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Calendar Date
May
17
2008
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Deacon Kevin Muniz is ready to step up to the plate, and to walk beside
people in their faith journey. The seminarian, who as a youth dreamed
of being a professional baseball player, says he has found his calling
as a priest for the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois.
Junior high school-aged students at St. Aloysius School in Springfield
just might be able to teach some older people a thing or two about
identifying different types of bridges used on roadways in Illinois and
beyond. After studying a science unit on bridges and the factors that
go into their design structure, students in teacher Robert Kelly's
science classes put their book learning to the test.
A Mass and healing service with Father Glenn Fontana will be held at
St. Agnes Church in Springfield on Friday, June 6, beginning at 5:30
p.m. People who have experienced physical, mental, emotional,
psychological or spiritual pain in their lives and suffer from those
wounds are encouraged to attend the service.
More than 32,000 pounds of concentrated food products were shipped to
Haiti recently by Hospital Sisters Health System to help ease food
shortages on the island that have intensified a hunger crisis and
sparked civil unrest.
Members of the Springfield diocese recently observed an important
anniversary of the U.S. Catholic bishops' peace pastoral letter The
Challenge of Peace: God's Promise and Our Response.
Marquette Catholic High School has teamed with the White House to
become a certifying organization for the President's Volunteer Service
Award, a national program recognizing Americans who have demonstrated a
sustained commitment to volunteer service.
Rain couldn't hamper the spirit of camaraderie and the joy of building
as hundreds of parishioners at the Church of St. Peter came together
May 10 to celebrate Mass and a blessing marking the start of the
parish's $3.2 million facilities upgrade project.
For the third year in a row, St. Mary School beat out high school and
middle school teams from around the Midwest to capture first place in
the 2008 Greater St. Louis Botball Robot Tournament, held at Southern
Illinois University Edwardsville. St. Mary held an assembly to honor
the winners on Friday, May 9, when the team and their robots took over
the gym.
Caitlin Hoemmen will present her Silver Cross recital in Voice on
Saturday, May 24, at 2 p.m. in Sacred Heart-Griffin High School's
Dominican Hall, 1200 W. Washington St. in Springfield. She is the
daughter of Sue and George Hoemmen, and a voice student of Karen Danner.
Two Catholic grade schools in Springfield have partnered with a local organization to prevent bullying in their schools. Christ the King School and St. Aloysius School are working with the Prairie Center Against Sexual Assault in the center's bullying prevention initiative: the "Steps to Respect - Bullying Prevention" pilot program.
Sister Charles Maurice Diver, OP, 91, died May 12 at Sacred Heart
Convent, the motherhouse of the Dominican Sisters of Springfield.
Father Donard (Edwin) Paulus, OFM, 86, died May 10 in the Hospice Unit of St. John's Hospital in Springfield.
Father Elstan (James) Coghill, OFM, 85, died May 9 in Loretto Home at
the Motherhouse of the Hospital Sisters of St. Francis in Springfield.
In October 1923, Pope Pius XI designated St. Mary Church in Springfield
as the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, thus transferring the
See from Alton to Springfield. Unfortunately, the "new" cathedral was
old and many felt it was unfit to serve as the cathedral.
3 Minute Roundup
| Pope laments loss of life, damage wrought by deadly quake in China |
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VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI lamented the "serious loss of human life, the numerous homeless and the incalculable damage" wrought by a deadly earthquake centered under China's Sichuan province May 12. At the end of his May 14 general audience in St. Peter's Square, the pope called the magnitude 7.9 earthquake a "devastating calamity" and implored God to relieve the suffering and help those on the front lines offering emergency aid. The quake, which hit just after midday May 12, had its epicenter beneath Wenchuan County in Sichuan province. Wenchuan is less than 60 miles northwest of Chengdu, the provincial capital. By May 14, government officials reported more than 15,000 people had been killed in the quake, but the death toll was expected to rise. Officials said that in one city alone more than 19,000 people were buried in the rubble. (CNS) |
| Ten Commandments seen as basis for answers to modern issues |
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NEW YORK - Catholic and Jewish presenters at an April 30 interfaith consultation held in New York pointed to the Ten Commandments as the basis for secular arguments on contemporary social issues. Abortion, embryonic stem-cell research and same-sex unions are among the issues that could benefit from such an approach, according to papers presented during the consultation. A May 7 news release from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops reported details of the meeting, which focused on religion and public morality in U.S. society today. The Catholic-Jewish consultation, which meets twice a year, includes representatives of the USCCB, the Union of Orthodox Rabbis and the Rabbinical Council of America. Both Catholics and Orthodox Jews view judicial and legislative efforts to broaden the definition of marriage to include same-sex unions as harmful to both family life and the common good of society. Consultation participants recently drafted a statement, defending marriage between one man and one woman, which is expected to be published in the coming weeks. (CNS) |
| Pope authorizes granting of indulgences for Pauline year events |
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VATICAN CITY - Catholics who participate in events connected with the 2008-2009 jubilee year of St. Paul can receive a special indulgence, the Vatican said. Pope Benedict XVI authorized the granting of a plenary, or full, indulgence in order to highlight the Pauline year and open the way to the "interior purification" of the faithful during its celebration, a May 10 Vatican decree said. The decree was signed by U.S. Cardinal J. Francis Stafford, head of the Vatican tribunal that deals with indulgences and with matters related to the sacrament of penance. An indulgence is a remission of the temporal punishment a person is due for sins that have been forgiven. Pope Benedict established the Pauline year to run from June 28, 2008, to June 29, 2009, to mark the approximately 2,000th anniversary of the saint's birth. The plenary indulgence is being offered to pilgrims who come to Rome, to Catholics who participate in local events connected to the jubilee year, and to those who may be too ill or otherwise prevented from physical participation. (CNS) |