July 23, 1999 Nun Hails Church’S Evolution on Death Penalty
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Vol. XXXVIII, No. 41 Indianapolis, Indiana 50¢ Inside Archbishop Buechlein . 4, 5 Editorial. 4 From the Archives. 17 The Question Corner . 11 CCriterionriterion Sunday & Daily Readings. 11 Serving the Church in Central and Southern Indiana Since 1960 July 23, 1999 Nun hails Church’s evolution on death penalty LOS ANGELES (CNS)—The Church’s gradual evolution to almost total opposition Places to the death penalty is “so new that most of HolyPilgrims visit St. Meinrad Archabbey, the boats haven’t even made the turn in the river yet,” according to the Louisiana nun whose work against capital punishment has Gethsemani and St. Joseph Proto-Cathedral made her famous. Sister Helen Prejean, whose book Dead Story and photos by Susan M. Bierman the pilgrimage offers participants the Man Walking was made into a movie that opportunity to pray and reflect just as one earned actress Susan Sarandon an Academy ou don’t need to go to Israel or would if he or she were on a retreat. Award, brought her message on the death Rome to find holy places— “Just as you would if you went on a pil- penalty to some 3,000 Catholic social jus- sacred spaces where God seems to grimage to the Holy Land, to Rome or to tice advocates gathered in Los Angeles July Ybe more intensely present. various shrines in Europe,” he said. 16. A group of 56 people from the Msgr. Schaedel said this pilgrimage to A Celtic cross stands outside Sherwood Hall “The Catholic Church has aligned itself archdiocese discovered this last week southern Indiana and rural Kentucky is for at Saint Meinrad School of Theology. with state violence for a long, long time,” during a three-day Journey of Hope those people who, for whatever reason, are she told Catholic News Service before par- 2001 summer pilgrimage through unable to travel abroad to the Holy Land, St. Meinrad was the first holy place ticipating in a reconciliation service at the southern Indiana and rural Kentucky Rome, and other shrines of Europe. the pilgrims visited. National Catholic Gathering for Jubilee on July 15–17. “This is an opportunity to do that The first day at Saint Meinrad, the pil- Justice. Msgr. Joseph F. Schaedel, vicar gen- almost—in a sense—in our own back- grims participated in evening vespers But with the removal from the Catholic eral and moderator of the curia for the yard,” Msgr. Schaedel said. with the Benedictine monks in the Arch- catechism of a “huge loophole” that had Archdiocese of Indianapolis, led the pil- The pilgrims represented various areas abbey Church and toured the grounds. declared capital punishment legitimate in grims on their journey. of the archdiocese—including Indianapolis, This visit to Saint Meinrad was the “cases of absolute necessity” or for “grave He described the pilgrimage as a Richmond, Greensburg and Floyds Knobs. first for many in the group. and heinous crimes,” the Church has now “retreat on wheels.” Msgr. Schaedel said Saint Meinrad Archabbey in See PILGRIM, page 2 stepped away from the death penalty in the same way it eventually came to condemn slavery and usury, Sister Prejean said. In her talk at the reconciliation service, the Sister of St. Joseph spoke of her experi- ences accompanying five men to their exe- cutions. She said she is convinced that the latest, Dobie Williams, was innocent of the crime for which he was executed. “The healing I need is because I’ve been in the presence of such violence” as a state execution, she said. “To watch a human See PREJEAN, page 3 TV Mass Changes The Sunday TV Mass will relocate to a new time and TV station beginning Aug. 1. Viewers will find the TV Mass one hour later, at 6:30 a.m., and on WB4. The move from WNDY TV Channel 23 was made so that more viewers in the archdiocesan boundaries could tune in every Sunday. The WB4 viewing area covers 38 of the 39 coun- This mural on the wall of the chapter room at Saint Meinrad Archabbey in St. Meinrad depicts Judgment Day. ties in the archdiocese. † 10th-century coins bear image of Christ JERUSALEM (CNS)—Recent thor- The coins, along with some 20 addi- used as a symbol on coins, he added. ough cleaning of a horde of 10th-cen- tional coins and another 1,000 bronze “You can see Jesus very clearly on tury coins discovered last year items from the Islamic period, the coins. There is a big cross behind in Tiberias has revealed 60 were among the largest cache him, and he has a big head and eyes like rare “Jesus coins” bearing of objects from that period on the icons of the Fifth century,” an image of Christ. ever discovered in Israel. Hirschfeld said. “These are very rare Coins of this type, Although uncovered last coins, and it is the first time they were known scientifically as year, it was not until the found in Israel.” “anonymous folles” cleaning of the coins Hirschfeld said the bronze “Jesus because they neither began this year that coins” were minted as a form of propa- contain the name or archaeologists realized ganda by the Christian kings at the end image of the ruler of the the magnitude of their of the last millennium in response to the time, were minted briefly find. rising tide of Islam. for 80 years at the end of The coins are engraved Although they were not of high mon- the 10th century by Christian with an image of Jesus and with etary value—valuable coins were made kings in Constantinople, said Greek inscriptions proclaiming of gold—the Jesus coins seem to have Hebrew University Archaeology “Jesus the Messiah, the King of Kings” had a special significance similar to that Professor Yizhar Hirschfeld, who led the and “Jesus, the Messiah, the Victor,” of a religious medallion for Christian dig at the site of ancient Tiberias. Hirschfeld said. Normally Jesus was not pilgrims. † Page 2 The Criterion Friday, July 23, 1999 In the photos above from left: Benedictine Father Louis Mulcahy, Saint Meinrad Archabbey in St. Meinrad guestmaster, gives archdiocesan pilgrims a tour of Saint Meinrad. One of nine masterpiece paintings that hang on the walls of St. Joseph Proto-Cathedral in Bardstown, Ky. (center photo). Benedictine Father Julian Peters, a monk of Saint Meinrad Archabbey in St. Meinrad, lights the candles surrounding the Our Lady of Einsiedeln shrine inside the Archabbey Church. In the photo at the far right, Brother Steven, a monk of the Abbey of Gethsemani in Trappist, Ky., greets Msgr. Schaedel, vicar general and moderator of the curia for the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, and Franciscan Sister Rita Vukovic, a teacher at Cardinal Ritter High School in Indianapolis, and Dorothy Barbee, a member of St. Thomas Aquinas Parish in Indianapolis. Sheila Barton-Bosron, a member of St. Luke Parish in Indianapolis, and Renee Book, a member of St. Mary-of-the- Knobs Parish in Floyds Knobs, kneel at the grave of Thomas Merton. praying of the Liturgy of the Hours. restricted than the Benedictines that we saw grims to Mass at St. Joseph Proto- PILGRIM Starting in 1996, the Archabbey Church at Saint Meinrad,” he said. Cathedral in Bardstown, Ky. continued from page 1 underwent a $5.2 million renovation. Seventy monks live at the Abbey of Construction of the Proto-Cathedral The Blessed Virgin, under the title of Gethsemani in Trappist. began in 1816 and was completed in 1819. “I wanted to visit Saint Meinrad Our Lady of Einsiedeln, is the The Abbey of Gethsemani was founded The walls of the cathedral are 34 inches because I had never been there before Archabbey Church patroness. A shrine from Melleray, an ancient abbey in France. thick. The building includes more than and I’d heard so much about it,” said to Our Lady is located in the southwest This Trappist community has prayed and 974,000 bricks which were made from the Maurice Owens, a member of corner of the church. worked at Gethsemani since 1848. clay of the soil on the property. The foun- St. Christopher Parish in Speedway. While at Gethsemani, the pilgrims dation of the cathedral is made of lime- “It fulfilled my hopes and dreams visited the grave of Thomas Merton, a stone rock that was quarried and brought about the place,” he added. Abbey of Gethsemani renowned Trappist monk who came to in. No nails were used in the construction While touring the facility, the pilgrims The pilgrims’ next stop was the Abbey Gethsemani in 1941. of the building. The structure is held learned Saint Meinrad Archabbey was of Gethsemani in Trappist, Ky. Like Saint Meinrad, this was a first together by wooden pegs. founded in 1854 by the Benedictine monks Here they arrived in time for None ser- visit to Gethsemani for a number of the The columns inside the cathedral are of the Swiss Abbey of Maria Einsiedeln to vice, or midday prayer, part of the Liturgy pilgrims. made from solid poplar trees. The tree is help minister to the local German-speaking of the Hours with the Trappist monks. Phyllis Doerflinger, a member of squared and covered with plaster made of Catholic population and to open a seminary The group was greeted by Brother St. Mary Parish in Greensburg, enjoyed lis- horse hair, crushed limestone and hickory to prepare men for the priesthood. Today Steven, one of the monks of Gethsemani. tening to Father Damien, a Trappist monk, bark molded to form the round shape. The Saint Meinrad is the home for more than Brother Steven is a graduate of Cardinal talk about his monastic life.