July 10, 2009 - Issue #13
Local News | Opinion/Editorials | Letters to the Editor
Local News
No limits on IVF practices in Alaska
Human embryos routinely created, frozen and destroyed
Increasingly in Alaska, human embryos are created in Petri dishes and destroyed or frozen in the unregulated practice of in vitro fertilization or IVF.
According to the federal Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the number of such procedures performed in the United States has more than doubled – from 64,681 in 1996 to 138,198 in 2006. And rates are rising in Alaska, too – due to an IVF practitioner on the Kenai Peninsula.
But while some babies make it from the Petri dish to a live birth, hundreds of thousands more just like them — created as “spares” — are destroyed in the lab or left behind in frozen storage. In the widely unregulated world of IVF, their numbers and the moral quagmires are growing.
In vitro fertilization is a process in which a woman’s eggs and a man’s sperm are manipulated to create human embryos. Enormous numbers of those embryos, however, are endangered or killed in the process.
In an IVF cycle, a woman’s ovaries are chemically over-stimulated to produce eggs that are then surgically removed. Sperm is procured from a man. Then, in the laboratory, a technician combines the eggs and sperm in a Petri dish, creating human embryos. Select embryos – usually those determined to be free of defects and sometimes those of the preferred sex – are transferred by a catheter into the woman’s womb or another’s for gestation.
In vitro fertilization is expensive and risky. A single IVF cycle can run from $7,500 to $22,000. And women are subjected to serious dangers involving the hyper stimulation of their ovaries and in the surgical retrieval of their eggs. In the end, few IVF couples give birth – nationwide in 2005, it was 29 percent of all attempts.
So typically, IVF practitioners create numbers of embryos – sometimes 10 or more at one time. Often practitioners transfer five or more to the womb at once – to improve the odds that just one embryo will implant and come to term.
Sometimes, many embryos take hold. To circumvent the risks of multiple births, often doctors push for “selective reduction” – by which one or more of the unborn babies are destroyed in the womb, leaving alive a number that is deemed more manageable.
The so-called “left-over” human embryos, who are not selected for the first transfer are destroyed in the lab, consumed in research or frozen for use in subsequent pregnancy attempts.
The United States has an estimated 500,000 human embryos in frozen storage. Across time, these embryos disintegrate in the deep freeze. And of those, who are later extracted for another pregnancy, only 30 percent survive the thawing process.
Catholic teaching: In vitro fertilization The Catholic Church teaches that the life of a human being – from conception to natural death – is sacred and inviolable. That includes human embryos created through no fault of their own in the lab. “Human embryos obtained in vitro are human beings and subjects with rights,” said the church in the 1987 instruction, “Donum Vitae” (the Gift of Life). “Their dignity and right to life must be respected from the first moment of their existence.” As explained by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith – the church’s highest doctrinal agency – in the 2008 instruction, “Dignitas Personae” (the Dignity of a Person), since “all techniques of in vitro fertilization proceed as if the human embryo were simply a mass of cells to be used, selected and discarded,” the Catholic Church opposes IVF. In a word, IVF is inherently “utilitarian” treatment of members of the human family, said the church. In “Dignitas Personae,” the church took note of the ratio of embryos produced in IVF to those eventually born. “The number of embryos sacrificed is extremely high,” said the church – with many cases of the “abandonment, destruction and loss of embryos” being “foreseen and willed.” “In fact, techniques of in vitro fertilization are accepted based on the presupposition that the individual embryo is not deserving of full respect in the presence of the competing desire for offspring which must be satisfied.” Plus, the church teaches IVF is immoral because it is ethically unacceptable to “dissociate procreation from the integrally personal context of the conjugal act.” “Human procreation is a personal act of husband and wife which is not capable of substitution,” explained the Congregation in 2008. |
In Alaska, as many other states, there are no regulations on IVF. And there are none on the federal level.
In contrast, a number of other nations limit the practice. Since 1991, Germany’s embryo protection law has stipulated that no more than three embryos may be created at a time and all three must be transferred to the woman’s womb at one time. They may not be frozen or discarded. Italy has a similar law which was unsuccessfully challenged in 2005. In many nations, discriminating between embryos by sex is illegal.
The American fertility trade’s professional organizations – the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology and the American Society for Reproductive Medicine – proffer only voluntary guidelines on embryo transferal.
Long-serving Alaska State Representative John Coghill, who serves on the Health and Social Services Subcommittee said IVF practices in Alaska need to be scrutinized.
“It’s an issue we should be aware of in Alaska,” he said, adding that few know the extent of the business.
The CDC regularly solicits data to ascertain success rates for IVF across the country. In 2006, 483 clinics reported – including just one practitioner from Alaska: John Nels Anderson, M.D., of the Peninsula Medical Center in Soldotna.
In Anchorage, there are several health care providers – affiliated with Seattle Reproductive Medicine – who refer clients to Washington State for IVF procedures. Two of those offices told the Anchor that Anderson was the only IVF practitioner in the state.
According to the CDC, Anderson reported having initiated 58 IVF cycles in 2006 – up from 44 in 2005.
The CDC did not publish data on how many embryos he created in the process. But in clients ages 41 to 42, Anderson transferred an average of nine embryos at once. Only one in five of that group gave birth as a result.
As to the disposition of the “left-over” embryos, the CDC offers no data on how many were discarded by Anderson in the lab, used in experiments or were frozen.
The Anchor made several attempts to contact Anderson at his office. But as of the paper’s deadline, he had not responded.
Still, last year, Anderson hinted about a stockpile of human embryos at his Kenai Peninsula clinic. Having run – unsuccessfully – for the Alaska State Senate in 2008, Anderson answered a candidate survey for the pro-family advocacy group, Eagle Forum. In the questionnaire, signed and dated June 22, 2008, Anderson admitted, “I have hundreds of frozen embryos.”
Nationwide, many embryos stay frozen indefinitely because IVF clients are ambivalent about what to do – attempt more pregnancies, donate them to other couples or have them destroyed in the IVF lab or in experiments. Across time, many clients fall out of touch with the IVF clinics, making the embryos orphans and leaving the IVF practitioners with the life or death decision.
“Do I throw them away when the parents don’t want them and won’t donate them?”, Anderson pondered on the Eagle Forum questionnaire.
In a recent national survey, some IVF couples said if they had known more about the IVF process beforehand, they might have considered insisting fewer embryos be created — raising questions about how “informed” the IVF consent process is.
Family refuge
Volunteers help refugees transition
In Anchorage, Catholic Social Services is committed to living out the Gospel mandate, in which Jesus called his followers to welcome the stranger.
This is a blessing for people like the Kafley family, who fled the terrors of ethnic cleansing in their homeland of Bhutan in the Eastern Himalayas.
“The government of Bhutan was trying to rid Bhutan of people of Nepalese origin,” explained Patrick Pillai, who mentors the Kafleys through a CSS program. “People were fleeing the country, but Nepal did not want to accept them all because it would sanction the persecution.”
As the official refugee resettlement agency for Alaska, CSS is commissioned to receive people who can no longer live in their own country due to political or religious persecution, war, famine, ethnic cleansing and a host of other woes. If Alaska has been chosen as their destination from among those sent by the United Nations to the U.S., CSS does the work of acclimating them to their new homeland. Fortunately there are many volunteers, including Patrick and Vani Pillai, the Kafleys’ mentors.
The Kafley family, and thousands of others, were put in United Nations-sponsored refugee camps in Nepal. Of their four children, all but the oldest son were born in the camp, where they awaited their fate.
After 19 years in the camp, cooking over a fire and living in a makeshift bamboo house, the Kafleys have been given the chance to make a new home in Alaska.
“The oldest son, Prakash, came to Alaska first,” said Pillai. “To show how uncertain were their lives, the family packed him up with a metal can in case he would need it to draw drinking water in his new home, just like they had to do in the camp.”
“Other than the plane, Prakash had never worn a seat belt. He’d never used a stove or a refrigerator,” said Pillai. “I remember when I first showed him how to use the toaster, we both laughed when he jumped as the bread shot up.”
When Pillai visited Prakash in his Mountain View apartment, he discovered the young man was afraid to step outside, and had no idea what street signs were. Pillai took him on a long ride around the municipality, map in hand.
Eventually, the rest of the family caught up with Prakash, and the Pillais took them on their first supermarket foray.
“They couldn’t believe there was so much food available,” said Pillai. Food had been rationed in the camp, and there was very little meat. The Kafleys were thrilled with the varieties of vegetables.
The Pillais helped them with banking, taught them how to keep their food receipts and budget. They helped them get a debit card and guided them in how to pay their rent.
Karen Ferguson, state refugee coordinator and the program director of CSS’ refugee assistance program, said a mentor is “like an ambassador to life in America and Alaska.”
Around six to 12 mentor families may be active at any one time. Last year, CSS welcomed 85 refugees directly from their countries of origin. They came from the Congo, Somalia, Sudan, Togo, Iraq, Georgia, Ukraine and Russia. This year refugees have included those from Bhutan and Cuba.
As important as mentoring is, Patrick Pillai said it’s also important to know “when to step back to foster independence.”
The Kafleys are currently settled into an apartment on Old Seward Highway and preparing for employment. A large percentage of new arrivals find employment within the first year. Pillai said many employers “marvel at the work ethic” of the resettled refugees.
Patrick Pillai felt compelled to volunteer because, although he was never a refugee, he is an immigrant who came to the U.S. from South Africa. Today, he works in administration and his wife is a high school teacher. Their twin daughters are seniors in high school.
“I felt it was time to pay back,” said Pillai. And he thought mentoring was a way to help his teenage daughters see the world’s needs up close.
“CSS is a great organization to work with. When you do something like this, it intensifies what a great country this is. If countries like Australia, the U.S. and others didn’t take these people in, they’d be in camps forever.”
Fifth Avenue of faith
Alaska’s Filipino Catholics teach faith through family and culture
On a brisk Saturday in June, Fifth Avenue in Anchorage looked a lot like a street in Manila, Philippines.
Parading through downtown past a number of on-lookers were banner-bearers, a distinguished married couple wearing sashes and little flocks of quick-stepping, dark-haired girls in white First Communion dresses. Behind them were young women in tiaras and full ballgowns – each in one of the colors of the rainbow. They processed gracefully in intervals as if in a beauty pageant.
Meanwhile, men in translucent, pastel Barong Tagalog shirts carried delicate, wooden archways adorned with cascading flowers that framed each princess. And finally, came a little blue army of mothers and grandmothers wearing lacy mantillas on their heads and praying rosaries. These women flanked a flowered platform on which a statue of Our Lady of Fatima was carried.
Welcome to the Santacruzan procession – an annual traditional religious procession in which many Filipinos commemorate the finding of the True Cross of Christ in Jerusalem about 326 A.D. by Queen Helena, the mother of Constantine the Great — the first Christian emperor of Rome.
The young girls in white represent angels; teens are dressed to symbolize the theological virtues, Biblical women, the Mother of God under her various titles and Queen Helena. One little boy wearing a crown and holding a scepter accompanies the queen as her son Constantine.
Leading up to the day, Catholics pray a novena — or nine-day series of prayers — in honor of the Santacruzan, meaning, Holy Cross.
The colorful, 28th annual procession in Anchorage on June 20 ended with a Mass celebrated by Oblate Archbishop Orlando Quevedo visiting from Cotabato, Philippines and a reception at Holy Family Cathedral.
The grand procession is the highlight of a year full of religious activities hosted by Filipino Catholics in Alaska. There is Simbang Gabi, a series of special Masses leading up to Christmas; at Easter, Salubong – a service to recall the meeting of Christ and “Mama Mary” after the Resurrection; and during Lent, Pabasa.
Additionally, there are novenas during the month of May for the Blessed Mother, feast day celebrations and monthly Masses at St. Benedict Church in Anchorage – at which Alaskans hear readings and songs in Tagalog, the language of the Philippines.
Through these traditions, Filipino Catholics are passing the Catholic faith to their youth as well as their non-Filipino neighbors in the mission territory of the far north.
These religious practices are “not just a simple social tradition,” Father Ben Torreto explained in an interview with the Anchor. They are ways of being “prophetic,” he said.
Father Torreto is a Filipino priest serving in Alaska as part of a partnership between the Anchorage and Cotabato archdioceses.
“Filipinos are very religious,” St. Benedict Church parishioner and native Filipina Vickie Garcia added.
“We have been out of our country for a long time and we want our young ones – our children, our grandchildren – to know what we have been doing in our Philippines that they have never seen before,” Garcia explained, adding that “some of the seniors told us, ‘Oh we miss … our novenas, our processions, our fiestas, feast days of our saints and so on.’”
So after moving to Anchorage in 1982, Garcia and her now late husband Juan organized the first Santacruzan procession in the city. And in recent years, she established the Filipino Religious Tradition group to more formally foster the faith through Filipino devotional practices here – mostly centered at St. Benedict Church.
“She is an elder of the family. She is owed a sort of respect. I can call her, Nana,” said the unrelated Father Torreto.
That term of endearment hints at one of the reasons Father Torreto believes Filipinos are so successful at maintaining their Catholicity across the generations and wherever they go in the secular world, outside their Catholic homeland.
“It has something to do with our family ties,” he said.
“When elders would try to educate our younger generations, they would always say, ‘You know when your grandfathers were living’, ‘When your grandmother was doing this or that’ – so there’s always a connection of the family before with the present family and to the younger generation,” Father Torreto continued.
Religious practices like Santacruzan “would always go back to their experiences back home,” added Father Ron Licayan, a fellow Filipino and pastor of the predominantly Filipino St. Mary Church in Kodiak. “That would remind them of that time with their family, witnessing it or celebrating it.”
A family of faith is the first source and practice field for faith, according to the Catholic Church. In his encyclical, “Evangelium Vitae” (the Gospel of Life), the late Pope John Paul II called the family the “domestic church” in which its members are “summoned to proclaim, celebrate and serve the Gospel of life.”
Indeed, in his boyhood home, Father Torreto said respect for family meant that meals never began without everyone at the table. Father Licayan said it means that despite our parents’ imperfections, “we should care for them.”
Like the Santacruzan procession which begins with the organizing couple, families begin with a man and a woman answering a call to grow the Christian family, explained Father Licayan.
“We always say that ‘When I married you, it’s not only me attracted to you, but it’s the will of God that the two of us would work, would be sent to raise Christian families, to raise Christian community.’”
The number of Filipinos in Alaska has steadily grown since they first arrived in the 1800s. And now, as they coordinate more closely in the Archdiocese of Anchorage, said Father Torreto, more Filipino youth are learning their heritage of faith and more adults are returning to the practice of their childhood faith.
“The impact of our Filipino Catholic spirit is something we cannot underestimate,” said Archbishop Quevedo in his homily during the Santacruzan Mass. “At your home, at your work, you can influence other people with regard to your Catholic faith. Do not hide it,” he urged. “We are proud of our faith, and we share it with others.”
Franciscan friars honor tradition but break mold
The Franciscan Friars of the Renewal primarily serve the poor, especially the destitute and homeless, and preach the Gospel.
The religious order was founded in 1987 by Father Benedict Groeschel and seven other Capuchin Franciscans to begin a renewal within the Capuchin Franciscans. The order now has about 130 friars –—mostly in their 20s and 30s –—who take vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. They are based in 14 friaries in the United States, Honduras, Nicaragua, England and Ireland.
Recently, five friars stationed in Ft. Worth, Texas traveled to Alaska to participate in the Alaska Catholic Youth Conference and to give talks for Theology and Brew. On June 1, the Anchor interviewed friars Father Joseph Mary Dean and Father Michael Kmiotek. Part two of this interview will run in the August issue of the Anchor.
We’re all brothers of St. Francis, but within that, some of us friars, probably most, go on to become priests.
We would all take vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. A lot of people call us monks, but monks take a vow of stability, meaning to a monastery. We are, you could say, monks in the world. We’re not staying in a cloistered monastery, but we go out among the people, very much like the early friars.
It really means personal renewal and commitment to Christ. It is also a serious expression of faith in works of mercy and charity and reconciling people. The renewal is personal and then renewal within the church.
And renewal within religious life as well – not going back to how things were 500 years ago, but bringing back some of the authentic elements of religious life – the communal prayer, wearing the habit, the public witness, the life of poverty, living the vowed life. It’s recapturing some of the essential elements of religious life in a modern context.
It’s a public witness. It’s our tradition. It’s one of the elements of religious life that we wanted to recapture. There was a notion for a while that wearing a habit made you aloof or inaccessible, but it’s quite the opposite. If you think about it, if I wasn’t wearing a habit, if I was going down the street in jeans and a t-shirt, why would anybody randomly come up to me or have a question? But when I’m wearing the habit – just today, walking through Anchorage, people were coming up to me over and over saying, ‘Hey, what are you?’, ‘Hey, can I talk to you?’ – because they see this and it represents something. Even if it’s just out of curiosity, it opens the doorway to dialogue, to questions, to prayer. They see this as a visible symbol of Christ and they reach out.
I’ve been a friar 20 years. I’ve been a priest since 2006. When I was 21, I was working for the power company on Long Island and had a beautiful girlfriend and had graduated college. I was doing all the things society tells me to do and I was not satisfied. I wound up watching TV – I thought it was a news program. It wound up being Pat Robertson and the 700 Club. He talked about turning your life over to Jesus Christ. So I said this prayer of turning my life over to Christ and had an experience of Christ. Then, I met Father Benedict Groeschel. He was a Capuchin (Franciscan) at that time. His witness of a life in faith really drew me in, and I knew I had to break-up with the girlfriend. I knew there was something else calling me on. I had said, ‘Lord, if you want me to be a religious, have me be blessed by the Holy Father’ – Pope John Paul II at the time. Six years after I say this, the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal community starts and we go to Rome to get approval and work it out. We go to the papal audience and we got moved to the first row. And so I put my hand out, and (the pope) grabs my hand and he goes, ‘God bless you.’
And then I was living in New York and working in the South Bronx, and Mother Teresa’s main house was in the South Bronx. So any time she came into North America, she stopped in the South Bronx. I got to meet her a number of times. One of the times, it was really like she was reading my heart about serving the poor. So I had these confirmations.
I’ve been a friar for 13 years, priest for six years. Before being a friar – just living a life of the world, just working to make money to party, to travel and have a lot of fun. I was very good at it and almost got engaged a few times, but just never felt right. After embracing just everything the world had to offer to the full, not practicing my faith, just drinking deeply of sin and just the whole secular culture, I just said, ‘Wow, this is not satisfying me at all.’ So I said, ‘There’s got to be something more.’ I went on this retreat, made the fateful question, ‘Alright Lord, if you love me, if you’re perfect, if you’re all-knowing, then you know what I should be doing. So I’m going to give you a chance here.’ I just had a feeling I was going to end up either dead or in jail soon because of the direction my life was going. So I said, ‘Alright Lord, what do you want? Show me your will, and no matter how crazy or stupid it sounds, I’ll do it.’ And he said, ‘Alright, that’s what I’m waiting for,’ and he showed me. The two things I didn’t want to do at the time – I don’t want to live in a big city and I don’t want to be a priest. So he called me to be a priest in New York City.
Usually, it starts with office readings at 6 a.m., then an hour of meditation in silence. Then there is morning prayer followed by Mass and breakfast. Of course when you’re on the road, it would be different. Then it’s either work with the poor or work around the friary or a preaching engagement or catching up on phone calls. Then, there is midday prayer. Everyday, we have the eucharistic holy hour with evening prayer at five o’clock – which is a real important thing in our life – just spending that time in silence before Our Lord and adoring him – seeing that is really where the grace for our community and our vocations comes from. Then we have dinner together, as our fraternal time, and at 9:15 we have night prayer, followed by the rosary. That’s a minimum of prayer time, but you’re really encouraged to pray more. We’re active in the world but we’re trying to maintain the contemplative life in the friary – and even in the midst of our busyness – to let the silence in the friary flow into our life.
Through private donations.
In Ft. Worth, we have a little mission called St. Benedict’s mission. That is open three days a week and we serve just coffee. It’s a place of hospitality – for the homeless to get out of the heat.
In New York, we run shelters for the homeless. In Honduras, we have a hospital that we help run in the mountains. Most of our friaries have a food ministry from the front door.
We have food pantries, soup kitchens – as well as going out onto the streets. We take a group of people – lay men and women – onto the streets of Ft. Worth once a month – sometimes more often to bring out toiletries, food and clothing, but also just to spend time with the people on the streets. It’s not just about the material goods. And it’s a great experience for people who normally wouldn’t interact with homeless people on the streets to see the beauty in them.
It’s also working with the dignity of the human person. That’s really our starting point – they’re made in the image and likeness of God. They’re our brothers and sisters. Every Wednesday in Ft. Worth, we go to the pro-life center, have a Mass, and then we go out in front of the abortion mill and we help do counseling and see if we could have turn-arounds there.
See part two of this interview in the August 7 issue of the Anchor in which the friars discuss the Christian call to serve the poor and thereby to serve Christ.
‘Listening Post’ abides amid noisy downtown
The hubbub of a downtown Anchorage bus terminal hardly seems the spot to find quiet compassionate listeners. A constant flurry of travelers flows through the station. On some benches, those with nowhere to go and all day to get there sit languidly watching the action.
But you can’t miss the big sign running up the stairs to the second floor — or the sandwich board out on the street — proclaiming, “The Listening Post,” a place where people can pray, meditate or find quiet. Most importantly, at The Listening Post people can tell their story to someone who will truly listen.
The Listening Post, a walk-in center staffed three days a week and one evening by volunteers, sees as many as ten people a day.
The genesis for the project occurred in 2007 at a spiritual directors’ convention in Vancouver, British Columbia. Mary Cartwright, a St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church parishioner who was trained in spiritual direction at Holy Spirit Center and Rev. Marcia Wakeland, a Lutheran minister, were both attending the event from Anchorage.
“We had met, but we didn’t know each other at all,” recalls Cartwright. But they found themselves at the same lecture, a talk by a nun and a laywoman who had founded a Listening Post in Vancouver. During the presentation, two women told stories about being former clients of The Listening Post, and they later became volunteers.
“It was so powerful and so simple,” Cartwright recalled. “As we walked out of the room, Marcia and I said, ‘This would be amazing in Anchorage’ and by the time we got to the end of the hall, we were planning it.”
In September 2008, The Listening Post opened its doors on the Anchorage transit center’s mezzanine level. Lutheran Social Services agreed to umbrella the project, and private donations pay the bills.
Comfortable furniture, a quilted wall hanging, soft lighting and warm throw rugs quiet the senses and suggest entry into a private, contemplative space.
“Be still and know I am,” reads a sculptured wall hanging. Spiritual and meditative readings are strewn across a coffee table.
Many people go through life without having anyone to listen to their story, Cartwright observed. In our busy world, it’s almost counter-cultural to compassionately and non-judgmentally listen, she added
Often, listeners want to interrupt with advice, or give referrals or “fix” someone. The Listening Post does none of that.
“Those who are burdened don’t want advice,” Cartwright said. “They want to be heard, and they want someone to sit with them as they weather the storm.”
Stories of trial and triumph
Many visitors suffer from mental illness. Some struggle with substance abuse. Some come in to celebrate. Cartwright remembers the young man, an immigrant, who had “found Jesus” and was going to be baptized.
“We hear tremendous stories of abuse,” said Cartwright. In the safe environment of The Listening Post, “people leave their masks at home.”
Spirituality is discussed only if the visitor brings it up, but Cartwright herself is committed to being “prayerfully present, invoking the Spirit as I listen.”
Ursuline Sister Lorene Griffin, a spiritual director and retired therapist with a doctorate in counseling psychology, is a volunteer. Being at The Listening Post is different from therapy or spiritual direction, she said.
“Here, you’re just listening compassionately. Sometimes, people are all bottled up and they have no one to tell. Sometimes they have something to rejoice in, but no one to rejoice with,” Sister Griffin added.
Cartwright said she’s amazed at the resilience in people’s lives and the stories she has heard.
“Despite being on a lonely road going nowhere, they keep walking. I see our ministry as one of companioning those who walk alone.”
When people leave, “they often have a smile on their face and their shoulders held a little higher,” she said.
The Listening Post advertises itself as “a sanctuary where a person may grow in their relationship with self, other and the Creator.” Tea and cocoa are offered, but no food, sleeping or debating is allowed.
The Listening Post currently has 25 volunteers, some of whom work only once a month. There are always two volunteers on duty, and hours could be expanded with more volunteers.
To learn more about The Listening Post, visit listeningpostanchorage.com.
Pope grants indulgences for Year of the Priest
The Catholic Church soon begins a jubilee Year for Priests – designated by Pope Benedict XVI to inspire “spiritual perfection in priests.” Under certain circumstances during the year – which runs from June 19, 2009 to June 19, 2010 – priests and lay Catholics may be granted a plenary indulgence or total remission of temporal punishment due to sin. As reported by the Catholic News Agency, the means to obtain the jubilee year indulgence are as follows:
(A) All truly penitent priests who, on any day, devotedly pray Lauds or Vespers before the Blessed Sacrament exposed to public adoration or in the tabernacle, and ... offer themselves with a ready and generous heart for the celebration of the Sacraments, especially the Sacrament of Penance, will be granted a Plenary Indulgence, which they can also apply to their deceased confreres, if in accordance with current norms they take Sacramental Confession and the Eucharist and pray in accordance with the intentions of the Supreme Pontiff. Priests are furthermore granted a Partial Indulgence, also applicable to deceased confreres, every time they devotedly recite the prayers duly approved to lead a saintly life and to carry out the duties entrusted to them.
(B) All truly penitent Christian faithful who, in church or oratory, devotedly attend Holy Mass and offer prayers to Jesus Christ, supreme and eternal Priest, for the priests of the Church, or perform any good work to sanctify and mold them to His Heart, are granted a Plenary Indulgence, on the condition that they have expiated their sins through Sacramental Confession and prayed in accordance with the intentions of the Supreme Pontiff. This may be done on the opening and closing days of the Year of Priests, on the 150th anniversary of the death of St. Jean Marie Vianney, on the first Thursday of the month, or on any other day established by the ordinaries of particular places for the good of the faithful.
The elderly, the sick and all those who for any legitimate reason are unable to leave their homes, may still obtain a plenary indulgence if, with the soul completely removed from attachment to any form of sin and with the intention of observing, as soon as they can, the usual three conditions, ‘on the days concerned, they pray for the sanctification of priests and offer their sickness and suffering to God through Mary, Queen of the Apostles.’
Additionally, a partial indulgence will be offered to the faithful each time they pray five times, the “Our Father,” “Hail Mary” and “Glory Be,” or any other approved prayer in honor of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, to ask that priests maintain “purity and sanctity of life.”
News & Notes
Christ on the streets of Anchorage
Carrying the Blessed Sacrament in a monstrance, Dominican Father Vincent Kelber of Holy Family Cathedral leads the June 14 Corpus Christi procession along the streets of downtown Anchorage. To the right of Father Kelber walks Dominican Brother Isaiah Mary Molano. Approximately 100 lay and religious from around the Anchorage Archdiocese participated in the event. The traditional procession – that celebrates the feast of Corpus Christi, or the Body of Christ – was hosted by the cathedral and the Anchorage branch of Catholics United for the Faith. Every June, the Catholic Church celebrates the feast of Corpus Christi, which is Latin for “Body of Christ.” The feast day, which commemorates the institution of the Holy Eucharist, was established by the church after the urging of St. Juliana, an Augustinian nun born in Belgium in 1193. Traditionally, to help celebrate the feast day, the faithful take part in a religious procession with the Blessed Sacrament carried in a monstrance, under a decorative canopy. Religious procession is an ancient practice, dating back to Old Testament time.
New Dominicans in Alaska
From left, the two new Dominican friars in Anchorage are Brother Isaiah Mary Molano and Father Bryan Kromholtz. Holy Family Cathedral has welcomed the two Dominicans for the summer. Father Kromholtz served the Anchorage cathedral as parochial vicar from 2000 to 2002. Since then, he has earned his doctorate in systematic theology at the University of Fribourg in Switzerland. Currently, he is a professor at the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology in California. Having entered the Dominican order in 2002, Brother Molano is a newly ordained transitional deacon who is scheduled to be ordained to the priesthood in June 2010. During his stay this summer, Brother Molano will assist the parish sacramentally as well as lead a series of talks for young adults and a renewal program for catechists.
PARISH PROFILE Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Soldotna, Alaska Editor’s note: This is part of a series on parishes and missions in the Anchorage Archdiocese. 400 families. Pastor: Since November 2007, Our Lady of Perpetual Help has been served by three priests of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate — Father Tony Dummer, Father Joe Dowling, and Father Andy Sensenig, along with Oblate Brother Craig Bonham. The four men share the parish rectory in a communal setting. Through a weekly rotation, the Oblates serve the parishes and missions on the Western Kenai Peninsula. First coming to Alaska via Seward in 1961, Reverend Thaddeus Dean (1932-1991), other Redemptorists and parishioners built Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Soldotna. The original church, a steel building that was designed to be a brewery, collapsed unfinished under the weight of snow and ice. A blessing in disguise (imagine the impact of the ’64 earthquake, old timers surmised), the true “first” Soldotna parish was built with the help of recycled wood brought from overseas during a revamp project of a collapsed Japanese boat dock. For more than 30 years, “the old church” served Soldotna with Redemptorist and archdiocesan priests. A memorial to the 18 Redemptorist Fathers who served OLPH was dedicated by former Archbishop Francis Hurley in 1992. Three years later the current church building was erected. The rededication of the old church took place last year, now hailed as the Redemptorist Center. The generosity and hospitality of the ladies of the parish, the fun and excitement for all ages at the Oktoberfest carnival, quilt bingo and dinner, the ease of confession with all three priests, Father Andy’s short, funny and relevant homilies and that Father Joe plays laser tag. St. Vincent De Paul Society, Legion of Mary and ecumenical participation in Karios Ministry. A 24-hour-a-week eucharistic adoration; 3 p.m. Chaplet of Divine Mercy on Mercy Sunday; youth-oriented Stations of the Cross walk around town on Good Friday; Las Posadas; daily morning prayers; the blessing of pets; and the crowning of Mary. This past year, OLPH began Generations of Faith as an all-ages faith formation program. Other successful programs include: Youth Ministry’s Teen Night, Vacation Bible School, Mothers of Ministry Sharing (MOMS), the Men’s Morning Prayer Breakfast Group, Bible Timeline, Parish Nursing and Truth Pursuit. To contact the parish, call (907) 262-4749 or e-mail olph@alaska.net. The parish Web site is olph.cc/ |
Talks explore priesthood and Christian vocation
In conjunction with the Catholic Church’s Year for Priests, the young adults of Holy Family Cathedral welcome all to a discussion series underway by Dominican Brother Isaiah Mary Molano on the priesthood of Jesus Christ and the Christian vocation. Relying on Scripture, the church fathers and St. Thomas Aquinas, the talks will cover how the Mass is a sacrificial act that is connected to the sacrifice of the Cross, how the laity are called to offer sacrifice to God in daily life and what the Catholic Church really teaches about women and the ministerial priesthood. The next talks take place at Holy Family Cathedral on July 14 and 21 – at 7 p.m.
Anchor editor wins national press award
In the Catholic Press Association’s annual, nationwide journalism contest, Anchor editor Joel Davidson has won second place in the category of Best Editorial on a National or International Issue for his February 2008 editorial, “A Light in the Suicidal Darkness.” “In an unusual but effective approach to opining on assisted suicide,” wrote the judges, “the author frames his point with a suspenseful narrative.” Davidson competed with editorialists of the nation’s diocesan newspapers with readerships up to 17,000.
Outdoor retreat to include theology and hiking
Young adults throughout the Archdiocese of Anchorage are invited to four days of hiking in the mountains near Girdwood, with prayer, study, and fellowship, as part of the second annual Eagle Eye Retreat. The event, which takes place Aug. 11-17, will include daily Mass, Liturgy of the Hours, personal time, philosophy and theology classes, plus the opportunity for spiritual direction and fun with young Catholics from across the country. According to organizers, the event is open to young adults “ages 18 to 40ish.”
For more information, contact Rachel Finley at 310-0464 or raesure83@yahoo.com.
Discipleship Days set for September
The Archdiocese of Anchorage will sponsor Discipleship Days 2009 on Sept. 18-19 at Lumen Christi High School in Anchorage. The theme of the two-day conference is titled, “Formed by the Word.”
National and local presenters will provide a variety of educational and inspiring workshops for adults, young adults and youth. For more information, please call Cindy Lentine at 297-7711.
Tridentine Mass returns
Beginning this month, the Anchorage Archdiocese will provide regular celebrations of the Tridentine Rite Mass — also known as the extraordinary form of the Mass. The centuries-old Tridentine Rite — which is said in Latin — was the standard Roman Catholic liturgy before the Second Vatican Council (1962-65). In his July 2007 apostolic letter, Pope Benedict XVI reasserted its use.
The Tridentine Mass will be celebrated at St. Michael Church in Palmer (432 East Fireweed Ave.) on the following Saturdays at 10:30 a.m.: July 18, August 22, September 19, October 24, November 21 and December 19. St. Michael pastor Father Thomas Brundage, JCL will be the celebrant.
Grant helps parish continue feeding hungry
More than 25 years ago, a dedicated, small group at St. Benedict Church in Anchorage began a food outreach program for those living within the parish boundaries. Under the guidance of their pastor and utilizing volunteer help, this group built a small building on the parish campus for food storage, sorting and distribution. With cast-off shelving and a second-hand refrigerator, the building has continued to be the center of this ministry for feeding the hungry of the area regardless of their religious affiliation.
In December 2008, Bernice Lloyd, a parishioner of St. Benedict and employee of Fred Meyer in Anchorage, approached the pastor, Father Steven Moore with the idea of applying for a grant to the Fred Meyer Fund, which assists nonprofit organizations dedicated to helping children and reducing hunger.
With Bernice’s help, St. Benedict applied for a grant to replace their nearly extinct refrigerator with a new energy-efficient refrigerator and freezer as well as to upgrade lighting, shelving and work spaces and for a vacuum sealer to package bulk food supplies.
On June 28, Bernice presented Father Moore with a check for $7,500 which funded the full amount of the grant request.
“The Fred Meyer Fund and its Advisory Committee Members were particularly impressed by the successful track record of St. Benedict’s parish and its program,” said Glynda Brockhoff, philanthropy coordinator for the retail store. “We hope this community grant will help their outreach program continue the important work it is doing to enhance the welfare of the community.”
St. Benedict parishioner Marilyn McMorrow who coordinates the outreach ministry noted, “The grant will be a big step forward for us. The vacuum sealer will help us break down large bulk food donations into amounts needed for specific needs and the refrigerator and freezer will allow us to accept some food items, like donated fish, which we have not been able to fully utilize in the past.”
Anchorage monastery elects new superior
On June 5, Sister Maria del la Milagrosa of the Sisters of Perpetual Adoration assumed the role of mother superior at the Monastery of the Blessed Sacrament in Anchorage. Mother Milagrosa takes over for Mother Victorias, who held the position for more than 20 years. “It is a well-deserved break after serving faithfully for so many years,” commented Father Tom Lilly, pastor of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church and guardian of the monastery. As superior, Mother Milagrosa will direct the day-to-day operations of the Anchorage monastery. The Sisters of Perpetual Adoration is a cloistered religious congregation dedicated to the perpetual adoration of Our Lord in the Blessed Eucharist. The congregation was founded in the 19th century, and over half of their 84 monasteries are located in Mexico. Currently, there are three sisters at the Anchorage monastery. In December, the congregation lost Sister Maria Margarita de la Fuente, who died at the age of 91. Some of Sister de la Fuente’s family traveled from Mexico for her burial at Anchorage Memorial Park Cemetery on June 15. Anchorage Archbishop Emeritus Francis Hurley – who had invited the Sisters of Perpetual Adoration to Alaska in the mid-1980s – officiated.
Two local Catholic nurses recertified to teach NFP
In May, two local registered nurses – Rachael Fogal and Judy McCarthy – were recertified to continue teaching the Billings Ovulation Method of Natural Family Planning in the Archdiocese of Anchorage.
Natural Family Planning is an umbrella term for certain methods to achieve or avoid pregnancy based on observation of the naturally occurring signs and symptoms of the fertile and infertile phases of a woman’s reproductive cycle. According to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, “NFP reflects the dignity of the human person within the context of marriage and family life, promotes openness to life, and recognizes the value of the child.”
The Billings method of NFP involves the daily observation and charting of a woman’s biological indicators of fertility. “This is information that every woman can and ought to know,” Fogal noted, “whether she is monitoring her reproductive health or trying to achieve or avoid a pregnancy.” A number of couples use NFP to overcome certain problems of infertility.
Fogal and McCarthy – who together represent 15 years of experience teaching the Billings method – lead a class every month at Providence Alaska Medical Center. Fogal said, “Some take this class as a requirement for marriage preparation, some for their health and some for the good of the environment.” The Pill – which can cause early abortions – is laden with powerful hormones that also are pollutants. In contrast, Fogal said, non-pharmaceutical NFP is “ecologically sound.” For more information or to register for a class, visit aknfp.com.
Theology of Body series set for July 17-18
St. Andrew Church in Eagle River is hosting a Friday-Saturday lecture series on the Theology of the Body, July 17-18. The series is based on Pope John Paul II’s teachings and presented in DVD format by author Christopher West. The series addresses the most basic truths and questions of human existence, including: what it means to be created male and female in God’s image, how to find and live out authentic happiness and how God’s mystery is revealed through the body and spousal love. For more information, call 694-2170.
St. Mary’s school enrolling students
St. Mary’s Catholic School – the archdiocesan K-8th grade school in Kodiak – is accepting applications for enrollment in the 2009-10 school year. For more information, call 486-3513.
Building habitats for humanity
Father Tom Lilly of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church in Anchorage joins parishioners in building a home for a needy family. In conjunction with Habitat for Humanity, Catholics around Anchorage are building homes for the poor. Across spring, several Anchorage parishes – St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church, St. Patrick Church and Holy Family Cathedral – raised funds to build two homes which will be located on two lots at the intersection of Glenn Highway and Boniface. According to Pat Kennish of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, across May 16-17, her parish raised $1,300 from a sale of two-by-four boards to be used in framing the houses. On the boards, contributors inscribed prayers and good wishes for the families who will live in the homes. Kennish, other St. Elizabeth Ann Seton parishioners and their pastor Father Tom Lilly started erecting the houses June 13. Kennish said, “It’s such a powerful thing” to see the prayers on the boards which will hold up walls and a roof for the needy. Parishioners of St. Patrick Church are scheduled to continue the building this month.
Motorcycle safety
At center, Sister Marie Brent, SHF, Parish Director of St. Francis Xavier Church in Valdez prays for the safety of motorcyclists gathered outside of the parish on May 23rd. The gathering is an annual tradition.
Faith groups tackle graffiti, overflowing dumpsters
Congregation and community members gather June 11 at St. Anthony Catholic Church in Anchorage to urge action on graffiti, overflowing dumpsters and the poor condition of San Roberto Avenue. Barb Dodson (right), of Anchorage Faith and Action – Congregations Together (AFACT), presents photos documenting the chronic problems plaguing the area while invited guests, including city Assembly members Shelia Selkregg (left) and Mike Gutierrez (center), look on. Those gathered concluded the meeting in song to celebrate the commitments made by several public officials to clean up the neighborhood.
Local-built altar dedicated for Girdwood chapel
On May 10, Archbishop Roger Schwietz dedicated a new altar for the Chapel of Our Lady of the Snows in Girdwood. The nearly 1,000 pound wood altar was crafted by a local carpenter and craftsman, Jake Thompson. Its top is made from 200-year-old red cedar from Southeast Alaska, and the legs are walnut, as are the decorative diamonds.
An inlaid design atop the altar consists of shafts of wheat, made of oak, crossing a walnut crafted chalice with the Eucharist rising from the chalice, made of maple.
According to pastor Father Tom Lilly, who is based at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Anchorage, the altar is a welcome replacement for the dining room table the parish had previously employed as an altar there for the last three and a half years. He said companion pieces — an ambo and credence table — are in the works and should be ready for the chapel in the next several months.
Archbishop’s Calendar
July 14, 8 a.m., Mass, Blessed Sacrament Monastery
July 18, 2 p.m., Mass and dedication of St. Andrew Kim Church, St. Andrew Kim Church
July 19, 10 a.m., Mass, Our Lady of the Angels, Kenai
July 21, 5:30 p.m., Providence hospital board meeting, Providence Alaska Medical Center
August 1, Catholic Social Services auction float trip, Kenai Peninsula
August 4, 8 a.m., Mass, Blessed Sacrament Monastery
August 9, Copper Valley School Association Mass, Copper Valley
Note: Events are in Anchorage unless noted.
Community Calendar
July 10, 7-8p.m., Christ in the City eucharistic adoration, Holy Family Cathedral
July 12, 11 a.m., Native Mass, Alaska Native Medical Center
July 14, 7 p.m., Talk on priesthood of Jesus Christ and Christian vocation, Holy Family Cathedral
July 16, 11 a.m., Native Kateri Circle potluck and faith formation, St. Anthony Church
July 18, 10:30 a.m., Tridentine Latin Mass, St. Michael Church, Palmer
July 18, 5:30 p.m., Native Mass, St. Anthony Church
July 19, 11 a.m., Native Mass, Alaska Native Medical Center
July 21, 7 p.m., Talk on priesthood of Jesus Christ and Christian vocation, Holy Family Cathedral
July 25-26, 10 a.m.-6 p.m., CSS Plein Air Painters art fair, Kolstad Homestead, 5801 Barry Ave.
July 26, 11 a.m., Native Mass, Alaska Native Medical Center
August 2, 11 a.m., Native Mass, Alaska Native Medical Center
Note: Events are in Anchorage unless noted.
Columns
Pack lightly and fear not the end
As I remember it, one of the primary rules in backpacking was “go lightly.” Don’t pile any more stuff in your backpack than you will absolutely need. If you do, you will be cursing yourself after the third or fourth mile on he trail.
But of course, good sense was usually cast to the winds: “I may need that extra gallon of camping fuel; We don’t want to run out of food: throw in an extra couple rounds of salami and a pound or two of cheese.” On and on it would go until even lifting the pack off the ground was a strain on the back and by the end of the third mile our poor feet would be screaming: “You idiot, what were you thinking about?”
Of course, you know what happened: That three extra pounds of salami had to be lugged back home or handed off to an incoming packer. The rule is airtight: No extra stuff. Make a list and stick to it. But, of course, caution always seemed to win the day: We may need it.
In the Middle East among desert dwellers, I suspect that “go lightly” still holds sway today (extra water being the exception).
That, at least, seems to have been the advice Jesus gave his disciples when he sent them out on mission, two-by-two: “No extra food, no back pack, no purse on the belt, no extra coat to defend against the cold night winds.” It sounds so logical, doesn’t it? Ah, but here is Jesus’ rationale: “If you are bringing the Gospel and the oil of comfort to folks on the road, they will take care of you; you won’t need extra stuff.” The Gospel doesn’t say whether the advice worked, but it surely sounded good in theory.
That brings to mind the inner urge we all have to save up material things even though we know we will probably never use them.
Perhaps, as in backpacking, there is also a sense that the end may come upon us unawares. Therefore, pile on a few indulgences, an extra daily rosary for the “road.” There is nothing like being prepared for an imminent demise.
The Scriptures: Amos 7: 12-15 Ephesians 1:3-14 Mark 6:7-13 |
But, as in Jesus’ advice regarding material supplies for the road, so too with matters of the spirit: If our Christian life has been lived as well as we know how, if we have carried the Gospel and the oil of comfort to others, even a few lapses during life should not be of ultimate concern to us. Moreover, we should remember that we have had the constant support of the church along the way, that is, those fellow Christians who appreciated our staunch faith and good example.
We have the promised support of the mystical body of Christ with whom we have been partners in this long journey we call the Christian life. We did not travel alone all those years, so why should there be fear that we may be unprepared for the Lord’s coming?
If our Christian life has been a lightsome joy and a means of daily fulfillment, we need not worry that time’s “pack” will be too weighty to bear for the “miles” ahead. You see, backpackers know what they are talking about. It always gives me great pleasure, therefore, to know that Jesus was himself a “packer” and was willing to share his vast knowledge of the road with those “two-by-two” guys who probably were afraid they would run out of something on the way. Nothing extra, that’s the rule.
The writer formerly served the Anchorage Archdiocese as director of pastoral education. He now lives in Notre Dame, In.
Guest Column
Knights of Columbus shine in Alaska
As members of the Knights of Columbus we are guided by our four principles: charity, unity, fraternity and patriotism.
Our mission — our brotherhood in our fraternal system — aims at being of service to God and his church, to family and our community. For 126 years, the Knights have championed these ideals working to be of service to those in need in our communities and around the world. By pursing the vision of our founder Father Michael J. McGivney, the Knights have become the largest Catholic fraternal organization in the world. The unity of our members through local councils of men and their families committed to our Catholic faith and service helps harness manpower and resources for the good of others in need.
During annual state conventions, state councils recognize the service efforts of our members and councils.
During the Knights’ Alaska state convention held May 1-3 at the Coast International Inn, members and councils were recognized for their leadership and service to their communities. The following awards were presented.
Grand Knight of the Year: Leslie Dennis, St. Benedict’s Council 12290, Anchorage, for outstanding leadership of a local council.
Knight of the Year: Mark Merrill, John Forsting Council 9830, Eagle River, for outstanding effort as a member of a council.
Brotherhood Award: Al Beck, St. Anthony’s Council 11558; Anchorage, for outstanding effort to help a brother in need.
Financial Secretary of the Year: Douglass Wright, Arctic Madonna Council 9581, Wasilla, for outstanding service in the duties associated with the role of Financial Secretary within a council.
Family of the Year: Gene, Jackie and Laura Augustine, John Forsting Council 9830, Eagle River, for outstanding family support and involvement in the parish and community.
Local councils are encouraged to become involved in a variety of service projects in their parish communities as well as the community at large. The following awards were presented during the Alaska state convention under the title of “Program Service Awards.
Church: Our Lady of the Snows Council 4859, Anchorage, financial support of renovation of the Religious Education Center at Holy Family Cathedral.
Council: Northern Lights Council 8308, North Pole, Alaska, “Knight in Ice”, The commissioning of an ice sculpture depicting the Knights of Columbus respect for life, bringing awareness of the right to life from conception to natural death.
Family: John Forsting Council 9830, Eagle River, Alaska, Christmas Breakfasts with Santa — A lesson in charity, providing breakfast with Santa for families of the parish and donating admission cost to the Beanie Box Program benefiting homeless patrons of Beans Café.
Community: Our Lady of the Snows Council 4859, Anchorage, Sunday breakfast program — Feeding the homeless, a Sunday breakfast program developed in 2003 that feeds the homeless at Holy Family Cathedral. This council also donated $100,000 to support improvements to the education center at Holy Family Cathedral.
Youth: St. Paul Miki Council 10798, Anchorage, Children’s Christmas party, providing the children of the parish a chance to celebrate the secular side of the holiday in a church-centered environment.
A special award was presented to Joseph Reihle, Grand Knight of Our Lady of the Snows Council, Holy Family Cathedral, for 50 years of service to the parish and community. Joe served as the first Grand Knight of Our Lady of the Snows Council 50 years ago.
As the field agent for the Knights of Columbus in Alaska, I have a unique opportunity to work side-by-side with members and councils from around the state. I have truly been inspired witnessing first-hand the fruits of our mission to help serve those in need right here in our communities. Whether it’s raising money for someone or group in need or providing manpower to projects, our members bring great service, strong faith and enjoy being of service as members of the Knights of Columbus.
The writer is a field agent for the Knights of Columbus, Alaska State Council.
The American flag and refugees in Alaska
Having served 15 years in the United States Air Force and being a military spouse for over 20, I have seen many American flags waving in the breeze and have felt the powerful emotions associated with this symbol of freedom. I again caught a glimpse of the flag as I was driving up to our World Refugee Day celebration and a feeling of poignancy was added to my emotions — it represented freedom for so many from around the world who have suffered so greatly.
At the event, I was first welcomed by one of our program staff from Somalia and entered a world of international aromas, colorful fabrics, friendly people, music and dance. Our 4th annual event was much more than fabulous food, entertaining activities and lively music — it was a celebration to honor the accomplishments of resettled refugees and to remember the millions of refugees throughout the world who yearn for a peaceful home.
“Refugees have suffered a lot in their lives. Because a lot of them lost their family, they lost their father, mother, brother and sisters. For me, I lost my whole family in Congo in 2001,” explains Patrick Kataraka our keynote speaker and a resettled refugee.
Matthew 25:35 instructs us to welcome the stranger. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops advises us in their statement, “Welcoming the Stranger Among Us: Unity in Diversity.”
They state: “As Catholics, we are called to take concrete measures to overcome the misunderstanding, ignorance, competition, and fear that stand in the way of genuinely welcoming the stranger in our midst and enjoying the communion that is our destiny as Children of God.”
Catholic Social Services does everything it can to live out these words.
Refugee Assistance & Immigration Services (RAIS) works within a web of community partnerships to help refugees settle in Alaska. In order to help refugee families achieve their goal of a stable life in the United States, RAIS has become connected to many agencies — from Headstart to the Department of Homeland Security.
One of the important ways RAIS assists refugee communities is by being an advocate and mediator when the need arises. Recently, Hmong refugees arriving as secondary migrants have been unable to obtain Alaska driver’s licenses despite arriving with a valid license from another state. The RAIS program director met with the head of the local Department of Homeland Security Office, the head of Division of Motor Vehicles and the Hmong clan community leaders. Through these meetings she was able to clarify government needs and identify for the Hmong community the most efficient way to achieve their goal of obtaining driver’s licenses. In this situation, the solution required many of the refugees to apply for green cards. This in turn led RAIS into a discussion with the community about offering a “green card application” workshop to assist families in this application process.
I share the Driver’s License story to help explain how Catholic Social Service’s truly strives to implement the U.S. Bishop’s instructions and welcome the stranger — by seeking practical solutions to real cultural barriers. It is critical to provide the basic safety net for our newly arriving refugees but equally important to help them plan for their American futures — futures filled with many more opportunities to celebrate and to reflect on the sacrifices of the past — as many Americans do when they get a glimpse of our flag waving in the breeze.
The writer is the executive director of Catholic Social Services in Alaska. For more information about CSS, call 276-5590.
Guest Column
Paul after Paul: A look at his disputed letters
There has been long standing presumption that Paul was the author of 14 letters. Today, Catholic Biblical scholars question this premise. All biblical scholars recognize that Paul was the author of I Thessalonians, Galatians, Philippians, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Philemon and Romans. These are called the “undisputed” letters.
However, while 2 Thessalonians, Colossians, Ephesians, I and 2 Timothy and Titus, identify Paul as their author these are called the “disputed” letters because most biblical scholars (overall about 85 percent) believe these were letters written by others after Paul’s death. These authors were deeply influenced by Paul and applied some of Paul’s insights to new circumstances. However, these authors also used words and rhetorical features that in Greek are noticeably different from Paul’s undisputed letters.
Among these disputed letters more scholars are inclined to consider Paul the author of 2 Thessalonians, Colossians and 2 Timothy than Ephesians, I Timothy and Titus.
Together the undisputed and disputed letters number 13.
The 14th “letter” presumed to be by Paul is Hebrews. In so far as I am aware, no contemporary Catholic biblical scholar maintains that Paul wrote Hebrews. Hebrews is a treatise; it is not a letter and it has none of the characteristic topics or rhetorical features or the theological vocabulary of any Pauline letter (disputed and undisputed).
In this article, I wish to speak about the disputed letters. They are also called the Deutero-Pauline letters since the form a second (= Deutero) list of canonical letters that claim Paul as author. The year of Paul has ended; it is quite appropriate to speak of Paul after Paul.
At the outset, let us recognize that to question authorship is not a reason to question the inclusion of any of these writings in the New Testament. The undisputed letters by Paul, the Deutero-Pauline letters and Hebrews were all included because they were among the Christian writings that were proclaimed in the churches of the second century along with the Hebrew Scriptures. They are the texts that were preserved, copied and circulated among the early communities. These texts were and are recognized as inspired.
Today’s standards of authorial integrity were not operative in the first century when the idea of writing in the name of another (pseudonymity) was fairly common.
Even features that seem to point to authenticity — naming people (Col. 4:7-9), personal requests (2 Tim, 4:9-18) and even claims of authenticity (2 Thes 3:17-18) and warnings against pseudonymous letters (2 Thes 2:2) were standard ploys to suggest verisimilitude in the first century. Writing in the name of another was a way to appeal to the authority of a significant person to new circumstances and problems. It was a way to ensure that something would be read and its opinions valued.
In English translation it is impossible to demonstrate the distinctive features of vocabulary and rhetorical style between the disputed and undisputed letters, but it is possible to point out issues that distinguish the disputed letters from the undisputed letters.
For example, in I Thessalonians, Paul calls the community to be alert for Jesus is soon to return without warning (5:2-6), while 2 Thessalonians indicates there would be plenty of warnings ( 2:3-12). In Romans, Paul claims that Christians hope to be raised in the future (Rom 6:2) while in Colossians the claim is that Christians are already raised (Col 2:12). In addition while Paul endorses the ministry of women, in Colossians, Ephesians and 2 Timothy household codes restrict and silence women (Col 3:18-4:1; Eph 5:21-6:9; I Tim 2:9-15).
Whatever their differences it is also important to appreciate the insights of the Deutero-Pauline letters. In 2 Thessalonians (3:6-11), I sense the recommendation to work to support oneself and not mind the business of others are important teachings. In Colossians (1:15-20), we find the magnificent Christological hymn which complements John I:1-18. In Ephesians, we find an exultation of the church understood in universal cosmic terms (1:21-23) since it is through the church that one finds manifest the wisdom of God (3:10-11). In the I Timothy and Titus, we find a recognition of ministries and in 2 Timothy we find a worthy recommendation against useless disputes (2:14-25) and “correcting opponents with kindness.”
The undisputed and disputed letters are a remarkable, fine witness to the understandings of the church in the first hundred years of Christianity. They are a worthy heritage that we should read and treasure.
The writer hold the Cardinal Newman Chair of Catholic Theology at Alaska Pacific University in Anchorage.
Editorial
Filipino blessing
Last month, Anchorage saw a colorful procession through her downtown streets as multiple generations of Filipino Alaskans and others celebrated the deep faith and enduring culture that flows from the Philippines.
The annual Santacruzan procession comes from the Catholic tradition of commemorating the finding of the true Cross of Christ in Jerusalem about 312 A.D. by Queen Helena, the mother of Constantine the Great – the first Christian emperor of Rome. For centuries, Catholics the world over have publicly celebrated this discovery. The Filipino community in Anchorage has helped to continue that tradition here over the past three decades.
But it is difficult not to notice that something more was at work last month as school children, teens, young parents, grandparents and great-grandparents walked together through the streets of Anchorage. With them, they carried a statue of Mary, and the downtown procession culminated in Mass at Holy Family Cathedral with Cotabato Archbishop Orlando Quevedo of the Philippines.
The June 20 event highlighted the fact that Filipino culture is woven together with Catholic faith in a way that many Western Christians have not experienced for quite some time.
While in Anchorage for a brief visit, Archbishop Quevedo spoke with the Anchor about a phenomenon that is unfolding across the world in recent decades, wherein Christians from the Southern Hemisphere are migrating to the Christian roots of Europe and the West and bringing with them a faith that the older churches have often forgotten.
In centuries past, the churches in Europe and the West sent out legions of missionaries around the world building schools and churches as Christian faith was woven into the fabric of many places in South America, Africa and parts of Asia. Now, as the West faces declining numbers of priests and religious — as it struggles to keep open schools and parishes — the Global South is sending back missionaries to its mother churches.
Archbishop Quevedo explained it like this:
“Yes, the daughter churches, as it were, are going back to the mother churches to tell them what faith was a long time ago.”
Archbishop Quevedo noted that part of this mission is being played out in Alaska with the now four-year-old Global Solidarity Partnership between the Archdiocese of Anchorage and the Archdiocese of Cotabato.
As part of the partnership, two priests from Cotabato, Father Ben Torreto and Father Jamie Mencias have come to Alaska to minister and provide the sacraments for parishes that otherwise would likely miss the regular presence of a priest.
In that sense, the Global Partnership has a strong missionary emphasis for the Catholics of Cotabato.
Archbishop Quevedo explained: “Our two priests have a sense of being missionaries here because of the distances. It is not like this in the Philippines where churches are full every Sunday and there are twelve masses every Sunday. Here, it is not like that at all. Here you go out and visit small missions to celebrate Mass with maybe only a few people.”
But beyond the ordained clergy and religious, Archbishop Quevedo said the Filipino laity are also spreading the Gospel as many of them migrate to Western cultures that have in many ways forgotten their spiritual roots.
“It is not just the official missionaries and the clergy,” he observed. “The Filipinos who go out to work for instance – not so much priests and religious but lay people — are missionaries among the people they work with. In Italy for instance, there may be an Italian family who are Catholic but who never really go to church – they are non practicing. It is the Filipino domestic helpers, people working with the home and the children, who bring the children to church. The children are often close to these workers so when they see these workers go to church, they want to come too and they learn how to pray and make the Sign of the Cross. The fathers and mothers often take notice and sometimes end up coming back to church, too. That is how lay people from the Philippines are being missionaries. There are now 300,000 Filipino domestic helpers in Italy. These are missionaries.”
In Alaska, too, we are blessed with a growing number of faith-filled Catholics from the Global South. Catholics from Africa, Latin America and many parts of Asia are an inspiring presence. Often, these brothers and sisters bring with them public celebrations of Catholic faith, as well as private devotions and religious observances that integrate faith into daily life and elevate the culture at large.
This integration is something Christians in the West should emulate.
— Joel Davidson, editor
Letters to the Editor
Youth conference was a celebration
ACYC 2009 was among the best gatherings of young Catholics in Alaska over the past several years. It was four days packed with prayer, learning, music, service, reflection, food, fellowship and fun. Of particular note this year was the large numbers of this state’s clergy, religious and lay leaders that joined in solidarity with the young people throughout the week. The presence of so many adult leaders concretely demonstrates support for Alaskan teens and a willingness to journey alongside of the young people in faith. It was wonderful to have four Alaskan bishops at the opening Mass to pray with the young people and draw them in more deeply to the faith we all share. The workshops were outstanding. The speakers from Alaska and beyond were knowledgeable and filled with faith. There was a wonderful balance of theology, ecclesiology and community represented and taught at ACYC that provided the big picture of what being Catholic is all about. Truly, we celebrated being one Alaskan Church with many faces. I am most appreciative of all who gave time, talent and treasure to ACYC 2009. It could not have been such a faith-filled experience without the support of the more than 100 volunteers that helped with all of the necessary day-to-day tasks. I am also grateful to the many from Anchorage who opened their doors to welcome those who traveled from far away to be at ACYC. Lastly, I’m thankful to the young people who shared their faith, enthusiasm and joy. You fill me with peace and hope. I look forward to ACYC 2010 on June 21–24. I hope to see many of you there standing in solidarity with young Alaskan Catholics.
— Matthew Beck, ACYC director, Palmer
2009 conference tops them all
This year’s ACYC definitely tops them all. With a combination of amazing speakers, beautiful music and good fellowship, I think everyone would agree that no summer activity can even compare to the wonderful weekend we had.
— Elizabeth Collins, Cordova
Parents should have say in sex ed
As a Christian and a citizen of the United States of America. I object to the imposition of any kind of classes on children if they are contrary to the wishes of the children’s parents (“State agencies push for mandatory sex ed in schools,” June 12). I am sure that most parents are competent, and are concerned about the welfare of their children. If they do not want their children to be part of a sex education class, so be it! They live in a free country and should have the freedom to make that moral decision.
— Chris Dutil, Stockbridge, Mass.
Notre Dame decision troubling
I am troubled by the University of Notre Dame decision to grant an honorary degree to President Barack Obama. While some may contend that he takes a neutral stance in his views about abortion in the United States, his abortion stance in the international realm is of much greater concern. He has chosen to not only let the United States actively facilitate and fund abortions in other countries but continues to facilitate civilian deaths of post-born children and their parents in places like Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan through active military involvement, while also supplying weapons which eventually kill civilians in places like Palestine.
— Tom Macchia, Anchorage
Visiting theologian gave enriching presentation
As members of the Archdiocesan community, we were embarrassed by the lack of hospitality the Catholic Anchor exhibited to an invited Scripture scholar before his presentations. In the June 12, 2009 issue, you published a negative letter to the editor by Stanley Grove that diminished regard for the Catholic integrity of Dr. Vincent Smiles, professor of theology at the College of St. Benedict and St. John’s University, Minn.
The title assigned to that criticizing letter, inaccurately portrayed Dr. Smiles position on papal authority. Anyone who was discouraged by that letter from attending the Midsummer’s Light Bible Institute, an Archdiocese of Anchorage sponsored event, missed an enriching opportunity for an in-depth study of St. Paul, “Witness of Earliest Christianity: His Importance Then and Now.”
Dr. Smiles’ Pauline expertise was paired with Sister Irene Nowell, OSB, whose focus was “The Psalms: Ideal Source for Christian Prayer.” We are grateful to them and to the Cardinal Newman Chair at Alaska Pacific University for three days of thought provoking, prayer-filled experiences.
— Jill Gates and Blanche Crandall, Anchorage
Updated policy on Letters to the Editor
The Catholic Anchor welcomes letters to the editor. Letters should be limited to 300 words and include the writer’s full name and city of residence. For verification purposes only, we also need contact information for each letter writer, which will not be published. Letters should not disparage the character of any individual but rather stick to the issues at hand and refer to articles, letters and opinion pieces that have been published in the Catholic Anchor. Letters may not endorse a specific political candidate or political party. Letters may be edited for length, taste and clarity. The Anchor does not publish letters that directly challenge clear and established church teaching.