Inside Rural parishes bring faith to life for youths See our annual Religious Education Supplement, Criterion pages 9-12. Serving the Church in Central and Southern Indiana Since 1960 CriterionOnline.com September 9, 2011 Vol. LI, No. 48 75¢ Remembering 9/11 The Vatican Importance and 9/11: of faith and Commitment Reuters CNS photo/Sean Adair, family continue to dialogue, to rise from cooperation tragedy of set the tone Sept. 11, 2001 VATICAN CITY (CNS)—The Sept. 11, By John Shaughnessy 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States horrified the pope and Vatican officials, It was a time when the foundations of who unequivocally our lives were suddenly shaken to the condemned core—a time when we also suddenly terrorism, and remembered what are the foundations of offered prayers for our lives. the dead, the After the twin towers of the World Trade survivors and the Center in New York collapsed in a cloud of rescue workers. smoke and fire, people poured into places The attacks of worship, praying for the United States, shook the world, praying for the nearly 3,000 people who but did not destroy died in the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, the commitment to 2001, praying for the family and friends of dialogue and the victims, and praying for their own Blessed John Paul II cooperation of family and friends. Catholic and Muslim leaders in Stunned by the attacks, including the interreligious relations. one on the Pentagon near Washington, While too many people, and too many people turned to God, seeking answers, media outlets, grabbed on to cliches about hoping for comfort, wanting reassurance. Islam, Catholic and Muslim dialogue And similar to several passengers partners poured new energy into their on Flight 93 before it crashed in efforts to educate their faithful about the Shanksville, Pa., countless people across true beliefs of each other’s religion and the country phoned their family and about the fact that it is blasphemy to friends to simply say, “I love you.” invoke God’s name in the commission of In a time marked by shock, fear and violence. fragility, the foundations of faith, humanity After the attacks, Pope John Paul II and love somehow held us together and immediately sent a telegram to President connected us. George W. Bush, With the 10th anniversary of See related editorial, and the pope Sept 11, 2001, nearing, The Criterion page 4. spoke about the invited readers to share their memories of tragedy at his that day, and how it affected their faith lives general audience the next day, saying: then and now. While we aren’t able to share “Yesterday was a dark day in the history the reflections of everyone who responded, of humanity, a terrible affront to here is a sampling that represents the human dignity. thoughts of our readers. “Even if the forces of darkness appear to prevail,” he said at the audience, “those ‘My heart stopped for a second’ who believe in God know that evil and United Flight 175 crashes into the south tower of the World Trade Center in New York as the As a nurse at St. Francis Hospital in death do not have the final say. Christian north tower burns after being hit by American Flight 11 in this file photo from Sept. 11, 2001. The Beech Grove, Anne Eacret was driving to See VATICAN, page 2 attacks claimed the lives of 2,749 people in New York. See REFLECTIONS, page 13 Department of Health and Human Services mandate ‘unprecedented,’ must be rescinded, USCCB attorneys say WASHINGTON (CNS)—The federal The mandate and a proposed religious plans. Those requirements are that the government’s mandate that all health exemption to it were announced on Aug. 1 organization “(1) has the inculcation of insurance plans cover contraceptives and by HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and are religious values as its purpose; (2) primarily sterilization free of charge “represents an subject to a 60-day comment period. employs persons who share its religious unprecedented attack on religious liberty,” and The USCCB attorneys also took issue with tenets; (3) primarily serves persons who creates “serious moral problems” that require the religious exemption proposed by HHS, share its religious tenets; and (4) is a its rescission, attorneys for the U.S. bishops saying it “represents an unprecedented nonprofit organization” under specific said in comments submitted to the intrusion by the federal government into the sections of the Internal Revenue Code. Department of Health and Human Services. precincts of religion that, if unchecked here, “Under such inexplicably narrow In a 35-page comment submitted on will support ever criteria—criteria bearing no reasonable Aug. 31, Anthony R. Picarello Jr. and more expansive and relation to any legitimate [let alone Michael F. Moses, general counsel and corrosive intrusions compelling] government purpose—even associate general counsel, respectively, for in the future.” the ministry of Jesus and the early the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, HHS has proposed Christian Church would not qualify as called the HHS mandate “unprecedented in that only religious ‘religious’ because they did not confine federal law and more radical than any state employers meeting their ministry to their co-religionists or contraceptive mandate enacted to date. four criteria engage only in a preaching ministry,” the “Only rescission will eliminate all of the would be exempt USCCB comments said. serious moral problems the mandate creates,” from providing “The government has no business they said. “Only rescission will correct HHS’ contraceptives and engaging in religious gerrymanders, legally flawed interpretation of the term female sterilization whereby some Churches are ‘in’ and others ‘preventive services.’ ” Anthony R. Picarello Jr. through their health See HHS, page 19 Page 2 The Criterion Friday, September 9, 2011 nations of the Earth. Turn to your the West, he said. VATICAN way of love those whose hearts and “Ten years later, the complete minds are consumed with hatred.” opposite has occurred,” Mokrani continued from page 1 Archbishop Fitzgerald said that, said. Across the Arab world, “the hope is based on this truth; at this in response to the terrorist attacks, young are uniting to struggle—in a time our prayerful trust draws the reactions of the Church and of peaceful and civil way—against CNS photo/Larry Reuters Downing, strength from it.” Catholic-Muslim dialogue groups, dictatorships, asking for Archbishop Michael Fitzgerald, including in the United States, democracy, dignity, human rights the nuncio to Egypt who was came out of a context of mutual and social justice—universal secretary of the Pontifical Council knowledge and respect. values shared with the West. for Interreligious Dialogue in 2001, “Common declarations could not “This signals the real death of said, “the only reference to religion have been made if good relations bin Laden’s plan; a new phase of in these messages was a statement had not already been established,” history has begun,” Mokrani of belief in the love of God, which the archbishop said. wrote in an article he prepared for is greater than all evil.” “For Islam, peace is one of the an Italian magazine and also gave Two months after the attacks, 99 names of God, and human to CNS. then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger beings are called to be the Unfortunately, he said, was interviewed by Vatican Radio representatives on Earth of this God assumptions in the West about and asked what his first reflections of peace,” Archbishop Fitzgerald Islam and violence linger. When a about 9/11 would have been. He wrote on Aug. 30 in an e-mail young man went on a rampage in said he might have pointed out that response to questions from Catholic Norway in July, killing 76 people, “religion here is being abused for News Service. many media outlets initially other ends. It has been politicized For Catholics, he said, God is surmised that Muslim terrorists and made a factor of power. the God of peace, and he has were involved. “On the other hand, perhaps I revealed that peace most fully Archbishop Fitzgerald would have spoken more about the in Jesus. said Catholic-Muslim dialogue need to know God’s human face. If “The same message has been efforts, and particularly the we see Christ’s face, our Lord who repeated time and time again Vatican’s dialogue with Egypt’s suffers for us and showed how whenever attacks are carried out in al-Azhar University, an influential much he the name of religion. It needs to be center of study for Sunni Muslims, loved us in repeated since human beings are increasingly have focused on dying for easily swayed by emotions, and fighting the generalizations about us, we have they need to be warned against the religion that lead to prejudice. a vision of manipulation of religion,” the “There is a great need for God that archbishop said. mutual respect, an objective excludes all Adnane Mokrani, a presentation of religions in school forms of Tunisian Islamic scholar textbooks and more accurate violence,” who teaches at the reporting in journalism,” the the cardinal Pontifical Gregorian University archbishop said. answered. and the Pontifical Institute for “Just as it needs to be repeated Pope Benedict XVI As pope, Arabic and Islamic Studies in again and again that all Muslims he visited Rome, said “it scandalized me to are not terrorists, so it needs to be ground zero in New York in 2008 hear my religion associated with clarified that the politics of and recited a special prayer that he terrorism” after the attacks. Western countries do not represent wrote to mark the occasion. Osama bin Laden and his Christianity,” he said.