THELEAVEN.COM | VOL. 34, NO. 33 | APRIL 19, 2013 PHOTO BY ROX STEC Students at Maur Hill-Mount Academy in Atchison bless the Benedictine Sisters of Atchison during an assembly on March 21 at the school. The Sisters are celebrating their 150th anniversary in the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas with a year’s worth of celebrations. TCHISON — A clear- the perimeter of the building with eyed assessment at the lanterns, keeping watch over the time might have con- Sisters until dawn’s first light. cluded that, perhaps, Not long after their arrival, the the seven Benedic- MISSION: local newspaper published anony- Atine Sisters didn’t choose the best mous denunciations of the Sisters, time to come here. And maybe they prompting replies by someone shouldn’t have come at all. called “Imprimatur.” At one point, The Benedictines, however, the mayor and other prominent cit- walked by faith and not by sight, INCREDIBLE izens were at the point of asking the and so they came to Kansas. Benedictine Sisters to leave town. They traveled hundreds of miles BENEDICTINE SISTERS “[People’s opinions of the Sis- from Minnesota to Atchison by train ters] were very mixed those first and riverboat, while the country was years,” said Sister Judith Sutera, at war, to establish a new foundation CELEBRATE 150 YEARS OSB, director of communications in a nine-year-old town that was lit- and public relations for the Bene- erally on the edge of the frontier. STORY BY JOE BOLLIG dictine Sisters. It was a different culture from It was the Sisters’ actions that what they knew. Atchison was noth- 11, 1863. There, the wharf master for boys. The lay carpenters from won the day. ing like the predominantly German passed along the rumor that anti- the priory built a sturdy, two-story “They won people over by sim- Catholic communities they had for- Catholic thugs wanted to burn them brick home and school for the Sis- ply showing the quality of what merly served. out of their new home that night. ters before their arrival, located at they were doing and by just being The Benedictines crossed the But they had friends in town, Second and Division streets. a presence,” she said. “They helped Missouri River by ferry and landed too. Benedictine monks established That first night, the two carpen- at the Atchison wharf late on Nov. a priory here in 1857, and a school ters doubled as sentries, patrolling >> See “YEARLONG” on page 8 2 archbishop THELEAVEN.COM | APRIL 19, 2013 APRIL 19, 2013 | THELEAVEN.COM second front page 3 LIFE WIll BE VICTORIOUS state sanction of same-sex unions holds hidden dangers ‘Shepherd in combat boots’ ne of nature, and that would be ly correct. The studies that n KANSAN AWARDED harmful. Dr. Cretella had been led to CALENDAR he ‘wielded the most 6) If others cannot accept believe proved a homosexual MEDAL OF HONOR FOR thoughtful a person’s gay identity, then orientation was innate did no ARCHBISHOP KOREAN SERVICE the mightiest O they are rejecting that person, such thing. What Dr. Cretella NAUMANN and insightful re- because gay is who that per- found out from reading the April 19 son is. research and studying the psy- By Joseph Austin flections about a Region IX Stewardship Catholic News Service weapon of all’ 7) Therefore, those who chosexual literature was that Conference Catholic understanding of ARCHBISHOP cannot accept a person’s gay both heterosexual attraction By Patricia Zapor ASHINGTON (CNS) same-sex attraction is a chap- JOSEPH F. NAUMANN identity are uneducated, hate- and homosexual attraction April 20 Catholic News Service ter in “Breaking Through — ful, and/or bigoted. are linked to “gender identifi- Pro-Life Mass — Sts. Cyril — President Barack Catholic Women Speak for Dr. Cretella’s moral analy- cation.” Heterosexuality and & Methodius, Kansas City, Obama awarded the ASHINGTON (CNS) Themselves,” edited by Helen sis is fairly representative of homosexuality appeared “to Kan. Medal of Honor on — A Catholic Korean WApril 11 to famed Korean War chaplain Alvare. In the chapter enti- Correction the reasoning used to support be learned over a period of War chaplain who self- tled: “Who Am I? Psychology, the recognition by the state of time as a response to a variety Mass and Rite of Blessing Father Emil Kapaun, presenting it to lessly pulled wounded I apologize for quot- of a Child in the Womb — the priest’s nephew, Ray Kapaun, near- Wmen from enemy fire and helped his Faith and Same-Sex Attrac- ing in last week’s column same-sex unions. In addition of environmental factors and Holy Spirit, Overland Park tion,” Michelle A. Cretella, to her understanding of the unique experiences.” ly 22,604 days after his uncle’s death in fellow prisoners of war keep a sense of an earlier version of the a prisoner of war camp. a medical doctor, attempts Catechism. Below is the science, Dr. Cretella had sev- If medical doctors are April 21 hope was honored posthumously with to integrate her scientific eral friends and colleagues confused about what science “He should have got it a long time the Medal of Honor, the highest mili- current and revised text Scout Mass — Cathedral ago,” Joe Ramirez, a war veteran, told understanding of the sourc- for paragraph 2358 of the whom she admired and who actually reveals about the or- of St. Peter, Kansas City, tary honor, in an April 11 White House Catholic News Service in a telephone es and nature of same-sex Catechism of the Catholic identified themselves as gay. igins of same-sex attractions, Kan. ceremony. attraction with our Catholic Church: “The number of As a result, Dr. Cretella states: it is not surprising that the interview from Houston. He was bap- In paying tribute to Father Emil J. moral understanding. From men and women who have “Ultimately, my belief that general public also is large- April 22-23 tized by Father Kapaun on July 19, 1950, Kapaun, an Army captain, President the beginning of the article, deep-seated homosexual science proved people are ly misinformed. Some may Jesus Caritas bishops’ the day after their regiment had landed Barack Obama told multiple stories of Dr. Cretella recommends tendencies is not negligi- born gay, together with these argue: What differences does prayer group in Korea. the “shepherd in combat boots” from ble. The inclination, which that humility is necessary in anecdotal experiences, led to it make if same-sex attraction “He deserves about three or four of Kansas who voluntarily stayed behind is objectively disordered, April 23 them,” another soldier-friend of the with the wounded to face certain cap- seeking to understand both constitutes for most of my rejection of the church’s is not genetically determined? Confirmation — Holy Trin- priest, Herbert Miller, told CNS. ture, rather than evacuate when his di- the scientific data and moral them a trial. They must teaching on homosexuality One of the reasons this mat- ity, Lenexa teaching. for the first six years of my ters is because, similar to Dr. Father Kapaun was born on Holy vision was overrun at Unsan, Korea, in be accepted with respect, Thursday at 11:30 a.m. on April 20, 1916, One of the first points that compassion and sensitivi- medical career.” Cretella’s medical colleague April 24 November 1950. to two hardworking parents in a little Dr. Cretella makes regarding ty. Every sign of unjust dis- What triggered Dr. Cretel- who experienced same-sex Spring radiothon for CNS PHOTO/COURTESY U.S. ARMY MEDIC RAYMOND SKEEHAN “This is the valor we honor today the Catholic moral analysis is crimination in their regard la to reconsider her scientific attraction as a child and Catholic Radio — Catholic farmhouse in Kansas. He grew up an — an American soldier who didn’t fire ordinary child in ordinary times, but U.S. Army chaplain Father Emil Joseph Kapaun, who died May 23, 1951, in a North Korean prisoner that chastity, not heterosex- should be avoided. These and moral analysis of this during her formative years, Center in Kansas City, Mo. of war camp, is pictured celebrating Mass from the hood of a jeep Oct. 7, 1950, in South Korea. a gun, but who wielded the mightiest uality, is “the virtue to which persons are called to fulfill issue was one of her patients individuals can change what God was calling him to something weapon of all, a love for his brothers so God calls every human be- God’s will in their lives and, informing her that another seems to them to be their Confirmation — Prince of greater. In his recollection of the chaplain, to their country and to their principles. pure that he was willing to die so that ing.” Her point is simply that if they are Christian, to doctor had given him a bro- sexual orientation. Peace, Olathe “Now, one remembers little things Miller told CNS: “He didn’t stop to ask “The Chinese hated him because they might live,” said Obama. unite to the sacrifice of the experiencing opposite-sex chure about a local chapter It also reveals one of the about him which were not significant if I was Baptist or what. He just did his they thought he had too much influ- Father Kapaun received the Bronze Lord’s cross the difficulties April 25 then, but which might have let you job.” ence on the young guys,” said Ramirez. Star before his capture and the Distin- attractions is not a virtue, they may encounter from of Courage, a ministry of the real dangers of the state Confirmation — Prince of know what sort of man he would be One day, during the thick of the In his article, Dowe wrote: “Above nor is experiencing same-sex their condition.” [2358] Catholic Church offering sanctioning same-sex unions Peace, Olathe guished Service Cross after he died.