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U.S. Bishops Begin Work on Agenda at Fall Meeting WASHINGTON (CNS)—The U.S

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U.S. Bishops Begin Work on Agenda at Fall Meeting WASHINGTON (CNS)—The U.S Inside Archbishop Buechlein . 4, 5 Editorial. 4 Question Corner . 13 TheCCriterionriterion Sunday & Daily Readings. 13 Serving the Church in Central and Southern Indiana Since 1960 www.archindy.org November 16, 2001 Vol. XXXXI, No. 7 50¢ U.S. bishops begin work on agenda at fall meeting WASHINGTON (CNS)—The U.S. Catholic Bishops—featured preliminary power of hate” behind the Sept. 11 atroci- nation’s priests for their work in sustaining bishops opened their fall general meeting presentations of proposed statements on the ties with the message of hope that bishops people’s faith in this difficult time. Nov. 12 in Washington with discussions on Church’s outreach to Asian and Pacific are called to preach. “Our prayers continue for the victims of the Church’s role in the world, particularly Catholics and on solidarity with Africa and “It is Christian hope alone that gives this national tragedy,” he said. since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. a proposed revision of their plan for pro- confidence despite the catastrophic prob- Archbishop Gabriel Montalvo, apostolic The first day of the Nov. 12-15 meeting life activities. lems of the present time,” he said Nov. 12 nuncio to the United States, also praised of the U.S. bishops under their new confer- Further debate and a vote on each of in his last address as USCCB president. the solidarity shown by the people of the ence structure—the U.S. Conference of those documents was scheduled for later in While noting the still-unmeasured harm United States following the attacks, saying the meeting. caused by the attacks, Bishop Fiorenza that the Catholics in this country have Bishop Wilton D. Gregory of Belleville, The USCCB president, Bishop Joseph A. praised the heroic efforts of firefighters, shown a “profound and vibrant faith.” Ill., is elected president of the U.S. Fiorenza of Galveston-Houston, opened the police, emergency medical workers, mili- Before the bishops moved on to pastoral Conference of Catholic Bishops. meeting at the Hyatt Regency Hotel on tary personnel and volunteers. He also statements, Bishop Fiorenza relayed the See related story, page 18. Capitol Hill by contrasting the “destructive offered a special word of thanks to the See BISHOPS, page 2 Archbishop Buechlein Sharing Hope challenges Serra Club to help find 50 new St. Vincent de Paul volunteers seminarians by 2006 answer call to help those in need By Brandon A. Evans At the 50th anniversary celebration of By Brandon A. Evans the Serra Club in Indianapolis, Arch- bishop Daniel M. Buechlein challenged People who are helped by the the group’s members to envision 50 new St. Vincent de Paul Society receive a seminarians by 2006. small card that reads, “Good news! God A. Brandon Photo by Evans This was one of five hopes that the loves you and has sent us to help you!” archbishop mentioned in his comments The people that God has sent range to the local Serra Club, a group of men in age from adolescents to the retired. and women who encourage vocations Alfred Hohmann, a member of within the archdiocese. St. Roch Parish in Indianapolis, and In attendance at the dinner and Mass Ralph Sperry, a member of St. Malachy on Nov. 6 at Fatima Retreat House in Parish in Brownsburg, sat in the noisy Indianapolis were six past world presi- break room of the St. Vincent de Paul dents of Serra International, which has a Distribution Center on a sunny Wednes- presence in 37 countries and includes day afternoon recently, waiting for the more than 23,000 members. phone to ring—waiting to fill a need In addition to stating five hopes for with what God has given them. the Serra Club, Archbishop Buechlein At the disposal of the Distribution also told them of five of his convictions. Center, at 1201 E. Maryland St. in “First, I, with all my heart, believe Indianapolis, is a stockpile of couches, that God continues to keep his promise mattresses, appliances, clothes and to give us faithful shepherds,” he said. more, all to be given to the needy of “Second, our young Church is as gener- Indianapolis at no charge. ous as it ever was. “We’ve had several warehouses,” “Third, we leaders are equal to the Hohmann said. “We’ve rented, and challenge of extending the invitation. finally we ended up buying this place. Fourth, the hunger for meaning and real Now it’s all ours.” love among our young people signals Sperry and Hohmann are both retired that they are ready to listen to us. and think that their work at the “Fifthly, the witness of celibate Distribution Center is as important to chastity and simplicity of life are more them as it is to those they help. important and enriching for our day than “When you’re retired, you have to they ever were.” find something to do and this seems to Then the archbishop shared his five make sense to me—to try to help peo- hopes that he has for the organization. ple,” Sperry said. “First, a hope that this club continues It is an experience shared by all those to believe that God calls—we respond,” who believe that the work at the St. Vin- See SERRA, page 9 cent de Paul Society warehouse is part of a bigger picture, and is something that can tie people together. John Paul Jones, a member of St. Christopher Parish in Indianapolis, matches lamp shades with William Pierce, a member of lamps for a client who has come to the St. Vincent de Paul Society Distribution Center at 1201 E. See VOLUNTEERS, page 8 Maryland St. in Indianapolis. Youth conference to help teens find their vocation By Jennifer Del Vechio Congress on Vocations, which is part of Brown, also from Bishop Chatard; Katie the National Catholic Youth Conference Wilmes from Cardinal Ritter High It’s always on her mind, and Emma to be held Dec. 6-9 in Indianapolis, will School in Indianapolis; and Julie Zubaty Mahern said she just keeps praying give her some answers. from Father Michael Shawe Memorial about it. She is one of five delegates from the High School in Madison. “It” is the life plan or vocation God Archdiocese of Indianapolis who will The congress will explore the role of wants her to find, said Emma, a junior meet with 49 bishops to discuss voca- vocations in the Church and will look at at Bishop Chatard High School in tion decisions. About 300 teen-agers how young people can respond to God’s Indianapolis. from across the nation were chosen to call to live their life serving Jesus. “I pray about it a lot and I haven’t meet with the bishops, which will be Archbishop Roger L. Schwietz, chair- come to any decision,” Emma said. one of the largest gatherings of bishops man of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on “I’ve considered all three options, reli- in the history of the archdiocese. Vocations, is hoping the congress will gious, married and single life, as well as Other delegates from the archdiocese help “shift the mentality toward all all the pros and cons.” are Emma Preuschl from Cathedral vocations in the Church.” Emma is hoping that the Youth High School in Indianapolis; Marty See YOUTH, page 7 Page 2 The Criterion Friday, November 16, 2001 of the bishops’ Committee on International BISHOPS Policy. CNS photo continued from page 1 The 40-page document, to be discussed in detail and voted on Nov. 14, calls on unfolding news of the American Airlines jet- Catholics to make real contributions to “jus- liner that crashed moments after takeoff from tice, peace and integral development” on the John F. Kennedy International Airport in African continent, especially in support of New York. At the time of his announcement, the impoverished millions of people in the there was no word whether the crash was an sub-Saharan region. accident or act of terrorism. The bishops also briefly discussed a pas- After the announcement of the crash, New toral statement encouraging efforts to make York Cardinal Edward M. Egan and Bishop the Church more hospitable to Asian and William F. Murphy of Rockville Centre, Pacific Islanders. N.Y., left the bishops’ meeting to return to The 57-page document, “Asian Pacific their dioceses by train. Bishop Thomas V. Presence: Harmony in Faith,” was intro- Daily of Brooklyn was planning to return to duced by Bishop Nicholas A. DiMarzio of his diocese by train that afternoon. Camden, N.J., chairman of the Committee Auxiliary Bishop Peter A. Rosazza of on Migration. Hartford, Conn., told Catholic News Service Bishop DiMarzio said the statement, that the announcement was eerily reminis- scheduled for debate and a vote at the meet- cent of the bishops’ Administrative ing Nov. 14, was an application of the bish- Committee meeting Sept. 11 when Bishop ops’ pastoral statement last year on immi- Fiorenza told the bishops of the plane grants and the Church called “Welcoming crashes into the World Trade Center. the Stranger: Unity in Diversity.” The only vote on the meeting’s first day The statement concludes by recommend- Bishop Joseph A. Pepe of Las Vegas, Nev., sings during the opening prayer of the U.S. Conference of was the bishops’ approval of an electronic ing several pastoral responses to support Catholic Bishops fall general meeting in Washington on Nov. 12. hand-held voting system instead of the hand- Asian and Pacific communities, including written paper ballots they have always used. creating pastoral institutes to offer continu- system that has condemned innocent peo- One of the proposals concerns lay Three major documents to be voted on ing education to clergy and other pastoral ple,” it says.
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