enlightenment doesn’t take a definite angle on any one issue, he explained.
Rather, a Buddhist approach to war would entail looking across the battlefield, to the other side, and then acting out of compassion and understanding for the enemy.
"To do anything short of that is to perpetuate the most fundamental delusion, which is that we are separate," Franz said.
Muslim panelist Imran Khan spoke next. As a representative of the Islamic community in Anchorage, Khan noted that he was not a scholar and would cite teachings from the Koran and the sayings of the prophet Mohammad.
Khan listed four conditions for waging a just war: to defend oneself or others, to eliminate persecution, to secure religious freedom, and to eradicate corruption.
The Islamic understanding of war includes rules of conduct as well, he said. There can be no torture, no excessive force or cruelty and no killing of prisoners or the innocent. In addition, Islam teaches that peace must be accepted as soon as it is offered, he said.
The Rabbi Michael Oblath, from Anchorage’s Congregation Beth Shalom, noted that there is a difference between religious teaching and actual practice.
Oblath said the Jewish view of war is constantly changing. In the past, Jews justified "holy wars" against their enemies and Jewish kings justified wars to expand their kingdoms, he said.
"But we are an evolving tradition and for most of the past 2,000 years the inclination within Judaism is to separate us from notions of holy war," Oblath explained.
While acknowledging that holy war ideology has gained some followers in recent years, he said that it is still a small minority of Jews who hold that position.
"As Jews, the vast majority of us recognize that holy war is a very dangerous reality," he explained. "But we need to acknowledge its presence and work to eliminate it from within our own house."
To that end, Oblath questioned whether God was really involved in human wars and conflicts at all.
"In fact I don’t think God is involved in anyway," he said. "Humans are the ones who bring God into it. We humans are in effect allowing God to take the rap for what we do." He added that it was time for all religions to evolve away from notions of using God to justify war.
Dominican Father John Mellein, from Holy Family Cathedral, offered a slightly different approach.
Before determining whether a war is justified, one must see the larger goal and summit of the Christian life, he said.
"Within that larger vision, how does war fit into that context?" he said.
And the larger context is to love God and love your neighbor as yourself. Those are the pillars of Christian practice, Father Mellein said.
Even so, there may still be reasons to wage war, he said.
According to Catholic teaching, war is only justified when certain conditions are met.
First off, all other means of resolution must be exhausted, Father Mellein said. Second, the damage of an aggressor must be "lasting, grave, and certain" and the prospects of defeating the enemy must be good. Lastly, the use of arms must not bring about greater evil than the evil to be eliminated.
Unless these conditions are met, a war is never justified, he said.
Father Mellein added that the goal of any just war is to establish peace in the fullest context. Among other things, that means freedom to practice religion, to marry and to have a dignified form of labor.
In the process of obtaining this for all peoples, "sometimes it is necessary to stop aggression," he said.
In striving to do God’s will, "that might involve protecting the rights of those who cannot protect themselves, which might mean, in some cases, going to war," he added.
New statewide gay rights group seeks to advance cause
Dozens of activists and supporters gathered earlier this month to strategize the future of the gay rights movement in Alaska.
Alaska Pride Conference 2007 took place Oct. 20 at Alaska Pacific University with discussions on the status of gay, lesbian, bi-sexual and transgender issues across the state.
One of the many breakout sessions was a notable meeting in which participants laid the groundwork for a new statewide organization that aims to aggressively advocate expanding civil liberties for Alaskans who identify themselves as gay, lesbian, bi-sexual or transgender.
The group already has a recognizable name, "Alaskans Together." It initially formed last year to oppose a ballot measure that sought to gauge how Alaskans felt about creating a constitutional amendment to limit state marriage benefits to married couples only. Alaskans Together argued that gay and lesbian couples were treated unfairly because state law prohibits them from marrying and therefore excludes state employment benefits to homosexual partners of state employees.
While the majority of Alaska voters (53 to 47 percent) supported a constitutional amendment vote, the support was not overwhelming and state lawmakers fell five votes short of the 27 needed to pass the measure in the State House of Representatives this year. If successful, the proposed amendment would have gone before Alaskans for a popular vote in 2008.
Supporters of the amendment, which included the Alaska Catholic Bishops, said it was necessary because the Alaska Supreme Court contradicted the state law that defines marriage as only between a man and a woman. These critics claim the court’s 2005 ruling (mandating marriage-type benefits for homosexual partners of public employees) effectively undermined the law because it stated that nonmarried people were "similarly situated" to those who are married.
At the recent planning meeting, gay-rights advocates shared their concern that the amendment might be resurrected in the upcoming state legislative session. If so, Alaskans Together plans to be organized and prepared to defeat it.
A flyer at the meeting proposed a mission statement that advocated "achieving civil equality for all people in Alaska regardless of sexual or gender orientation." It also stated the group’s goal to advance its agenda through "public education, advocacy, litigation, legislation, outreach, grassroots organizing, public discourse" and other means.
"We don’t want to be reactionary," one woman stated during a brainstorming session.
Another participant said the Alaska ACLU recently applied for a grant through the Gill Foundation to provide funding for an Alaskans Together staff person for the next three years. This person would work full time on LGBT issues in Alaska.
Most people in the room were 50 years old or more and several participants expressed concern that not enough young people are actively involved in the state’s gay rights movement. Others said there was also a need to enlist more Alaska Native voices for their cause.
To that end, someone suggested directing resources to Alaska’s rural communities. This might equip rural leaders to build grassroots support for LGBT issues.
Participants also listed some key strategies to advance the gay rights agenda in Alaska.
Presenting similarities between long-term homosexual partners and married men and women was one suggestion. This might build support for extending more marriage-type benefits to homosexual partners, it was suggested.
Several people also mentioned the need to reach people with stories about "real people" rather than simply stumping for political issues.
One participant addressed the reality of advocating for gay rights in the first state to ever pass a constitutional amendment defining marriage as between one man and one woman. Alaskans passed the amendment in 1998.
"We need to lose the gay-lesbian language to get what we want," one woman told the group. "You have to get your message in from the backdoor sometimes."
She added that it is better to address gay issues less blatantly by rolling them into issues like anti-bullying, anti-discrimination and tolerance.
This could advance gay and lesbian agendas without stirring up as much resistance, she said.
Others mentioned the importance of getting to know members of the state legislature on a personal level. The business community was another target area to enlist allies.
The all-day conference featured at least one session sponsored by the Human Rights Campaign. HRC is one of the largest and best-funded gay rights advocacy organizations in the country. According to their Web site, they have more than 600,000 members and support, among other issues, gay and lesbian adoptions and gay marriage.
They also support a bill currently before the U.S. Congress, which would levy harsher punishments for people who committed crimes while holding beliefs that are opposed to homosexual lifestyles.
Hospitality on Display
St. Anthony Church celebrates 50 years of outreach
A recent Sunday morning cold snap failed to sneak past the entrance to St. Anthony Church in Anchorage. The icy grip weakened when the church doors swung open in warm hospitality.
While many Catholic churches grapple with strategies on how to be more hospitable, St. Anthony Church seems to have perfected the art.
The aroma of hot, flapjacks drifted by as parishioners greeting one another. In the sanctuary, deep baritone voices mixed with the bright altos of a Samoan choir, further adding to the ambiance.
"The Samoan choir is great," parishioner Jeanne Dougherty remarked. "I remember the first time I heard them it reminded me of being transported to Hawaii."
Jeanne Dougherty and her husband Harvey were married in the old church back in 1961.
Since then the family has had a spiritual home."That experience was the beginning. As the years go by, its good to see old families and friends…people you see everyday," Dougherty said.
The strong sense of community and family is no accident. It is a prevailing mission of the parish and has been since its founding 50 years ago. In fact, the anniversary committee chose the theme, "All are welcome" for the golden anniversary celebration.
According to a history compiled by parishioner Peggy Bergsrud, Juneau Bishop Dermot O’Flanagan established the boundaries of the Mountain View parish on Aug. 28, 1957 with Jesuit Father Robert Whelan as founding pastor. The new parish was only Anchorage’s second Catholic Church.
Pacita and Alfredo Agron were among the first parishioners of the new church.
"I remember it was a small chapel," Alfredo recalled. "It would get so crowded that you had to go outside (after communion) and walk around the church to come back inside."
"It was tough, especially when it was winter and you had small babies," his wife Pacita agreed.
The early parishioners wanted to build a parish hall, but Bishop O’Flanagan cautioned the community against it because collections were small, Bergsrud noted. The parish, however, persisted and opted to use a Quonset hut as the parish hall for social gatherings and CCD classes as long as the weather didn’t get too cold.
The sense of resiliency prevailed, as the community withstood the Good Friday Earthquake of 1964 and a windstorm that blew down the first framework for the now present-day church building back in 1967.
For parishioners like the Agrons, family and community have always meant more than the building.
"St. Anthony’s parish is…and will always be home," Pacita Agron said. "It’s where I brought my children up in the faith, that’s what I owe to St. Anthony."
The Agrons had three boys who all served as altar servers over the years.
"I remember that Monsignor Cowgill would always call me at 3 p.m. before the children would come home from school asking, ‘can I borrow Gary?’ And then he’d come to help serve at Mass."
Her oldest son Gary served at many functions, including current pastor Fred Bugarin’s ordination Mass.
"People thought they were brothers," Pacita recalled.
St. Anthony’s sense of community stands out most for Anchorage Archbishop Roger Schwietz. He fondly recalled how the community welcomed him for his first Mass after being named co-adjutor of the Anchorage Archdiocese.
"They have graciously and effectively served the need of their neighbors," the Archbishop said, pointing out in particular how they’ve opened their facilities to the Korean community.
For Father Bugarin, that sense of reaching out to the greater community is an essential mission for St. Anthony.
"Community organizing is the vehicle of evangelization to bring the good news to the people, whether it be the safety of youth or access to health care for those who can’t afford it," he said, pointing out that St. Anthony church was one of the pioneers and founding congregations for Anchorage Faith and Action — Congregations Together (AFACT).
So what lies ahead?
"That’s an important question, (one) parishioners will answer and discern," Father Bugarin said.
For many, that vision lies in continuing to build relationships so that everyone who comes to the church doesn’t feel like a stranger.
Whatever path the Spirit leads them on, members say this is a time to rejoice and give thanks for the blessings received, Alefosio said.
"I hope God will add 50 more years to this parish, it’s a blessing to be a part of this community."
St. Anthony Church will kick off its 50th anniversary celebration on Nov. 18 with a special Mass at 10:30 a.m. For more information, call the parish at 333-5544.
Spreading the faith: Buddhist, Muslim, Christian and Jew offer views: Interreligious panel differs on proselytizing
Religions often spread their faiths quite differently.
This was evident during an Oct. 22 interreligious forum in Anchorage. Organized by the ongoing "Engaging Muslims" project through Alaska Pacific University, the event brought together representatives from Catholic, Jewish, Islamic and Buddhist backgrounds.
In the course of tackling a series of questions about just war, four local religious leaders offered their views on proselytizing to other faiths or nonbelievers.
Rev. Koun Franz, a Buddhist leader from the Anchorage Zen Center, said Buddhism does not seek converts like Christianity does.
"As a tradition, Buddhists are not interested in accumulating other Buddhists," he told nearly 60 people at the event. Rather, "Buddhism is a term that is applied to a certain interest in awareness," he added.
But that doesn’t mean people don’t try to convert to Buddhism.
"In my experience, most people who come to Buddhism in the United States come from another tradition – usually Christianity," he said. "People come to me and they will say something like ‘I am a recovering Catholic.’ And they will often feel a lot of bitterness towards the tradition they are coming from and they want to embrace something new."
Bitterness, however, is no reason to leave one’s faith in order to practice Buddhism, Franz said.
"I encourage those people to go back and figure out how to embrace where they came from," he said. "If they can do that, then they are embracing a larger truth and if they are embracing a larger truth, then they are doing Buddhist practice, from my perspective."
Dominican Father John Mellein, from Holy Family Cathedral, laid out a different view according to Catholic and other Christian traditions.
He pointed to the end of Matthew’s Gospel, where Jesus commanded his disciples to "Go and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit."
This is a command to invite the world to accept God’s love, Father Mellein said.
"If what we received is true, then it is not something we are called to keep to ourselves but to offer to others," he said, while adding that it is not to be forced upon anyone.
Unfortunately, in the Catholic tradition and other Christian traditions, there have been times when conversion has been forced, he acknowledged, "but it is almost always with bad results."
The real mission is to extend invitations to those who do not know Jesus Christ and in that sense there is a Christian command to proselytize, Father Mellein added.
Imran Khan, a prominent member of the Anchorage Islamic community, agreed that forced conversion does not produce authentic faith and should not be a part of proselytizing. Unlike Christianity, however, he said there is no organized Islamic tradition of sending out missionaries to seek converts.
Still, Islam is one of the fastest growing religions in the world, he said, before adding that much of that comes from population growth and high birth rates within Islamic communities.
Judaism used to be a proselytizing faith but has largely changed, said Rabbi Michael Oblath, of Congregation Beth Shalom in Anchorage.
We have more important things to worry about – like survival, he said.
Two millenniums ago, however, Jews did seek converts.
"We just haven’t’ done it for about 2,000 years," he said. "If someone wants to be Jewish, we open our doors and welcome them but we don’t go out there actively seeking converts."
For more information about upcoming local discussions and events, visit the "Engaging Muslims," Web site at http://region.alaskapacific.edu.
Handmade bags carry big hearts
Youngsters start business to help others
Shoppers eagerly snatched up the elegantly fashioned totes at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church’s annual bazaar. For many, however, the most intriguing element behind the limited edition, designer merchandise sat beneath a banner that read, ‘T and C Totes.’ There, two 10-year-old girls sat smiling — the creative masterminds behind an innovative and decidedly philanthropic operation.
Money and personal fame was not their inspiration.
"A student at our school who’s autistic needed a service dog and we wanted to help," Tyanna Baker explained.
At the same time Baker and her close friend Callie Orizotti were learning to sew and getting pretty good at it.
"I made a bag for my aunt and she really liked it," Orizotti said.
The initial success inspired the duo to pool their talent and sell bags to raise money for their autistic classmate. Their parents offered support and suggested they sell the bags at the annual bazaar.
"What impressed me the most was how they kept at it. They had the eye on the prize for 10 months," Tyanna’s mom Trish said.
While many of their colleagues played video games and sports, the two friends worked hard to create a product good enough to sell.
"We kept doing it over and over, getting more complicated with the design," Tyanna said.
Their hard work yielded several designer totes but as the date of the bazaar neared, the girls’ autistic classmate got a golden retriever service dog. So the girls decided to donate to another charity."My next door neighbor had cancer, and we realized that cancer affects everyone, including kids. So we chose to donate to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital," Orizotti said.
"We liked how (at) St. Jude’s if someone doesn’t have enough money to pay for treatment, they’ll help them out anyway," Tyanna added.
Hours before the bazaar closed, the girls had already sold nearly all their bags and were taking special orders.
Apart from learning to run a cool non-profit business, they said they were most pleased to make a difference for someone else.
"We have everything we need, we wanted to help those who don’t," Orizotti said. "It’s changed my life."
For more information about purchasing designer totes, call Trish Baker at 345-9164.
Youth address violence at interfaith forum
More than half the youth who attended the Youth Violence Forum at Central Lutheran Church in Anchorage last month said they’ve seen weapons in their schools. Even more have seen domestic violence, first hand.
Others said they lost friends to violent crimes.
Eric Guzman, 17, said one of his good friends wound up in a gang.
"We were good friends growing up, but split up and went to different middle schools," Guzman said. "In (my friend’s) freshmen year he got involved with a gang and was shot in the back."
Guzman said the bullet could have easily been directed at him if he had continued hanging out with the same crowd.
But by having a close relationship with family and friends, he managed to change course.
Guzman joined nearly 30 youth from at least six different churches to attend the youth forum Oct. 28. The youth recently created a group called YOMAD or Youth Making A Difference. The youth group formed at the request of an interfaith group of local religious leaders to talk about youth violence and work towards a solution.
The recent interfaith forum provided an opportunity to hear from Anchorage youth about ways churches can help address growing violence in the city.
More than a dozen religious leaders joined a sergeant from the Anchorage Police Department for the event. But the youth facilitated and led the discussion.
"We talked about how important it was having larger youth forums to get together and talk," St. Patrick confirmation student Eliezev Feliciano said. "There’s a lot of racism out there. By coming together in mixed groups it helps get rid of stereotypes when you get to know different groups."
The youth listed racism, drug and alcohol abuse, bullying, cliques and issues of trust as the biggest contributors to violence in schools and on the streets.
So what are the solutions?
The youth talked about the importance of positive communities.
For 17-year old Dimond High student Curtis Ferris, his football team provides a tight-knit community and positive influences.
"They are the type of people you can call at 2 a.m. and know they’ll be there," Ferris said.
It’s a message that resonated with both the kids and adults.
"One of the things that was well said was that we shouldn’t let people get isolated," Anchorage Archbishop Roger Schwietz said. "We as churches should make sure that we are reaching out."
Churches can provide that by creating phone hotlines, special youth events and follow through with people who may be going through a rough time. Before closing in prayer, adult leaders compiled these ideas to send to churches across the city.
"I was really pleased. The students were really engaged and I think the youth felt listened to," said Bishop Mike Keys, local head of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. "It’s a real gift when (churches) listen to young people."
St. Francis House running out of food
Catholic charity hard-pressed to meet needs
Pat Kennish volunteers at St. Francis House in Anchorage once a week, acting as a "personal shopper" to the scores of people who come to the Catholic Social Services program in hopes of free food to supplement their grocery bill.
"I find it very moving, a great opportunity to make a connection," said Kennish, a parishioner at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church in South Anchorage. "These are the faces behind the numbers you read or hear about."
Those numbers are growing dramatically and with sad results, according to Gabrielle Mabry, program manager.
Last month, they ran out of food.
"We run out all the time," she said. "Sometimes we buy food at Costco, but sometimes we have to tell people to come back another day."
"Today, we had 77 families," Mabry explained on a recent Monday. "We average between 50-70. There’s definitely been an increase recently, and winters are always higher."
The program is open Monday through Thursday for "shopping." Those requesting help present identification for themselves and each member of their household and are allowed to shop only once a month.
"There’s a limit per section depending on family size," said Mabry. If a family has done their monthly shopping, St. Francis House gives them a list of other food pantries around town that might help.
Mercy Sister Jean Pyper works at St. Francis, helping people with rent and utilities assistance. She also spends time in the food pantry, and that, she said, can be heart-breaking. On a recent day, about 70 families were coming through for food.
"We can only take from one to three into the shopping area at a time depending on how many volunteers we have, so some people had a long wait.
"Towards the end of the day, there was very little food left, and I went out and told the people ‘if you want to stay, all we have left are some bags of rice and beans and a little tuna.’ A few people left, but most stayed and waited," said Sister Pyper.
"One woman said to me, ‘it’s better than nothing.’ You know if people sit for hours to get bags of rice and beans they really need it."
Sister Pyper said many of the needy are working families or older couples, and that the increase in utility rates has plunged many into the ranks of the hungry.
St. Francis House relies on the Food Bank of Alaska for much of their food. A large food drive currently underway by United Way promises to fill the shelves for a while.
Churches and individuals around town also donate food.
"Holy Family Cathedral is our number one donor," as far as churches go, said Sister Pyper. Almost every Catholic parish in town contributes.
Donations of non-perishable food may be made 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday at St. Francis House located in the Catholic Social Services Center at 3710 E. 20th Ave. For information or to volunteer, call 276-5590.
Priest: Death penalty steals time for repentance
Alaskans join national day of prayer, protest
Alaska abolished the death penalty half a century ago, back in 1957, but that didn’t stop more than 30 death penalty opponents from rallying in Town Square in Anchorage last month.
On Oct. 21, the crowd observed the 7th annual Day of Faith in Action Against the Death Penalty — part of a larger nationwide day of prayer and reflection. Religious leaders from several faith communities addressed the crowd, including Dominican Father Vincent Kelber from Holy Family Cathedral.
He reminded those present that each person should be given the opportunity to do penitence for their wrongs.
"God is a patient God, a God who waits," said Father Kelber. "Who are we to deny the wayward the time they need to repent?"
He pointed out that the death penalty is a life issue, and that Christ himself died on an executioner’s cross.
"Opposition to the death penalty is the Catholic position, and it’s a prophetic statement. God is the Lord and giver of life," he said. "We share that belief with our Judaic and Islamic brothers and sisters."
Father Kelber said the last time he attended a Day of Faith in Action Against the Death Penalty, he was in the town of San Quentin, and almost 3,000 people attended.
As the Anchorage crowd stood in mittens, boots and parkas, Father Kelber laughingly added, "But it was a lot warmer there."
The Reverend Connie Jones, a priest from St. Mary Episcopal Church, pointed out that despite the small crowd, it was an affirmation that behind the many clergypersons in attendance were congregations committed to fighting the death penalty if it were ever seriously considered again in Alaska.
Nationwide, the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty promotes the Day of Action. In Alaska, it was sponsored by Amnesty International and Alaskans Against the Death Penalty.
Alaska is one of only 12 states that do not have the death penalty on the books . The federal government and 38 states allow the death penalty, although California, Florida and Texas have by far the largest proportion of death row inmates. Speakers pointed out that the U.S. is one of the few democracies left in the world to use the death penalty.
According to the National Coalition’s website, 95 percent of the more than 3,700 people currently under a death sentence could not afford to hire a private attorney – bolstering the argument that the death penalty is largely applied to the poor. Of those sentenced, 55 percent are people of color.Jacob Snyder, representing the Friends, or Quaker, congregation, quoted from Deuteronomy 30:19: "I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live."
News & Notes
Holy Rosary Academy honored
The Catholic High School Honor Roll named Holy Rosary Academy last month as a ‘Top 50’ secondary school for 2007, the third year in a row for the independently run Anchorage school that prides itself on its rigorous classically-based education paradigm.
Run by the Acton Institute, the Honor Roll judges schools on academic excellence, Catholic identity and civic education. Hundreds of schools from around the country are invited to submit a lengthy survey to the Honor Roll for their selection based on those three areas. The Honor Roll board, which includes Catholic college professionals and scholars, reviews the application before placing the schools on the list. The top fifty schools, not ranked in any particular order, recognizes the institutions as a way to promote academic and spiritual formation, according to the organization and the Catholic News Agency. For more info about the award, log on to the Acton Website at www.acton.org.
Islam in Literature
Dr. Maryam Qudrat Aseel, Afghan-American author of "Torn Between Two Cultures" will hold a special presentation on the use of Islam in fiction on Nov. 9 at 7 p.m. at Wayland Baptist University. For more information, contact Mary-Margaret Stein at 564-8264 or email religion@alaskapacific.edu.
Catholic rights at Theology on Taps
Father Tom Brundage will give two Theology on Tap presentations entitled "Your Catholic Rights." The first is Nov. 7 in Wasilla with another Nov. 15 in Anchorage. The talks will focus on the official rights that every Catholic has according to church teaching and how those rights can be exercised by all. The Wasilla talk takes place at Hacienda Restaurant next to Fred Meyer. For more information, contact Rick Aaron at rickeileen@catholicexchange.com. The Anchorage event will be at the Snow Goose Restaurant. For more information on the Anchorage event contact Arthur Roraff at 360-2323. Both events are free and open to the public. They run from 7-9 p.m. with opportunities for questions.
Engaging Muslims Film Series
The Loussac Library will be offering a film series on Islam this month. The next screening will look at "Cities of Light: the rise and fall of Islamic Spain." The screening and discussion will take place from 6 to 9 p.m., Nov. 20 in the Wilda Marston Theatre in the library. For more info email religion@alaskapacific.edu.
Holy Spirit Center seeks leaders
Holy Spirit Center, the spirituality center serving the Archdiocese of Anchorage, has openings on its Board of Directors. Interested people are invited to complete an application. Email letters of interest to Barbara.wong@wong-cmn.com.
Cathedral update on renovation
Holy Family Cathedral has nearly completed the first phase of renovations and expansion without incurring debt, according to a recent announcement by Dominican Father Donald Bramble to his parishioners.
"This is a magnificent tribute to your generosity," Father Bramble wrote in the Sunday bulletin. "We received our final municipal certificate of occupancy this week."
In the first phase, the cathedral saw code upgrades, extensive rewiring, a new three-manual organ, new light fixtures, carpeting and fans, a renovated kitchen, wheel chair accessible bathrooms and a new elevator. There was also extensive plumbing, mechanical and fire safety updates.
The next step will be to form an archdiocesan-wide committee to study the feasibility of a broad fundraising project. The committee will also determine what size the cathedral should be given resources, needs, and the size of the downtown Anchorage property.
The archdiocese owns the current offices and parking areas near the cathedral, along with the rectory, and the parish education center. The Master Plan for future expansion was developed by the parish building committee but still needs further review by the archbishop’s committee.
Father Bramble said he expects the archdiocese will review proposed cathedral expansion plans sometime in the next year. Actual construction could still be five years away, he added.
Columns
Christians and Muslims worship the same God
Do Christians and Muslims worship the same God?
One could answer by stating that although Jewish, Christian and Muslim have different theological constructs of God; their respective understandings are ultimately speaking of the same mysterious supernatural reality.
One could also answer this question by noting that the word "the God" in Hebrew, Elohim, in Aramaic, Elah, and in Arabic, Allah is the same Semitic root that was never applied to local cult deities in Israel or Arabia. "The God" was used to express the ultimate supernatural power, the "god of the gods" in a polytheistic context. In Israel, it was used as a synonym for Yahweh, Adoni, or the host of other names given to the Lord God of hosts in the Hebrew Bible.
In first-century Palestinian Jews spoke Aramaic when they spoke of God. Jesus used the word "Elah." This is the God which Jesus and Christians also call "Father." Today, Jews, Christians and Muslims who speak Arabic, all pray to Allah.
One could also observe that all three religions claim to worship the God of Abraham. During Muhammad’s time, Arabia was populated by Jews and Christians along with polytheistic Arab tribes. Muhammad never doubted that if God communicated with him, it was the one God of Abraham.
Jews do not recognize God as the father of our Lord, Jesus Christ, but Christians do not believe that Christians and Jews worship a different God. That was a heresy rejected early on by the church. Muhammad specifically prayed to "the Creator and Revealer to Jews and Christians," although like Jews, he did not accept Trinitarian monotheism — the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
While Christian reflections on Islam have been overwhelmingly negative through the centuries, in 1076 Pope Gregory VII recognized that Christians and Muslims worship the same God in a letter to al-Nasir, King of Bijaya. "We confess and acknowledge — in different ways, it is true — one God whom we praise and worship every day as Creator of the centuries and Master of this world," he wrote.
The Catholic Church offered positive recognition of the Muslim faith when Vatican II issued its Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions in 1965. The passage pertaining to Muslims reads:
"The Church regards with esteem also the Moslems. They adore the one God, living and subsisting in Himself; merciful and all- powerful, the Creator of heaven and earth, who has spoken to men; they take pains to submit wholeheartedly to even His inscrutable decrees, just as Abraham, with whom the faith of Islam takes pleasure in linking itself, submitted to God. Though they do not acknowledge Jesus as God, they revere Him as a prophet. They also honor Mary, His virgin Mother; at times they even call on her with devotion. In addition, they await the Day of Judgment when God will render their deserts to all those who have been raised up from the dead. Finally, they value the moral life and worship God especially through prayer, almsgiving and fasting."
These understandings were frequently re-affirmed by Pope John Paul II, most clearly in Morocco in 1985: "Christians and Muslims have many things in common, as believers and as human beings. We live in the same world, marked by many signs of hope, but also by multiple signs of anguish. For us, Abraham is a model of faith in God, of submission to his will and of confidence in his goodness. We believe in the same God, the one God, the living God, the God who created the world and brings his creatures to their perfection."
Both these citations were reiterated in Turkey by Pope Benedict XVI in 2006.
The writer holds the Cardinal Newman Chair of Catholic Theology at Alaska Pacific University, where she is leading a community project called "Engaging Muslims."
Postcards from Rome: A walk about town
Why do bishops send some of their seminarians and priests to study in Rome? Perhaps it is because by studying in Rome one experiences two things you cannot experience in any other place in the world: a sense of the history and the universal nature of the church.
One senses history simply by being in Rome. It oozes from every stone and building. The martyrs and saints of 2,000 years of Christianity are buried here. Our shared history is a part of the rhythm of this place.
Similarly, one also senses the universal church of the present day — in the universities, in the Vatican, at papal liturgies, at the pope’s Angelus address or just walking down the street. If the universal exists in the church anywhere on the globe, it is also represented here. This sense of the history and universality is what I think bishops want people to bring back home with them.
Sometimes I think one can take these for granted, much like we might take for granted the rugged beauty of Alaska’s wilderness and the friendliness of its people. When people come to visit us, however, we see our home with new eyes.
So it was for me, when one of the deacon candidates and his wife, Mick and Michelle Fornelli, came to visit last week. I took a day off and we went exploring Rome. First, we went to the minor Basilica of St. Clement, third successor to the Apostle Peter. While Clement is not buried there, St. Ignatius of Antioch and St. Cyril are. You may recall the Cyrillic alphabet? Yep, it’s that Cyril, the Apostle to the Slavs. Next it was on to St. John in the Lateran, the Cathedral of Rome where Popes Innocent III and Leo XIII are buried. It is also where Blessed John XXIII informed the Curia that he intended to call the Second Vatican Council. From there we walked over to St. Mary Major, the first church ever dedicated to the Blessed Mother and the place of the miracle of Our Lady of the Snows. And so the day went. They can tell you about the rest of it.
That’s how visitors can be such a blessing. It’s important to take time every day to appreciate what we have. Sometimes it takes a visitor to help us see it.
The writer is the pastor of St. Andrew Church in Eagle River. He is spending the next several months in Rome to complete his doctorate in ecumenical theology.
Moses prefigured the coming of Christ
A few weeks ago the first Sunday reading covered some of the events which established the Jewish celebration of Yom Kippur. These events, in general, coalesce around the delivery of the Torah from God to the Hebrews at Mt. Sinai through Moses.
But I think what was really going on atop the lofty spires of Mt. Sinai was that the Lord was showing his children they needed a savior. The hints began dropping shortly after the Hebrews left their captors.
The flight from Egypt began as many family vacations do; a song or two, some road games, maybe a nap. Then after the excitement wears off, little noises begin to filter up to the driver’s ear. In the case of the Hebrews, it wasn’t so much, "are we there yet?" as it was "the Egyptians are coming…this water tastes funny…I’m hungry…I’m thirsty …why did you take us from Egypt?"
Moses had three good reasons to be mollified by the constant complaining; his people did not understand what God had done for them, they had no idea of the holiness and power of their God, and they were mistaken about his role in this venture.
Moses was the one who didn’t grasp his role in the venture.
Pre-Mt. Sinai Exodus paints Moses as a seemingly disgruntled older brother leading a rowdy mob of siblings on the most difficult eco-challenge in history.
The portrayal changes on Mt. Sinai, when God tells Moses what the children of Israel are up to with the golden calf. He tells Moses to step aside so he can annihilate the Hebrews. At this point Moses has no idea what the people are up to, but his immediate response is to intercede. This is a new development in the relationship between God and his children. The Lord desired to deal with His people through an intermediary. His perfect holiness and perfect justice would demand an atonement costly to the Jews. Someone had to stand in between.
Moses was changed on that mountain. When he descended to find the people committing grotesque abominations against the Lord, his words forecast a mixture of emotions — anger, dread, confusion. In a word, he became a parent. Where we stand between society and our children, Moses stood between the Lord and the Jews. He is a proto-type of Christ.
Throughout the extended journey in the desert of Sinai, the Lord would tell Moses again and again to step aside so he could annihilate his people as required by his justice, and Moses would stand in for them and plead. God was teaching His children that they couldn’t keep his commandments, that they weren’t capable of attaining his holiness and that they needed to be redeemed.
At the transfiguration, Jesus silently connects the dots for the disciples and for us. The disciples see three persons, Jesus, Moses, and Elijah on the mountain. Perhaps later, maybe around the evening fire, they would remember another mountain far to the south, where on Mt. Sinai the Father showed Moses the need for the Son.
The writer teaches church history at St. Andrew Church in Eagle River.
‘Thou Art That’ — so show some compassion
I have always counted myself fortunate to have been born to parents who were basically happy people. My father struggled to "make a living" but this did not make him any less agreeable. At any rate, our family did not resemble "The Simpsons" of modern television. We managed to get along with one another despite our differences — and there were lots.
I bring all this to paper because in our present age and generation there seem to be so many ominous signs indicating that people choose not to live peaceably and respectfully with one another. A few scattered examples: Not a single day passes without a suicide bombing in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, the Gaza Strip or the West Bank. Roadside bombs kill our young soldiers on a daily basis.
Some weeks ago Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said that he had a hunch that the United States was in danger of another serious terrorist attack. (Not much security there!)
An article in Newsweek, reviewing a recent biography of Vice President Dick Cheney by Stephen F. Hayes, portrayed Cheney as a dour man, deeply worried about the safety and the future of our nation.
A recent newscast on NPR’s "All Things Considered," pointed out that the number of attacks on women occurring on American Indian reservations was higher than anywhere else in the United States. Obviously, not a happy world we live in today.
These thoughts came to mind also as I read the scriptures for the liturgy of this Thirty Second Sunday of the church year. One can always tell that we are nearing the end of the liturgical year because the scriptures, like the stories above, seem to dwell on terror and death, but in the scriptures there is consistently a hint of resurrection; life has hope.
I found the same glimmers of hope for the human race in a number of other sources as well. First, in a book by the late philosopher, Joseph Campbell, entitled "Thou Art That." The title comes from ancient Sanskrit and it simply implies that we humans are all interrelated — indeed, everything in the entire universe is somehow related. In some mysterious way we are our brother and our sister. "Thou Art That."
Scrabbling around in some filed quotes, I found this from the great Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, (who, by the way, attended and participated in the Second Vatican Council and marched with Dan Berrigan S.J. and Martin Luther King Jr.), "Just to be is a blessing. Just to live is Holy."
And from another anonymous writer: "Having been created in God’s image, we are not human beings having a spiritual experience but rather spiritual beings having a human experience."
Finally a thought from the German philosopher Schopenhauer: He insists that the most basic human intuition is compassion, again, because we are all intimately related. "Thou Art That."
Sometimes it does seem that we inhabitants of this earth have forgotten or perhaps never realized that we are all fundamentally here on earth to find and experience happiness. The longing of the human heart is to find fulfillment. Now, if we could just come to understand that this brother and sister of ours is also struggling to find that same happiness, well, perhaps our land would not seem as dour as Mr. Cheney imagines it to be.
The writer is archdiocesan director of Pastoral Education. He also serves as canonical pastor and coordinator of parishes without resident pastors.
Hip Hop and John Paul II
The technical director and I both slapped our heads in frustration with a resounding, "Doh!"
The morning show anchor just read a story about rapper "Fifty Cent" and called him "Mr. Fifty Cents" instead
Despite the embarrassment, the fact that a baby-boomer-age Caucasian anchor and her Generation X producer (me) were mentioning the story at all stands as a testament to how large a role, like it or not, rap and hip-hop play in our culture.
In fact, it’s a $550-billion-a-year industry, when you include merchandising, movies and all other aspects associated with the hip-hop culture, according to hip-hop songwriter and author Jeff Chang.
Hip-hop is now hyper-commercialized, Chang explained at a recent talk at UAA, and is losing its roots.
Hip-hop and rap originally started as ways to give a voice to those who didn’t have one. It was a constructive alternative to the violence often seen in urban, minority communities. In order to survive, it must get back to those roots, Chang said.
So what does all this mean from a Catholic perspective?
A lot.
As a Catholic schoolteacher, hip-hop is one of the most popular genres I see kids embrace these days. It’s scary and troubling — something Chang himself admitted — when you consider the many pejorative images in rap that promote violence and perpetuate racial stereotypes, especially those toward women.
But hip-hop is big, powerful and not going away.
Catholics, though, have a more powerful message than Fifty Cent.
In fact, the late Pope John Paul II drew far bigger youth crowds than ‘Fifty’ ever has. Young people tell me it was because of two reasons: the pope’s authenticity and his openness.
John Paul II never wavered in his message about Christ and the truth. But, while holding onto that core, he was also open to many cultural expressions and artistic displays. He was in fact an artist and actor himself.
Young people can rise above the stereotypical hip-hop ‘gangsta’ images of street violence and hate but still hold on to the initial draw of hip-hop as a creative expression. Tapping into that creativity means using cultural signs and methods to communicate something more than a longing for tricked out cars and bling.
Hope was JP II’s resounding message to youth —"Do not be afraid!" He challenged youth to stand up for their faith, to set their nets out deep and not settle for mediocrity.
There are powerful messages to communicate and many voices yet to be heard. The challenge is to stay authentic and not sell out to inferior messages or try to be someone we are not.
Which means I may need to give up my dreams of being "J-Dog ‘Dah’Crane." After all, the last thing the world needs is another Vanilla Ice!
The writer is assistant editor for the ‘Anchor’ and teaches at Lumen Christi High School in Anchorage.
Editorial
No clowning around
Pope Benedict XVI drove home an interesting point the other day, especially for those of us who work for the church in some teaching capacity, either as employees or volunteers.
"Whoever teaches the faith cannot risk appearing like a sort of clown who just performs a role for one’s job," the pope said Oct. 24 at his weekly general audience in St. Peter’s Square.
Teachers of the faith shouldn’t just go through the motions, but "must be like the beloved disciple (John) who rests his head on the heart of his Master" to hear and learn how to think, speak and act, he said.
In other words we shouldn’t separate our work in the church from our own pursuit of holiness. When we do, we become "clowns," merely playing a role while wearing a thin mask that most can see right through.
It’s not enough to answer all the emails, schedule and attend all the meetings and events and then forget to pray, fast and pursue God with all our strength.
At times, it seems there is little time to pray or read the Scriptures when phones are ringing off the hook and voicemails are filling up by 8 a.m.
Yet, the pope reminds us that only a clown would continue this frenzied song and dance without getting on his knees every day to remember for whom he toils. The church doesn’t need clowns to further its mission of preaching the Gospel and training up disciples. Clowns may amuse but they can’t really inspire hearts and minds if they are not regularly tapped into the source of true life – Christ himself.
The real danger of attempting to "do the work of the church" without a serious spiritual practice is that it is easy to lose sight of our mission and risk working for the sake of a narrow ideology or socio-political cause rather than for the sake of Love himself.
It’s easy to mistake defending beloved ideologies for witnessing the love of Christ. But how can I possibly be a witness of Christ’s love unless I am daily transformed by it? It can’t be done.
Perhaps it’s similar to speaking about anyone. If we don’t spend time getting to know them, if we fail to call or invite them for dinner, then we shouldn’t be surprised if it is difficult to speak as though they have deeply transformed our lives.
As an official bureaucrat of the local church, the pope’s challenge hit me square on. In fact it echoes Jesus’ own challenge from the Gospel of Matthew, where he teaches that it is not enough to "do mighty deeds" in his name and yet not follow the will of God.
He won’t even know us, unless we spend time with him and do the Father’s will.
Occasionally, we see shining examples of people who deeply love God and are transformed by him. They are contagious because they emit a palpable love. We are all called to live that type of life, which no clown’s act could ever hope to follow.
Letter to the Editor
The Iraq War is just
After reading Mr. Kennedy’s piece on the Iraq War, my thoughts and prayers go to him. To write so passionately, he must have experienced pain from war. However, for the author’s sake and for those fellow troops and families who also face the pain and suffering of war, I felt obliged to write.
All is not without hope, there is good reason to believe the Iraq War was and is just. In the development of Just War Theory since St. Augustine, six key tenets emerged as preeminent in defining just war: just cause, comparative justice, legitimate authority, right intention, probability of success, and last resort.
To argue whether the Iraq War is unjust or just, these principles must be addressed. In the aftermath of 9-11, President Bush argued that a preemptive war was necessary for self defense and strategic peace. Preemptive war is not a new concept to Just War Theory but it requires the same six proofs and is not without merit.
Imagine the lives saved if the Allies had engaged a preemptive war against Hitler before 1939. Clearly preemptive war, like all wars, requires great judgment. Several people I greatly respect (Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice, and George Weigel), argued for the necessity of the current war, as did the majority of our congressional leaders. Furthermore, the deputy Air Defense Minster under Saddam Hussein revealed he personally planned and executed the mission that flew the chemical agents out of Iraq prior to the war. We have more than ample reason to believe the cause was and is just. I’ve seen it in the eyes and heard it from the mouths of the common Iraqis as well.
Palmer
