CelebratingInside religious life World Day for Consecrated Life Mass celebrated on Criterion Jan. 31, page 20. Serving the Church in Central and Southern Indiana Since 1960 CriterionOnline.com February 5, 2010 Vol. L, No. 17 75¢ Foreign doctors help Haitian staff ‘Supercentenarian’ in what remains At 110 years old, of hospital Emili Weil says PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (CNS)—In Wyand MaryPhoto by Ann what remains of St. Francis de Sales Catholic faith Hospital, the doctors work under a pall of death. Even as teams of foreign doctors met with has sustained Haitian staffers to develop treatment plans and organize medical supplies in late January, her through up to 100 bodies remained in the collapsed three-story pediatrics and obstetrics wing. life’s challenges The hospital staff knows there were at least 25 child patients in the wing and a By Mary Ann Wyand similar number of family members at their sides when the building tumbled during the MILAN—Three centuries, 10 popes and magnitude 7 earthquake on Jan. 12. Staff 20 presidents. members make up the rest of the list of At 110, St. Charles Borromeo victims. parishioner Emelie Weil of Milan has lived Located a few blocks from the destroyed during the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. presidential palace, the hospital had few She was born on Nov. 20, 1899, in remaining functions operating in late January. northern Kentucky and has lived during The staff was depending on experts from 10 papacies and 20 presidencies. around the world to help them treat Throughout 11 decades, Emelie said on earthquake victims. Jan. 17, her Catholic faith has sustained her Teams of trauma specialists from through many difficult life challenges. Belgium, Germany, Poland, Japan and the She has earned the distinguished title of U.S. rotated in and out of the hospital in the “supercentenarian,” and even survived a weeks following the earthquake. Doctors broken neck from a fall down a stairway in from the University of Maryland Medical her former home at age 98. Now she uses a Center and Scripps Mercy Hospital in wheelchair and has a hard time hearing, b ut San Diego began working with patients on is still very astute. Jan. 30 in conditions they said were hardly One Internet source notes that there are adequate for victims with nonlife-threatening as many as 300 people age 110 and older injuries, let alone the seriously injured. throughout the world out of 6.7 billion Jean Marie Danielle, 19, and people, but the Gerontology Research Loraus Bernaud, 27, suffered severe spinal Group in Los Angeles maintains an cord injuries during the earthquake. international list of only 75 living Dr. Edgar Gamboa, one of a team of trauma supercentenarians age 110 and older. specialists from Scripps Mercy Hospital, told For the past 10 years, Emelie has lived Catholic News Service the two patients are with Bob and Marilyn Weil, her son and paralyzed from the waist down, and the daughter-in-law, on their cattle farm located specialized care they need cannot be provided among gently rolling hills at the end of a in Haiti, but is routinely available in the U.S. scenic country lane near Milan, the home of Speaking from beside Danielle’s bed in a the 1954 state high school basketball tent set up outside the hospital, Gamboa said champions made famous by the movie St. Charles Borromeo parishioner Emelie Wiel of Milan celebrated her 110th birthday on Nov. 20, 2009. he had been frustrated while trying to f ind a Hoosiers. During 11 decades, she has acquired skills in nursing, playing the piano, painting, tatting and basket way to airlift the two young victims to an “I have a wonderful family,” she said, weaving. When she was complimented on a beautiful handmade basket on Jan. 17, Emily smiled and American hospital. smiling at two of her great-grandsons as her replied, “Flatter me like that and it will go to my head.” “So far, we’ve really just hit a brick w all,” primary caregiver, Marilyn, placed a pork he said on Jan. 30. roast, mashed potatoes, green beans canned diocesan priest who lives in Milan and brings veterinarian, designed and built, the winter During a five-day suspension of medical from the garden, a tossed salad and Communion to Emelie on first Fridays, was sun was setting behind the western hills as evacuations from Haiti to the United States, peach cobbler on the table for their invited to dinner. the rosy dusk colored the evening sky. doctors around Port-au-Prince insisted that Sunday night dinner. Outside the dining room windows of the Yet another day had passed in the inability to evacuate paralyzed Haitians Father Francis Eckstein, a retired spacious farmhouse that Bob, a retired See WEIL, page 10 See HAITI, page 13 ‘Super Bowl Sister’ says: Colts 31, Saints 22 By John Shaughnessy Super Bowl, including last year’s game when she predicted the Pittsburgh Steelers would photo File If you’re an Indianapolis Colts fan—and beat the Arizona Cardinals, 23-17—a game please remember your Catholic teachings that ended 27-23. about forgiveness and evangelization when One of her few misses occurred in 2007 you encounter the lost souls who are not—you when she predicted that her favorite profes- will be happy to learn about the prediction sional football team, the Chicago Bears, from the woman who is nationally known as would beat the Colts in Super Bowl XLI, a the “Super Bowl Sister.” game the Colts won 29-17. Marking her 25th year of predicting the “I learned my lesson,” says Sister Jean, a Super Bowl winner, Providence Sister Jean longtime subscriber to Pro Football Weekly, Kenny believes the Colts will beat the which she regards as the bible of the NFL. New Orleans Saints on Feb. 7 by a score “This time, I know better.” of 31-22. Still, some people have questioned how the “It didn’t take me more than religious sister chose not to pick a team called 15 minutes to pick the Colts. I’m v ery the Saints. confident in Manning’s leadership,” says “I’m usually with the saints, especially For 25 years, Providence Sister Jean Kenny, left, Sister Jean, referring to Colts quarterback because of St. Mother Theodora Guérin being has predicted the outcome of the Super Bo wl. This Peyton Manning, the record-setting-four-time the eighth American saint,” says Sister Jean, year, she predicts the Indianapolis Colts will beat Most Valuable Player of the National Football referring to the foundress of the Sisters of the New Orleans Saints. Here she is pictured on League. Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, who Sept. 7, 2008, at Lucas Oil Stadium with tw o close Speaking of records, Sister Jean has a started the order in Indiana. “I’m with the real friends from Indianapolis, Providence Sisters record of 18-6 in choosing the winners of the See SUPER BOWL, page 2 Barbara McClelland, center, and Rita Wade. Page 2 The Criterion Friday, February 5, 2010 SUPER BOWL continued from page 1 Go Colts! saints, not the football Saints.” Sister Jean’s Super Bowl predictions have made her a media favorite at this time of year, building a resumé that has included appearances with late-night talk show hosts Jay Leno Submitted photo and Conan O’Brien. She will once again give her Super Bowl prediction on CNN on the morning of this year’s game. The fun tradition began in 1986 when the Bears made it to the Super Bowl and Sister Jean entered a poem-writing contest for a Chicago radio station. She wrote a poem about Bears’ player William “The Refrigerator” Perry that made her one of the contest winners. “ ‘Monday Night Football’ heard about it and they brought a camera crew to my classroom,” recalls Sister Jean, who now is a substitute teacher and a rectory assistant at St. Francis Borgia Parish in Chicago. “They taped my students reading the poem with me. That’s how it started.” She has been making predictions and writing poems about each Super Bowl ever since. This year’s poem is titled “Manning’s Miami Masterpiece.” Her connections to Indianapolis and Indiana extend beyond her Super Bowl prediction. In 2008, Sister Jean predicted that Indianapolis would be chosen by the NFL to host the 2012 Super Bowl. When her prediction came true, Colts’ owner Jim Irsay gave her three tickets to the Colts’ first regular season game in Lucas Oil Stadium on Sept. 7, 2008. Sister Jean attended the game with two friends, Providence Sisters Barbara McClelland and Rita Ann Wade, who are Colts fans. Sister Jean also enjoys returning to the motherhouse at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods. Archbishop Daniel M. Buechlein rides in the sidecar of the motorcycle that led the Indianapolis Colts into Lucas Oil Stadium for their “I’m happy and proud to be a Sister of Providence,” she AFC Championship victory over the New York Jets on Jan. 24. Driving the archbishop is Forrest Lucas. The stadium is named after says. “I come to Indianapolis throughout the year. I’ll Lucas’ oil products company, which bought the naming rights to the stadium. Archbishop Buechlein rode with Lucas to show his probably be there on President’s Day weekend. I’m sure support for the Indianapolis Colts “as strong examples of positive role models and community involvement.” you’ll still be celebrating then.” † ‘Manning’s Miami Masterpiece’ Shepherds place friendly wager on big game; Welcome back fans to the Sunshine State, schools out on the day after the Super Bowl See the galloping Colts sprint out of the gate.