Worcester Bishop McManus said in a statement, “President Obama’s public support of the redefinition of marriage is deeply saddening. As a society we must take every positive measure to strengthen marriage and the family, the very cornerstone of our society. The people of this country, especially our children, deserve better. I pray that in the end this Administration will act justly to uphold and protect marriage as the union of one man and one woman and by so doing serve the true good of all persons.”
Cardinal Timothy Dolan, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), also issued a statement in response:
“President Obama’s comments today in support of the redefinition of marriage are deeply saddening. As I stated in my public letter to the President on September 20, 2011, the Catholic Bishops stand ready to affirm every positive measure taken by the President and the Administration to strengthen marriage and the family. However, we cannot be silent in the face of words or actions that would undermine the institution of marriage, the very cornerstone of our society. The people of this country, especially our children, deserve better. Unfortunately, President Obama’s words today are not surprising since they follow upon various actions already taken by his Administration that erode or ignore the unique meaning of marriage. I pray for the President every day, and will continue to pray that he and his Administration act justly to uphold and protect marriage as the union of one man and one woman. May we all work to promote and protect marriage and by so doing serve the true good of all persons.”
In supporting a redefinition of marriage, Obama said on Wednesday that his wife, Michelle, “feels the same way that I do” and cited the couple’s religious beliefs, saying, “we are both practicing Christians.”
The president acknowledged that “obviously this position may be considered to put us at odds with the views of others.”
However, he said, “when we think about our faith, the thing at root that we think about is, not only Christ sacrificing himself on our behalf, but it’s also the Golden Rule, you know, treat others the way you would want to be treated.”
He also pointed to discussions with gay individuals in “incredibly committed monogamous relationships” as a factor influencing his decision to support a redefinition of marriage.
The announcement marked a key shift in the president’s public stance on the controversial issue.
While Obama has said that he opposes efforts to discriminate against gay individuals, he had previously stopped short of endorsing “gay marriage,” instead saying in 2010 that his views on the subject were “evolving.”
However, his other actions as president had been praised by gay advocacy groups.
In Feb. 2011, his administration announced that it would no longer uphold the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as the union of one man and one woman for federal purposes.
Obama also signed a law repealing the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy, allowing homosexuals to serve openly in the military.
The president’s stance on the issue became a heated topic of discussion when U.S. Vice President Joe Biden suggested that he is “absolutely comfortable” with the idea of “gay marriage” in an interview with NBC’s David Gregory, which aired on May 6.
Asked about the comments on May 7, White House press secretary Jay Carney insisted that Biden’s views were “completely consistent” with Obama’s, but would not say whether the president supported “gay marriage.”
Amid growing pressure to clarify his own position, Obama voiced his support for a redefinition of marriage on May 9. However, he said that his comments reflect his personal position and he supports the idea of states deciding the issue individually.
While the move drew support from gay advocacy groups, it could divide some of Obama’s key supporters, such as African-American voters, in the upcoming election.
According to a Pew Research Center survey in April 2012, only 39 percent of African Americans are in favor of redefining marriage to include gay couples.
In addition, Obama’s endorsement of “gay marriage” comes just one day after voters in North Carolina – a key swing state in 2008 – overwhelmingly approved a constitutional amendment banning a redefinition of marriage.
Marriage advocates believe the president is alienating himself from the views of Americans.
“Politically, we welcome this,” said Maggie Gallagher, co-founder of the National Organization for Marriage. “We think it’s a huge mistake.”
Pointing to the North Carolina vote in defense of marriage, she said that the president “is choosing the money over the voters.”
“We now have clear choice between Romney and Obama, and we look forward to demonstrating in November that it’s a bad idea for a national candidate to support gay marriage,” Gallagher said. “Marriage is a winning issue for the GOP.”

PHOTO: President Obama (CNS photo/Reuters)

Juan had lost his hands and feet, but he would clap his stumps when the religious sisters came.
Marcy Wilson told this story of a man she met at a lepresarium when she was a Sister of Mercy in Panama.
“He was the happiest person,” said Ms. Wilson, who is now pastoral associate at St. Mary of the Hills Parish in Boylston.
She was urging listeners to enjoy life and share their joy, in her talk at the 15th Annual Professional Secretaries Day April 26 at St. Anne Parish in Shrewsbury.
Ann Wagstaff, vice-chairwoman of the diocesan Commission for Women, said 67 parish and chancery secretaries attended the event, which the commission sponsors.
At Mass Bishop McManus said it is a wonderful tradition for secretaries to come away for a time of reflection.
“It’s also a good thing for your pastors to learn how important you are,” he told the secretaries, referring to the statement “absence makes the heart grow fonder.”
The bishop told listeners “our mission, as members of the Church,” is to help others know, love and serve Jesus. They can’t do that without knowing Jesus, he said. But in receiving him in the Eucharist they receive power to pass him on to others, and that is done person to person.
Ms. Wilson too encouraged secretaries to reach out to others.
“You are the first voice that many people hear on the telephone,” she said. “It’s your generosity, it’s your gift of joy, that reaches out and makes them feel welcome. … Do you drop everything and open the door and say, ‘Good morning, Lord?’” She was asking if they respond to the person at the door as they would to Jesus.
Such making “our lives an act of love” was one of 10 points Ms. Wilson made. Others included accepting oneself, accepting responsibility for one’s life, and trying to fulfill one’s needs for relaxation, exercise and nourishment.
Ms. Wilson also urged the secretaries to move out of their comfort zone, doing things they’ve never done; find the good; seek growth, not perfection; learn to communicate effectively; enjoy the good things of life, and make prayer part of their daily lives.
She told of moving into smaller living quarters and realizing, “You have to find the good that is here … and find peace … comfort and God.” Many who live in her building have limited physical abilities or the beginnings of dementia, she said. She said she makes them smile, telling jokes and singing to them.
“My state of happiness is not just here for me,” she said. “It’s here to share.”
Speaking of seeking growth, she told of examining her conscience.
“Is there one thing I did good today?” she asks. “Is there one thing I did today that I wish I could erase? God, help me do a better job tomorrow.”
She urged listeners not to use “silent treatment” to communicate, because the other person might not understand.
As for enjoying life, she said the Talmud says, “Everyone will be called to account for all the legitimate pleasures which he or she has failed to enjoy.” She said it would have been sad if pilgrims moving West from the Eastern United States never picked up their eyes to see the lakes, mountains, etc.
She said in Kenya some of the poorest people she met were the happiest, walking miles to church, in constant praise.
Speaking of prayer, she called for lifting one’s mind and heart to God, not necessarily just “saying prayers.”

Worcester people show up in the most unexpected places.
For example, a Worcester woman who grew up on Belmont Hill and was taught by the Venerini Sisters on Edward Street is the principal of St. Rosa School, a nursery and primary school in Enugu, a city in southeast Nigeria.
In addition, a large part of the cost of building the school was met by members of her family. And people in the Worcester Diocese, including students at Venerini Academy and parishioners at St. Anthony of Padua Parish in Fitchburg, continue to help.
Sister Maria Cravedi entered the Venerini Sisters in 1962, right out of high school, and professed her vows in 1965. She subsequently earned a bachelor’s degree from Regina Coeli College and a master’s degree in special education from Fitchburg State College, taught at Venerini Academy, worked in hospitals as a chaplain and spiritual director and, before her current assignment in Africa, did mission work in New Mexico.
Her African adventure began when the Venerini Sisters decided to open a convent in Nigeria.     Sister Maria began her mission in Enugu, the capital of the state with the same name, is predominantly Christian city where the Catholic Church has had a presence for many years. There already were other Catholic groups there, including the Sisters of Notre Dame and a group of priests and brothers of the Immaculate Conception, who were leaving the house they leased for new quarters.
The Venerini Sisters took over the lease in 2002 and Sister Maria, Sister Hilda Ponte, superior provincal of Venerini Sisters in the United States, and a Nigerian Sister cleaned it – hot, sweaty work in the hot season in a hot country near the Equator. They opened it as a house of formation for young Nigerian women who wanted to become Venerini Sisters.
Sister Maria came back to the United States to finish her chaplaincy and spiritual direction. She returned to Africa in 2004, she said. By then, the Venerini Sisters had bought land that had been a dumping ground. Sister Maria worked with the builder on plans for a convent there.
Money for the land and the convent came from the Venerini Sisters in Rome. However, the furnishings were paid for by Sister Maria’s brother Paul Cravedi of Worcester, she said. The new convent opened on May 7, 2005, the anniversary of the death of Saint Rosa Venerini, foundress of the Venerini Sisters, who died in 1728 in Italy. Paul Cravedi and Sister Hilda were among those who attended the opening ceremony.
The postulants who had become novices were in the old house. They moved to the new convent and, the next year, four of them professed their vows.
The convent is a two-story building with private rooms and  dormitories. It has a chapel, library, sitting room, sewing room, kitchen, dining room and laundry. It is home to 10 Sisters, all Nigerian except for Sister Maria, and six postulants.
At first the Sisters taught religious education in the parishes. Now they have a school.  It was built across from the convent on land used as a garden. It is on a hill, Sister Maria said, and it took a lot of pick-and-shovel work, with labor hired in the neighborhood, to prepare the site. Construction began in 2007 and students began classes in the new school in 2009.
“Worcester people have  been very involved” in the building of the school, she said. “It’s like a Worcester school.”
Donations have come from parishes in the Worcester Diocese where Venerini Sisters minister. St. Anthony’s in Fitchburg has been a regular contributor. Sister Maria has been in the United States for a few weeks – she is scheduled to return to Nigeria May 15 – and when she visited Venerini Academy last Monday she was given a $500 donation for the school, raised by the Venerini students. Venerini alumnae also continue to contribute.
But her own family has  been especially supportive. Her aunt Alice Anguria, who celebrated her 100th birthday recently and is the only surviving member of her immediate family, took the money saved over the years, kept enough to support herself, and gave the rest of it to the school.  It paid for most of the construction, Sister Maria said.
Sister Maria’s brother Richard, who owns the Wexford House, a restaurant on Shrewsbury Street, had planned an addition to the restaurant. But when she told him the school needed a roof, he said that a roof on the school was more important than an addition to the restaurant, and gave her the money. He has since added a room to the restaurant. He recently underwent heart surgery. Coincidently, the surgeon, whom Sister Maria has met, is from Enugu, Nigeria, she said.
The school, St. Rosa Nursery and Primary School, is a three-story building, she said. Administrative offices and a multipurpose hall with a stage are on the ground floor, the school has 10 regular classrooms. The top floor will have a library and a computer room, she said.
Sister Maria said she also wants to begin adult education classes for the women in the neighborhood, which has many poor families. She said she wants to empower women, who often are treated as second-class citizens there.
She said the teachers are all Nigerian and accredited. Sister Maria is the principal, but said she wants to train a Nigerian to replace her.
Now there are 222 pupils in the nursery through the second grade. Those second graders eventually will be the first St. Rosa graduating class, she said. Classes include English (Nigeria was a British colony until 1960 and English is widely used) French (French is spoken in some neighboring  countries, which once were French colonies) and agriculture. The tribal language in the area is Igbo. Parents pay tuition, but the Sisters help poor families meet the costs.
Sister Maria, who has been in Worcester for the last few weeks,  also is buying books for the school’s library. She said a Nigerian man in Worcester will ship them to Enugu. She said that, eventually she wants to get computers for the school.
And there are other things on the wish list. The school and convent has an eight-year-old car which will need to be replaced. There is a new grotto with a statue of Our Lady of Fatima. Sister Maria said she would like to add to it the statues of the three children to whom Our Lady appeared.

– Those who wish help St. Rosa school may send donations to Venerini Sisters Mission Fund, 23 Edward St. Worcester, MA 01605, care of Sister Hilda Ponte, MPV.

Diane Boover, 64, had just returned with her mother, Claire Girouard, 92, from Mrs. Girouard’s annual appointment with the doctor. Mrs. Girouard was soon napping and the house was still.
“I love caring for her. I enjoy the time. Never would I have had such peace and quiet,” she said. Mrs. Boover said she can sit quietly much of the time; reads extensively; does research and writes. She has even used the time to compose meditations.
Blind and nearly deaf, Mrs. Girouard has been living in Worcester with her daughter and son-in-law Michael Boover for the past four and a half years.
“A great thing is that a lot of her family comes and goes all the time,” Mrs. Boover said.
Mrs. Girouard had eight children. The middle child died five or six years ago, and it was pretty tough for her said Mrs. Boover. Mrs. Girouard also has 18 grandchildren, nine great grandchildren, two great great grandchildren with twins on the way in August. (The Boovers have four children and two grandchildren.)
Mr. Boover hosts reading and meditation groups in their home and they share potluck suppers afterward. His mother-in-law enjoys these suppers.
But sometimes family can not do all of the caring for an elderly parent and sometimes they need a break.
Summit ElderCare sends a lot of help to the Boovers. The program, sponsored by Fallon Community Health Plan, gives Mrs. Boover seven hours a week in help in caring for the personal needs of her mother and help with cleaning.  Summit also will send someone to stay with her mother while Mrs. Boover and her husband have some respite.
“That’s pretty nice. It is a great program,” she said.
She has sisters who also help out.
One of Mrs. Boover’s sisters is caring for a sick husband, and they share their trials and tribulations. “We understand what each of us is going through,” she said.
When Mrs. Girouard had a heart attack two years ago, the experience was such that they decided if she got sick again, they would not go to the hospital – they would “let it be.”
Mrs. Boover described what it was like to come to terms with the decision.
“We got up and left the hospital. She did not want to stay,” Mrs. Boover recalled. Mrs. Girouard was in the emergency room, but was never admitted to the hospital.  While in the ER, her heart stopped and the doctors said there was nothing they could do.
“She was attached to all sorts of things, and then her heart started up, on its own,” Mrs. Boover explained.
When she awakened, Mrs. Girouard asked, “Am I still here?”  When told yes, she remarked, “Shucks!”
Mrs. Boover said her mother was waiting to die, and was wondering what was taking so long. She said that Mrs. Girouard asked: “What does God want me to do before I can go?”
“My mother has had so many times when she nearly died. I understand her frustration.  If she walks, it is very slow,” she said.
Mrs. Girouard has said life is not meaningful. It is not good after 90.
“Mom has her moments – dying, rising, dying, rising.  She feels like it’s (death) not going to happen,” Mrs. Boover said.
But the lesson God is teaching may not be for the mother but the daughter.
“When I was growing up, I was probably the testiest child.  As I tested her, she was always there. I kind of knew I would be the one to take care of her. I know I wanted to repay all her longtime dedication. I knew I had to repay her patience,” Mrs. Boover said.
“My mother often says, ‘I never thought I’d see Diane be so patient.’”

Just across the street

By Mairgread Gray
CFP Correspondent

The long drive from Shrewsbury to Pepperell was one done in love.
Maryanna Hiester and her husband Edwin were living in Shrewsbury and driving to Pepperell often to help her elderly parents; her mother, Antoinette Dube, who is 93, and her father, Noel Albert Dube.
Two years ago, her dad was ailing. The Hiesters continued to drive back and forth to Pepperell. But God had a plan to make the trip shorter.
“We need a house in Pepperell, across the street from Mom and Dad,” Mrs. Hiester opined.  “I asked God. I felt the need to move to Pepperell.  Two days later, the house across the street from Mom and Dad went on the market.  Dad was still living. Now I could tell him Mom would not be alone.  He was so happy.”
Her father passed away in May 2010, and the Hiesters passed the papers for the house in June.  They moved in, in July.  Mrs. Hiester is very happy with the way things turned out.
“I wanted to be here. Last year, Mom could no longer drive.  Because I was already here, we could go shopping together,” she said.  “Mom is very independent.”
On Easter, Mrs. Dube had a small stroke. Mrs. Hiester’s sister, Florida Cole, was visiting from California and extended her visit to help her mother. And, of course, Mrs. Cole is a big help to her sister.
Mrs. Hiester said she will stay overnight in her mother’s house when her sister returns to California.
Mrs. Hiester, who is almost 65, is semi-retired; her husband is fully retired.  They have seven children and nine grandchildren.  Her mother, Mrs. Dube, had 10 children, (one son died in 1970 in a car accident), 24 grandchildren, and 16 great grandchildren.
“I want to thank my (only) sister for helping out now for a few months,” Mrs. Hiester said.
“My mother doesn’t want to leave her home and she can stay there because I am there,” Mrs. Hiester said.
“God is so good. I said if you want me to move, let a house come on sale across the street from my mother.  It had to be across the street. I knew God was going to provide,” Mrs. Hiester said.
Mrs. Dube can walk over to her daughter’s for a meal and have companionship. They go to Mass together every morning.
“Mom glows when telling people her daughter moved across the street from her,” Mrs. Hiester said.

Part of the parish family

By Mairgread Gray
CFP Correspondent

When Father Ernest P. Allega was assigned to be pastor of St. Thomas-A-Becket Church in South Barre, his mother, Anna Allega, came with him. That was in 2000, he was 50 and she was 85.
Before she came to the rectory, Mrs. Allega lived in a small apartment in Milford.  She was living independently, but Father Allega began noticing lapses in memory with her, but did not really pay attention to it then.  She asked to come to South Barre, and since there was a spare bedroom, it was arranged.
Mrs. Allega had three children, the eldest died, leaving Father Allega, and his younger brother, who had a son, Mrs. Allega’s only grandchild, to care for her.
“I didn’t become aware that technically it was prohibited for any lay person to live in the rectory. I expressed my heartfelt gratitude to Bishop McManus in allowing me to help Mother here. And, the kindness of the parishioners – they seemed to enjoy my mother’s company,” Father Allega said.
Anna Allega passed away in July 2011 at the age of 97.
While his mother lived in the rectory, Father Allega said he enjoyed doing the grocery shopping and cooking.  He did have a housekeeper who came in once a week.  He did the cleaning and the laundry.
“I found it was part of my everyday living.  Other people in the parish had responsibilities to parents or children. I was no different. The care of the parish was not taking away from my mother’s care, and my mother’s care was not taking away from the care of the parish,” Father Allega said.
Mrs. Allega interacted with the staff and their families.  She attended every parish event until she could no longer do so.
During the first few years Father Allega didn’t have outside help but in 2009 he began to reach out to Adult Day Care in Ware where his mother would go two or three times a week – late morning to mid-afternoon. He also had the services of a visiting homemakers who cared for Mrs. Allega’s personal needs. This was done through Elder Services of Worcester.  Later, he also had recourse to help from Barre Health Care.
Father Allega said he engaged all of these services for most of the last year his mother was with him.
But her condition worsened and included increased agitation. She had vascular dementia.
“It was unmistakable she needed appropriate care.  She needed more care than I was able to give. I knew I had to make a normal and appropriate decision.  She was in fine physical condition but …,” Rev. Allega said.
Finally, when she no longer could be left alone, she went to the Medway Country Manor nursing home in Medway.
“I feel gratitude to Bishop McManus and the parishioners for their kindnesses help, support, and friendship,” Father Allega said.

Anna Maria College President Jack P. Calareso speaks at the 2011 Commencement.

PAXTON –  Two students will address fellow graduates at the Anna Maria College commencement and Bishop McManus will not attend, according to a press release from the college.
Following concerns expressed by Bishop McManus about its original choice for commencement speaker, the college announced March 30 that it had withdrawn its invitation to Victoria Kennedy, U.S. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy’s widow, to be the speaker and to receive an honorary degree.
In light of that, the college Friday said it has decided to “completely focus the attention of its 2012 commencement activities on the achievements and accomplishments of the graduating students by inviting only members of the AMC campus community to participate in the events.”
Sister Yvette Bellerose, chairwoman of the Board of Trustees, and Jack P. Calareso, president of Anna Maria College, asked Bishop McManus Thursday to consider not attending. The bishop agreed that he didn’t want anything distracting from the significance of the ceremony for the students, the college said.
According to a press release, “the relationship between the college and the diocese remains strong and the two organizations will continue to work together with respect and collegiality to advance the goals and values of quality Catholic education.”
The commencement exercises, scheduled for May 19 will be held at the Hanover Theatre in Worcester and will feature two of Anna Maria’s graduating students as commencement speakers.
Juliann M. Hartley, a resident of Bow, N.H., will represent the undergraduate class.  A double major in music therapy and psychology and a member the women’s cross country team, she will be graduating with a 3.99 GPA.  Ms. Hartley will receive a bachelor’s degree in music.
Representing graduate students will be Erin De Coste, a resident of Lancaster.  Ms. De Coste majored in special education earning a 4.0 GPA and will receive her master’s degree in education degree.
An honorary doctorate in human services will be bestowed upon Sister Barbara Ann Flynn, SSA, a past member of the college’s Board of Trustees, a former faculty member and a member of the Sisters of Saint Anne.

Online petition in support of Mrs. Kennedy presented to Diocese; Bishop stands by his concerns

By Tanya Connor

A petition that he “let Vicki Kennedy speak” at Anna Maria College’s graduation May 19 has not changed  Bishop McManus’ position.
The college announced March 30 that it had withdrawn its invitation to Victoria Kennedy, U.S. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy’s widow, to be commencement speaker and receive an honorary degree, following concerns expressed by Bishop McManus.
Wednesday three people brought to the Chancery the petition, which they said contained 20,000 signatures and many comments, obtained online from around the country.
After holding a press conference on the sidewalk, Steve Krueger, national director of Catholic Democrats; Skip Shea, who worked on campaigns for Sen. Kennedy, and Anna Maria alumna Maureen McCullough, gave the petition, which filled three large binders, to Raymond L. Delisle, diocesan spokesman.
Bishop McManus was not in the Chancery Wednesday but responded to the petition Thursday.
“While I recognize that there are those who do not agree with Anna Maria’s decision to disinvite Mrs. Kennedy as its commencement speaker, I continue to stand behind the concerns which I shared with Dr. Jack Calareso, the college’s president, last March,” Bishop McManus said in a statement.
Mr. Kruger said the organization Faithful America initiated the online petition and asked if Catholic Democrats would deliver it. Catholic Democrats describes itself as a not-for-profit national organization “representing a Catholic voice within the Democratic Party, and a voice for the Democratic Party in the Catholic community.”
The website faithfulamerica.org says it is “an online community of thousands of citizens” from diverse faith traditions, committed to “restore community and uphold the common good in America and across the globe.” The petition there showed 14,387 signatures Wednesday. SignOn.org, which also hosts the petition, was showing 6,224 signatures. SignOn.org is an online organizing tool launched by MoveOn.org Civic Action as part of its “longstanding commitment to people-powered progressive politics,” according to its website.
The petition reads: “Vicki Kennedy is a faithful Catholic and an important public voice who deserves the opportunity to speak at Anna Maria College. Catholic universities shouldn’t be a battleground for partisan witch-hunts and censorship.”
At the press conference Mr. Krueger said he and those with him came to show solidarity with Mrs. Kennedy and to ask Bishop McManus to allow her to speak at Anna Maria.
In an interview for the April 6 edition of The Catholic Free Press, Bishop McManus said he told Anna Maria President Jack Calareso that if Mrs. Kennedy was the speaker he would not attend the graduation. He said that is consistent with the stance of not honoring Catholics who stand in public opposition to some of the Church’s teachings and that she has publicly associated with organizations that promote activities and views contrary to those teachings.
Mr. Krueger called this “guilt by association” and unjust.
“Jesus hung out with a pretty racy crowd and I think he did a pretty good job of advancing our faith,” said Mr. Krueger, a member of St. Ignatius Parish in Newton.
Mr. Krueger said Mrs. Kennedy introduced a gay rights activist to raise money for scholarship fund for gay students, but that the Church does not prohibit that. He was speaking about a Point Foundation scholarship which is  for students who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender and marginalized due to their sexual orientation. Mrs. Kennedy, in a speech at the Point Foundation, available for viewing on YouTube, praises David Mixner’s activism to earn equality for the gay community, including the right to marry and raise a family. The Church opposes gay marriage. When questioned, Mr. Krueger said he did not know Mrs. Kennedy’s position on gay marriage.
Asked about her position on abortion, Mr. Kruger said all he knows is she supports Catholic Democrats, which supports policies to reduce abortions. He said she is on the organization’s board.
He said Mrs. Kennedy has not discussed abortion publicly; the only public mention he knew of was a 2004 op-ed piece she wrote in the Washington Post calling on bishops not to deny Communion to “pro-choice Catholic politicians.”
When was asked if he and his supporters have tried to talk with the college, Mr. Krueger changed the subject to point out that Bishop McManus has not met with Mrs. Kennedy or her pastor. Informed that the college, not the bishop, made the decision to uninvite Mrs. Kennedy, Mr. Krueger said factually that is correct. But asking Anna Maria not to allow her to speak put the small college in an untenable position, he said.
Bishop McManus said in the interview with The Catholic Free Press that his difficulty was not primarily with Mrs. Kennedy, but with the college choosing to honor her with the degree and as commencement speaker. He said he feared this would undercut the college’s Catholic identity and mission and thus hurt the unity between it and the local church.
“I believe that a liberal arts college should foster an atmosphere of intellectual curiosity and openness,” Ms. McCullough said. She said Mrs. Kennedy is not an elected official and that the focus should be her humanitarian work.
“The college, I’m sure, is very disheartened,” Ms. McCullough told reporters. However, she said she had not spoken with other alumni about this.

Bishop concerned about college’s Catholic identity

By Margaret M. Russell

There was no wealthy conservative Catholic pressuring Bishop McManus to object to Victoria Kennedy as the commencement speaker at Anna Maria College.
There was no threat by the diocese to cut off financial support for the college. The diocese does not fund the college in any way.
But, Bishop McManus did tell Anna Maria President Jack Calareso that if Mrs. Kennedy were to be the commencement speaker that he would not attend the May 19 ceremony. That is consistent with the stance of not honoring Catholics who stand in public opposition to some of the teachings of the church, the bishop said.
And contrary to at least one published report, Bishop McManus had not known for a year that Mrs. Kennedy was to be the speaker. He learned of it only a month ago and had a frank conversation about it with President Calareso a few days later.
As a result, the college said in a press release Friday that it had officially notified Mrs. Kennedy that the executive committee of the board of trustees decided “with deep regret to withdraw its invitation to her to serve as Anna Maria College’s 2012 Commencement speaker and honorary degree recipient.”
As Bishop McManus sat down with The Catholic Free Press Tuesday to clear up some of the misconceptions surrounding Anna Maria College’s decision to withdraw its invitation to Mrs. Kennedy, another call of support came in to his office. He has heard from both supporters and detractors. Yet, unlike a politician who can be swayed by public opinion, Bishop McManus said that his decision to object to the college’s choice of speaker was informed by two church documents: “Ex Corde Ecclesiae” (“From the Heart of the Church”) and “Catholics in Political Life.” He said his duty is to protect the Catholic identity of the college.
“My focus of concern is with the college,” Bishop McManus said.
“Ex Corde Ecclesiae,” an apostolic constitution written by Pope John Paul II in 1990 to address a crisis in Catholic higher education, was meant “to send out a clarion call to our Catholic colleges about refocusing on their Catholic identity and mission,” Bishop McManus explained.
“It also said that the life and mission and identity of the Catholic college and university cannot be seen in separation from the local and universal Church,” he said. That makes it the business of a local bishop to step in when he sees things that could compromise a clear Catholic identity.
So the bishop had to ask himself: “Is this situation going to prove to undermine or fracture the communion that should exist between the college and the local church?” The answer was “yes.”
“My difficulty is not primarily with Mrs. Kennedy. My difficulty is with the college choosing her to be honored by allowing her to be commencement speaker and giving her an honorary degree,” he said.
Bishop McManus said he met with President Calareso and told him he found the selection of Mrs. Kennedy, widow of Sen. Edward Kennedy, “objectionable.”
“My concern basically was that to give this type of honor to Mrs. Kennedy would in fact undercut the Catholic identity and mission of the school. And that in so far as  that happens, the ‘communio’ or the unity that exists between the local church and the local Catholic college is strained and hurt,” he said.
“That’s my major concern that in our ongoing attempt to implement ‘Ex Corde Ecclesiae’ that the Catholic colleges realize that this is a partnership between the local bishop and between their leadership and administration,” he explained.
“The second point I work from is the 2004 document ‘Catholics in Political Life,’” the bishop said.
“She is a very public person. She has publicly associated with political and social organizations that promote activities and points of view that are contrary to fundamental church teachings. In this particular situation, my concern is that to allow her to have received a degree from a Catholic college would have given the impression that someone can hold a position that is contrary to the Church’s teaching (and still be honored). That can’t be allowed,” he said.
Bishop McManus also addressed the criticism he has received by those who say Mrs. Kennedy is not a public figure, or an elected member of Congress.
“Why do you think Anna Maria invited her? Or she is going to go to Boston College Law School or Emmanuel College? Obviously, she is a public person. And they (the colleges) feel that somehow having a person of this public stature will sort of raise the awareness of people about the existence of their particular college,” he said.
The bishop said there seems to be a basic misunderstanding of Catholic social teaching amongst some of those who make recommendations for commencement speakers at Catholic colleges.
One of Mrs. Kennedy’s endeavors is an organization, Common Sense about Kids and Guns, which works to protect children from gun deaths and injuries and is a very laudable mission, the bishop said.
“But, I think what people don’t understand is that the fundamental social justice issue in the teaching of the church is the right to life. Because if that right is not respected, there is no possibility of enjoying other rights. So that trumps everything – but they don’t understand that and then they get upset when a bishop or a Catholic institution says a particular person is not suitable to be honored,” he said.
Compounding the problem is that the secular press sees everything through a political lens, he said.
“My saying to the president of the college that I do not think Mrs. Kennedy should be honored by the college; my objecting on the basis of a theological point of view, which is to say it contradicts ‘Ex Corde Ecclesiae’ and ‘Catholics in the Political Life,’ … they (the media) see that as a political stance.
“I am a bishop with the primary responsibility of being a teacher of the faith. … so I am working out of the framework of being a teaching bishop, not as a politician,” he said.
“As a bishop of the universal church with three Catholic colleges in my diocese, I have a responsibility to the church … to see that ‘Ex Corde Ecclesiae’ is continually being implemented in these colleges in my diocese. And also as a bishop of the United States Conference I have responsibilities to my brother bishops and to myself that I implement what we have asked to be done.”
Bishop McManus said Catholic bishops have never presumed to tell people what to do. He paraphrased a recent comment made by Chicago’s Cardinal Francis George: “We are teachers of the faith, of the apostolic faith. And when we teach the authentic faith, people who have the authentic faith gather around us. The people that don’t, disperse. That’s the job of a bishop,” he said.

WORCESTER – Religious Sisters of Mercy arguably touched thousands of people since their arrival here in 1864, the first Catholic religious order to work in Worcester.
Sunday several dozen of those people – including Bishop Rueger, priests, laity and sisters from different congregations – paid them homage at Sacred Heart-St. Catherine of Sweden Parish, where they once staffed Sacred Heart School.
The occasion was a presentation put together by Mary Conway, one of their lay associates. She read her account of the sisters’ history in Worcester while accompanying photographs and drawings were projected on a large screen.
Miss Conway, who said she’s always had a special interest in history, said she became interested in doing something like this after spending a week at the Mercy International Center in Dublin, Ireland, in 2009. The place was originally the founding house of their foundress, Catherine McAuley.
“I thought it was a story that needed to be told,” Miss Conway said. “Many of the ministries they started are still going on;” they’re just not staffed by sisters now.
Offered refreshments afterwards, listeners seemed more interested in sharing their own stories of the sisters.
“Sister Mary Loreto was my gem,” said Walda Boyda, who was taught by the sisters at Sacred Heart School. She said when her brother John drowned in a pool at age 8, “who came to our rescue but Sister Mary Loreto?”
“He was meant to go by water,” the sister consoled the grieving mother. “It didn’t get him the first time.” At age 3, John had fallen in a sewer.
Only one or two of the Sisters of Notre Dame, who staffed Ascension School which he attended, were allowed to attend the wake and funeral, as she recalled it. But all the Sisters of Mercy, who knew the family which lived across from Sacred Heart, came.
Father Paul J. Tougas, pastor of St. Mary of the Hills Parish in Boylston, said he is Sister Mary Loreto’s nephew, and pointed out other family members there.
He later showed The Catholic Free Press a photo of her with Perry Como from LIFE magazine. At a diocesan fundraiser at the College of the Holy Cross, she had sought his autograph for a sick sister. He got out of his car, sat on her lap and sang to her, and the whole stadium erupted in applause, Father Tougas said.
“Sister Mary Loreto – I think anybody who knew her would know what a hot ticket she was,” said Gerald Power, another relative, who was taught by the sisters at Blessed Sacrament School and is on the board of their McAuley Nazareth Home for Boys. When she was in the novitiate the other novices dared her to get in the dumb waiter. When she arrived at the next floor, outside the door stood Mother Superior. Now she was in trouble, she figured. But Mother Superior smiled and turned away.
His sister, Susan Hughes, said Sister Mary Loreto came over when she was in eighth grade and asked her, “Why don’t you drive up and down in front of the house?” She protested that she couldn’t drive, but that didn’t seem to faze the nun.
Mark Lorusso, of Sacred Heart-St. Catherine of Sweden, recalled overhearing the eighth-grade teacher at Sacred Heart School, Sister Mary Robertine, telling his third-grade teacher, Sister Frances Twomey, how she had asked her students to write a report about a president. He decided to write one, and gave it to his teacher, who gave it to the eighth-grade teacher.
The next day he met trouble on the playground. Sister Mary Robertine had read the eighth-graders his paper and told them it was written by a third-grader and was much better than theirs.
“We lived with them six wonderful years,” Sister Catherine Connolly, a Sister of Notre Dame, said of her community being housed at the Sisters of Mercy convent on Barry Road while their Notre Dame du Lac was being renovated. “We were part of everything; we were not just visitors.”
“It was a wonderful experience – a lot of nice memories,” Sister Mary Barry, a Sister of Mercy who grew up at Sacred Heart and was taught by the sisters, said of the presentation.
“What impressed me was the wide varieties of ministries they were open to,” Sister Rena Mae Gagnon, a Little Franciscan of Mary, said of the Sisters of Mercy. “I’m glad their story is being told. To me it’s a wonderful way of learning and then appreciating.”

PHOTO: Relief supplies are moved at a Catholic parish where Caritas Japan is offering support to people in need in Sendai, Japan. Caritas Japan was assisting at parishes in Sendai following last year’s  devastating  earthquake and tsunami. (CNS photo/Caritas Japan)

Photos of the Sisters’ visit can be found in Photo Galleries

My Miraculous Cure

Link to Sister Marie Simon-Pierre’s talk at Bioethics & Spirituality Conference hosted by Healthcare Professionals for Divine Mercy and the Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception.

http://www.thedivinemercy.org/news/4917

Witness to a Miracle
Link to a transcript of the talk given Tuesday, May 1, 2012, by Sr. Marie Thomas Fabre at the Medicine, Bioethics & Spirituality Conference hosted by Healthcare Professionals for Divine Mercy and the Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception.

http://www.marian.org/news.php?NID=4916

Medical professionals told to accompany patients with ‘mercy in your heart’

By Tanya Connor

WORCESTER – Nuns who experienced the miracle that led to Pope John Paul II’s beatification touched local people – from children to doctors – this week. The sisters spoke of struggling with hope because of an incurable disease and of finding victory through surrender.
Sister Marie Simon-Pierre Normand, healed of Parkinson’s disease in 2005, and Sister Marie Thomas Fabre, then her superior and now Mother General of the Little Sisters of Catholic Maternity in France, were visiting the United States for the first time.
They came at the invitation of Father Kazimierz Chwalek and Marie Romagnano, founder of Healthcare Professionals for Divine Mercy, to speak at its eighth annual Medicine, Bioethics and Spirituality Conference Tuesday and Wednesday at the College of the Holy Cross. Father Chwalek is provincial for the Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception in the United States and Argentina. Healthcare Professionals for Divine Mercy is an Apostolate of the Marian Fathers, whose ministry includes the Divine Mercy Shrine in Stockbridge.
The sisters, who speak only in French, gave a talk  at the shrine last Sunday, and are to speak from 2-4 p.m. this Sunday at St. Paul Cathedral. Monday they spoke at St. Joseph Elementary School in Webster and St. Stephen Elementary School in Worcester.
You’d have thought the pope himself had come to St. Stephen’s, such was the excitement. Local adults arranged for photos and the French nuns snapped several too.
Among children crowding around them was first-grader Caroline Villa, named for Karol Wojtyla (Pope John Paul II), who showed off her statue of the pontiff.
“I think that it was an amazing experience because I don’t know how many people get to meet or listen to somebody that’s received a miracle,” enthused eighth-grader Michaela Lavoie.
“I found it interesting to be in the same room with someone who has experienced a miraculous cure, and the one who lived through it with her,” Pauline Ludwig said after the sisters spoke at the conference Tuesday. Mrs. Ludwig is pastoral associate at Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish in Webster and a nurse in Catholic Charities’ Home Care program.
She said she liked Sister Thomas’ suggestions for how her testimony can affect medical professionals’ work: walking with suffering, watching over patients and caregivers, accompanying patients by listening, going from compassion to prayer and prayer to compassion, considering sickness as a slow gestation, and “the night shines as the day.”
At St. Stephen’s Sister Judith-Marie Dupuy, of the diocesan Haitian Apostolate, translated the sisters’ French into English for the children and teachers. Conference participants had written English translations to follow along.
At the conference Sister Thomas showed pictures of Sister Simon-Pierre and her handwriting before and after her healing.
“I underlined this,” Mrs. Ludwig said of something Sister Thomas said of Sister Simon-Pierre: She embraced “her sickness and did not run away from it. … The disease may evolve and advance, but the person has the capability to recover interiorly. The periods of desolation can mysteriously become the beginning of inner joy.”
Sister Thomas said she believed this healing grace was Sister Simon-Pierre’s first victory, before her physical healing. The sisters told that story this way.
Sister Simon-Pierre was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in June 2001, when she was 40, having been sick for years. It was hard for her to watch Pope John Paul II on television, because his Parkinson’s revealed her future. But she felt he could understand her experience.
Sister Thomas struggled to understand.
“She would insist … the patient with Parkinson’s needed a lot of understanding from his surroundings to overcome it and to not feel judged,” she said. “I had to learn to listen to this Little Sister differently.”
After Pope John Paul II’s death April 2, 2005, Sister Simon-Pierre’s symptoms worsened. But the Scripture remained with her: “If you believe, you will see the glory of God.” (Jn 11:40)
Speaking Tuesday on the first anniversary of Pope John Paul II’s beatification, she said she saw that glory there, as she carried his relics in St. Peter’s Square. On Jan. 14, 2011, Pope Benedict XVI had recognized her healing as a miracle.
April 8, 2005, after Pope John Paul II’s funeral, the  sisters felt the need to pray for Sister Simon-Pierre. After Pope Benedict XVI opened the way, on May 13, 2005, for his predecessor’s beatification, the superior general asked the congregation to seek his intercession, so their sick sister could continue her nursing work.
When Sister Simon-Pierre wanted to cancel a medical exam, Sister Thomas told her to go, so if she was healed one day, it would be easier to prove it was a miracle.
“I had no particular revelation,” Sister Thomas said. “She had fought interiorly for years to say this ‘Yes, Father’ in faith. … But what was his will? We still wanted to believe the impossible.”
“On June 1st, I had reached the end,” Sister Simone-Pierre said. “The pain was unbearable, and the tremors were growing much worse.” June 2 she told Sister Thomas she needed to be replaced in the maternity ward and that she accepted eventual wheelchair confinement; it would not prevent her religious life.
“Her struggle was ending; she was accepting who she was, a sick Little Sister but entirely a Little Sister,” Sister Thomas noted. “I remember having said interiorly: ‘What a victory! Thank you, Lord!”
Sister Simon-Pierre told her she could no longer write, and Sister Thomas, without reflecting on it, asked her to write John Paul II’s name.
“Unconsciously, I wanted to verify that she could still write, it was not the end, and that she should not give up,” she said. “Did I interiorly obey an intuition of the Holy Spirit, not counting on its outcome? … I felt that through this writing, the glory of God would one day be manifested. …
“Facing the unintelligible writing of Sr. Simon-Pierre, I became speechless and remained in prayer. … I remember praying and thinking at this moment that we had tried everything and that we had reached the end: ‘Lord, the only thing left is a miracle!’ That’s how I expressed my thoughts before she left: ‘John Paul II has not said his last word.’”
That night, Sister Simon-Pierre said, she felt compelled to write, and wrote legibly. The next morning she was not stiff. She went to the chapel to thank God. She told Sister Thomas that afternoon that she was healed through Pope John Paul II’s intercession and showed her her handwriting.
“It was really hers, but I had not seen it in years,” Sister Thomas said. In shock, she took time to digest the news, and surprised the sisters by spontaneously invoking “Saint John Paul II” as they prayed the rosary.
After the neurologist was shocked to find no more signs of Parkinson’s June 7, the congregation began a novena of thanksgiving to Pope John Paul II. A letter was sent to the postulator for his cause and the investigation began.
“I am aware that this unexplained healing … is a pure merciful grace and that miracles are not daily occurrences,” Sister Thomas told the medical professionals. But, she said, “I sincerely believe that accompanying a patient with mercy in your heart, as you are doing, is already within itself, in our dehumanized society, a miracle of faith, hope, and charity.”
Sister Simon-Pierre said she happily continues nursing.
“Nothing is the same anymore,” she said. “A friend has gone far away from this earth while remaining so close to my heart.”

 Assisted suicide is not ‘death with dignity’
By Tanya Connor

Suicide is contagious. It leads to copycats. Media guidelines seek to prevent copycats, but propaganda favoring physician assisted suicide does the opposite.
John Howland, executive director of the Worcester Guild of the Catholic Medical Association, made these points in a talk about suicide at the Medicine, Bioethics and Spirituality Conference Tuesday at the College of the Holy Cross.
Why this topic?
Because on November 6, 2012, Massachusetts voters face a ballot initiative, the “Death with Dignity” Act, asking if they want to legalize physician assisted suicide here, he said.
Physician assisted suicide was legalized in Oregon in 1994 and in Washington state in 2008, Dr. Howland said.
Suicide was again addressed in a panel which Bishop McManus led with a look at patient autonomy,
Media guidelines to prevent copycat suicides include not romanticizing suicide or saying it relieves suffering; it causes survivors to suffer, Dr. Howland said.
While suicide is contagious, it can be prevented, he said, speaking of the importance of saying it is wrong.
Suicide is contrary to the Hippocratic Oath, in which doctors promise not to give anyone deadly drugs or make such a suggestion, Dr. Howland said. It is contrary to stewardship to take the life God

entrusted to human beings, he said. It is contrary to natural law; it violates the instinct for self-preservation. It is contrary to society, depriving society of one of its members and encouraging copycats. And it is contrary to love of God, self and neighbor.
Means of prevention include access to services, treatment, education, media guidelines, and hospitalizing suicidal persons, even against their will, he said.
But legalized assisted suicide undercuts the rationale for prevention, glorifying suicide and removing the stigma, and it makes suicide rates rise, Dr. Howland said. Suggesting that physician assisted suicide as a solution for suffering encourages more people to see suicide as a way out of their difficulties rather than seeking real solutions, he said.
He contrasted preventing suicide with assisting suicide. The former sees suicide as a tragedy, prevention as compassion, and is about life, safe prescribing and the doctor as healer. The latter sees suicide as a choice, suicide as compassion, and is about death, lethal prescribing and the doctor as executioner.
During the panel, Dr. Howland responded to a question about what Catholics should do to keep physician assisted suicide out  of Massachusetts. He suggested working with others in one’s parish and finding opportunities to volunteer with a statewide organization which can be found online at www.nodoctorprescribedsuicide.com.
People in health care, especially, have the obligation to care for people, support families and ease pain, he said. It’s not appropriate to just say, “No: assisted suicide is a bad idea.”
Father Kazimierz Chwalek, Marian Fathers provincial, told about his experiences talking with suicidal people. If a person feels that “you feel with your heart, you have a better chance to communicate,” he said.
One might tell the suicidal person “God loves you, the Lord wants you to live, he gave you this life, I’ll miss you.” One might pray with, or at least for, the person.
Speaking about patient autonomy, Bishop McManus said the principle is valid – freedom and intelligence allow a person to act in an autonomous way. But in western civilization autonomy seems to be unbridaled; the attitude is, “man is the measure of all things.”
That is not realistic for theists, who see human beings as creatures in relationship to the Creator.
A well-formed conscience, guided by God’s word, Church teaching and others’ advice, must be part of the equation. A well-formed conscience is diametrically opposed to current thinking that, appealing to conscience is appealing to personal opinion, the bishop said.
Responding to a question about autonomy and a woman seeking an abortion, Bishop McManus appealed to biology: “The woman is carrying a life that is other than her own.” If the woman is a believer, one can also appeal to theology, speaking of autonomy in relationship to God as creator.
Responding to a question about the direction the secular world is taking for the mentally handicapped, Bishop McManus said it is the wrong direction. Secularist dignity depends on how much one contributes to society, he said, but human dignity is not bestowed by the state or one’s parents, but by God. That insight drives how Catholic institutions deal with the mentally challenged.
Father Chwalek talked about the mentally handicapped people who work at the Divine Mercy Shrine in Stockbridge. The one who looks the most handicapped is the most witty, he said.
“The innocent love that comes out,” he marveled. “I don’t know who’s mentally handicapped?”

My Miraculous Cure

Link to Sister Marie Simon-Pierre’s talk at Bioethics & Spirituality Conference hosted by Healthcare Professionals for Divine Mercy and the Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception.

http://www.thedivinemercy.org/news/4917

Witness to a Miracle
Link to a transcript of the talk given Tuesday, May 1, 2012, by Sr. Marie Thomas Fabre at the Medicine, Bioethics & Spirituality Conference hosted by Healthcare Professionals for Divine Mercy and the Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception.

http://www.marian.org/news.php?NID=4916