Poet laureate? At 90, Dorothy Colgan stays busy writing poetry, page 28. Serving the ChurchCriterion in Central and Southern Indiana Since 1960 CriterionOnline.com January 12, 2007 Vol. XLVII, No. 13 75¢ In pastoral, Indiana bishops urge welcoming immigrants The Criterion staff report Gettelfinger. XVI’s first encyclical, Deus Caritas (“God and responsibility to provide secure bor- Typically, statements from the bishops is Love”), saying “there is an intimate and ders for the protection of our people and The Indiana Catholic bishops call the are done though the Indiana Catholic unbreakable connection between love of to guard against those who would do faithful “to welcome others as Christ him- Conference, the Church’s official public God and love of neighbor. In loving our harm,” but the bishops “reject positions or self” in a pastoral let- policy voice. However, the pastoral letter neighbor, we meet the person of Christ.” policies that are anti-immigrant, nativist, ter on the treatment of is a unique move by the bishops giving The pastoral defines a neighbor “not ethnocentric or racist. Such narrow and immigrants issued on the statement a distinctive teaching simply as someone who is familiar and destructive views are profoundly anti- Jan. 12. authority which carries more significance close at hand, [nor] someone who shares Catholic and anti-American.” Titled “I Was a and weight—that of shepherds addressing my ethnic, social or racial characteristics.” They call for balance between “the Stranger and You the faithful. Rather, as the Gospels define neighbor, right of a sovereign state to control its Welcomed Me: “We Catholic bishops of Indiana “Our neighbor is anyone who is in need— borders, and “the right of human persons Meeting Christ in New recommit ourselves and our dioceses to including to migrate Neighbors,” the pas- welcoming others as Christ himself,” the those who are so that they toral is the first of its pastoral says. “Together with all our sis- homeless, Read the entire pastoral letter in both can realize Archbishop Daniel kind issued collec- ters and brothers throughout the state of hungry, sick English and Spanish, pages 13-16. their God- M. Buechlein tively by the Indiana Indiana, we embrace an authentic and or in prison. given bishops in recent times. enduring form of Hoosier hospitality that A neighbor rights.” The The joint letter is signed by goes beyond superficial slogans to the may well be a complete stranger whose pastoral says, “the state may impose rea- Indianapolis Archbishop Daniel M. heart of what it means to be a community background, experience or social stand- sonable limits on immigration, but the Buechlein, Lafayette Bishop William L. of faith that welcomes all who wish to ing is very different from ours,” the common good is not served when the Higi, Fort Wayne-South Bend Bishop share our way of life.” bishops say. basic human rights of the individual are John M. D’Arcy, Gary Bishop Dale J. In the letter, the Indiana bishops In the letter, the bishops recognize and violated.” Melczek and Evansville Bishop Gerald A. remind the faithful of Pope Benedict “vigorously support” the “nation’s right See PASTORAL, page 2 Amniotic-fluid stem cells Photo by Sean Gallagher hailed as another alternative to embryo use WASHINGTON (CNS)—The recent announcement by scientists at Wake Forest and Harvard universities that the amniotic fluid surrounding a child in the womb can be the source of medically useful stem cells is just the latest in a series of studies show- ing the research value of the byproducts of live birth, according to the deputy director of the U.S. bishops’ Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities. Richard M. Doerflinger told Catholic News Service on Jan. 8 that various stud- ies have shown that the placenta, cord blood, the umbilical cord itself and other byproducts of birth “may all contain very versatile stem cells, with many of the advantages of embryonic stem cells with- out the practical disadvantages or moral problems.” “With 4 million live births every year in Father William Ernst, pastor of St. Mary Parish in New Albany, baptizes Jackson Munk on Dec. 10 at St. Mary Church. Jackson is being held by his our country alone, an ample supply of these father, Jeffrey Munk, and watched by his mother, Elizabeth Munk, both of Carmel, Ind. cells lies readily at hand,” he added. The study was reported on Jan. 7 in the online edition of the journal Nature Chosen from among the people Biotechnology and included research by New Albany pastor reflects on a life of parish ministry See STEM CELLS, page 2 By Sean Gallagher Father Ernst has served parishes in eight of “I was kind of excited when I heard the archdiocese’s 11 deaneries over those that,” he said. “When I was in school, I NEW ALBANY—Some priests gain a nearly 43 years. was pretty much a daily communicant. Of reputation as outstanding homilists, inspir- For the past 17 years, he has been the course, in those days, you couldn’t eat ing retreat masters or effective ministers to pastor of St. Mary Parish in New Albany, breakfast before Communion so most of youths and young adults. not far from the parish where he spent sev- the kids didn’t go to Communion at Through these special talents, they right- eral years of his childhood: St. Mary Parish Mass. fully gain the attention and appreciation of in Navilleton. “I did almost every day. I’d take my the faithful. breakfast along, which was usually an Other priests devote decades of their From Navilleton to Saint Meinrad egg sandwich.” lives to the His priestly vocation emerged much like After completing the eighth grade, See Religious Vocations ordinary other priests of his generation, through the Father Ernst entered Saint Meinrad Supplement, page 7. duties of careful observations and suggestions of a Seminary in 1952 and continued his parish min- religious sister, Benedictine Sister Eugenia priestly formation there until his ordina- istry, impor- Reibel, who taught him at St. Mary-of-the- tion 12 years later. tant tasks that touch the lives of countless Knobs School in the late 1940s and early Although he persevered in his discern- people but that often remain unknown to 1950s. ment, he acknowledged that there were the broader public. When the possibility that God might be some difficult times for him, saying that One such priest is Father William Ernst. calling him to the priesthood was raised to “giving up marriage and family life and A seminary classmate of Archbishop him, Father Ernst said that it hadn’t come children” weighed heavily on his mind Daniel M. Buechlein and ordained in 1964 as a total surprise. In fact, he kind of liked for some time. in the midst of the Second Vatican Council, the idea. See VOCATION, page 17 Page 2 The Criterion Friday, January 12, 2007 capture true stem cells?’ The answer is yes.” STEM CELLS Doerflinger said it is “especially ironic” continued from page 1 that the frozen embryos that some scientists want to destroy for stem cells “may pro- scientists at the Wake Forest Institute for duce more beneficial stem cells if allowed Regenerative Medicine in Winston-Salem, to survive and be born.” N.C., and Children’s Hospital and Harvard “New life, not premature death, may show Medical School in Boston. us the way to a brighter medical future,” he CNS photo/courtesy of Wake Forest University The U.S. House of Representatives was added. expected to vote on Jan. 11 on expanded Doerflinger also disputed the results of a federal funding of stem-cell research recent public opinion poll commissioned by involving the destruction of human the Civil Society Institute in which 68 per- embryos. President George W. Bush cent of all the respondents—and 69 percent vetoed a similar measure in July, and the of the respondents who described themselves 109th Congress failed to override the veto. as Catholics—said they wanted Congress to In the journal article, Dr. Anthony act quickly to expand federal funding of Atala of the Wake Forest institute said he embryonic stem-cell research. and his colleagues had used stem cells The margin of error for the survey was derived from amniotic fluid to create mus- plus or minus 3 percentage points. cle, bone, fat, blood, nerve and liver cells “Studies like this are seriously flawed Dr. Anthony Atala is pictured in his lab at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center in Winston- in the laboratory. because they ask about support for ‘stem-cell Salem, N.C. The recent announcement by scientists at Wake Forest and Harvard universities that the “It has been known for decades that research’ without acknowledging other amniotic fluid surrounding a child in the womb can be the source of medically useful stem cells is both the placenta and amniotic fluid con- sources of beneficial stem cells or making it the latest in a series of studies showing the research value of the byproducts of live birth. tain multiple progenitor cell types from the clear that obtaining stem cells requires developing embryo, including fat, bone and destroying the human embryo,” Doerflinger used only for avenues that do not require added. “The great majority of Americans muscle,” said Atala in a statement. “We said. destroying embryonic life, to determine favor medical progress, but would greatly asked the question, ‘Is there a possibility “When told the facts, most Americans whether we even need to consider taking prefer that it be pursued without destroying that within this cell population we can [and most Catholics] want their tax dollars the morally controversial course,” he life at any stage.” † The letter also says, “Immigrants in this undocumented immigrants who must that by 2010, the U.S.