Inside Archbishop Buechlein . 5 Editorial . 4 Question Corner . 15 Sunday and Daily Readings . 15 Serving the ChurchCriterion in Central and Souther n Indiana Since 1960 www.archindy.org February 11, 2005 Vol. XXXXIV, No. 18 75¢ Home Mission Fund helps Connersville parish pr ovide vital ministries By Brandon A. Evans their budget needs. outreach—most of it for maintaining the roofs. They are places that need the collabo- seven center-city Catholic schools in The parishes and schools apply for the The home missions of the archdiocese rative effort of an entire diocese to sur- Indianapolis that are trying to help chil- grants. are not in a faraway land, but right here in vive and continue their vital ministry, dren break the cycle of poverty. Keeping the home missions thriving is our own back whether it be a spiritual, physical or edu- Beyond that, parishes that raise more something that all Catholics in central and yard. cational ministry. than their set goal for the UCA may opt to southern Indiana help with whenever they REMEMBERING They are, as Each year, about 40 percent of the give some or all of that excess money to a donate to the UCA or volunteer at one of OUR HOME Archbishop money raised from the United Catholic special fund called the Saint Francis the parishes or schools. MISSIONS Daniel M. Appeal (UCA) goes toward home mis- Xavier Home Mission Fund. Just one of the many stories about how Buechlein has sions in the archdiocese. Hundreds of thousands of dollars are the archdiocesan community has helped a said, those If the 2004-05 appeal reaches its goal given each year from this fund in the home mission is that of St. Gabriel Parish parishes, schools and ministries in central of $5.5 million, then more than $1.2 mil- form of grants to home mission parishes in Connersville. and southern Indiana that need to be lion will go to parish outreach, and more and schools that need help with every- The parish has gone through a rough where they are but are struggling to meet than $880,000 will go to school thing from paying bills to fixing leaky See MISSIONS, page 2 Religious gather to celebrate Weakened pope gives World Day of Consecrated Life blessing from By Sean Gallagher hospital room Nearly 100 religious sisters, brothers and priests from several religious ROME (CNS)—Pope John Paul II felt orders ministering in the archdiocese well enough to deliver a brief blessing to gathered in SS. Peter and Paul the faithful, but doctors were keeping the Cathedral in Indianapolis on Feb. 6 to pontiff in the hospital for a few more days celebrate the World Day of Consecrated as a precaution. Life. Although the pope’s respiratory condi- Father William Stumpf, archdiocesan tion continued to improve and his fever vicar for clergy and parish life coordi- was gone, Vatican spokesman Joaquin nators, celebrated the Mass at which all Navarro-Valls said on Feb. 7 that the pope religious present renewed their vows would remain in Rome’s Gemelli Hospital and jubilarians were honored for their for “prudential reasons” at least until years of life in their communities. Feb. 10. At the start of the Mass, Father Navarro-Valls said the pope was eating Stumpf read a personal greeting to the regularly, sitting in a chair several hours a religious from Archbishop Daniel M. day and reading some of the hundreds of Buechlein, who was unable to be pre- get-well messages and letters that have sent for the liturgy. poured into the hospital. In his greeting, Archbishop Above, Oldenburg Franciscan Sisters Anna The pope was also glancing at the daily Buechlein noted that “consecrated life Marie Stier, left, and Olivia Marie Stier, right, newspapers. According to the papal is one of the extraordinary graces in our sit together at a reception following the spokesman, the pope said he was doing so Church universal and it is a particular World Day of Consecrated Life Mass cele- “in order to follow the progress of my and beautiful grace for our archdio- brated at SS. Peter and Paul Cathedral in illness.” cese.” Indianapolis on Feb. 6. The biological sis- The pope was rushed to the hospital on Both the universal and local nature ters this year celebrate the 75th anniver- Feb. 1 after he had trouble breathing. of the gift of religious life certainly was sary of their entrance into the religious life. Doctors at Gemelli diagnosed an “acute not lost on Providence Sister Ann A third Stier sister, Sister Mary Catherine laryngeal tracheitis,” or swelling in the Margaret O’Hara. Stier, is celebrating her 80th jubilee this throat, with “laryngeal spasms,” which cut The superior general of the religious year. off the air supply. The Vatican said the community based in Saint Mary-of-the- spasms had not recurred. Woods, Sister Ann Margaret gathered Left, Jesuit Brother John Buchman leads On Feb. 6, the pope pronounced a last November with religious from the opening procession for the World Day Sunday blessing in a weak voice from his around the world at the second of Consecrated Life Mass celebrated at SS. hospital window and waved to well-wish- International Congress on Consecrated Peter and Paul Cathedral in Indianapolis on ers. The 10-minute appearance offered the Life held in Rome. Feb. 6. Brother Buchman, who joined the first public glimpse of the 84-year-old Her religious vocation blossomed Society of Jesus in 1951 from St. Therese of See POPE, page 9 more than 50 years ago while she was a the Infant Jesus (Little Flower) Parish in member of St. Anthony of Padua Parish Indianapolis, has ministered at Brebeuf See CONSECRATED, page 10 Sean Gallagher Photos by Jesuit Preparatory School since 1971. Indiana Catholic Conference working on legislation benefiting Catholic school students By Brigid Curtis Ayer students. bus routes. As a result of this law, stu- One measure, the Transportation of dents at approximately 30 percent of “While it may be a matter of choice, School Students bill, House Bill 1798, Indiana’s non-public schools receive families who send their children to authored by Rep. Phyllis Pond, R-New transportation on public school buses. Catholic, or Haven, and co-authored by Rep. Marlin According to the Indiana Department other non-pub- Stutzman, R-Howe, and Rep. Bill Davis, of Education, approximately 11,000 non- lic schools, R-Portland, was amended to affirm the public school students, or less than 10 deserve fair existing state law which requires public percent of the state’s non-public student treatment,” school districts to provide transportation population, receive these services. said Glenn for Catholic and all non-public school “For many of the students who do Tebbe, executive director of the Indiana students. access this service, the availability of Catholic Conference, who is lobbying for For more than 30 years, Indiana law transportation is absolutely critical to their legislation in the General Assembly that has required non-public school students to ability to choose a non-public school,” would benefit Catholic schools and be given access to existing public school See LEGISLATURE, page 8 Page 2 The Criterion Friday, February 11, 2005 archdiocese—if it weren’t for the grants, some of those ministries might not exist. MISSIONS Submitted photo continued from page 1 “I think we would have had to cut a program, and I would hate to say what couple of years because of the loss of jobs program we would cut,” she said. and population in Fayette County, said The presence of the Catholic parish is Father Stanley Herber, pastor. an important one for the whole commu- Parishioners have volunteered at the nity, Father Herber said, not least of all parish, doing tasks that used to be paid because it is the only Catholic church in services. the county—but also because many of the Father Herber said that the parish has local leaders are members of the parish. worked hard to keep the Sunday collec- “The life of the whole community is tion mostly level, but it has not been just very much strengthened by the enough to erase the deficit in the parish’s Catholic people,” he said. operating budget. These hard years, which seem to be Since July 2002, the parish has easing up, Father Herber said, have given received $67,000 in home mission aid the Catholic community a greater sense of from the Saint Francis Xavier Home ownership and life in the parish. Mission Fund, said Pamela Rader, busi- The archdiocesan grants have “given ness manager. us a sense that we are still holding our The funding “helped alleviate some of own,” he said. “It certainly has been a the burden of our parishioners having to wonderful help because we’ve been able come up with the funds,” she said. to move forward with things that need to The most important ministry of the be done around here.” parish, Father Herber said, is the school, “I think it’s wonderful that the arch- and with dropping numbers of students all bishop started this home mission grant in over the county and already low tuition, it the archdiocese,” Rader said. has been difficult. It is important for the parish to con- “We want to really keep our school tinue on, she said, because the parish has going at all costs,” he said. a long tradition in the county. It is more Offering a Catholic education to the than 150 years old. Father Stanley Herber, pastor of St. Gabriel Parish in Connersville, speaks to children of the parish dur- youth of the area is something that “you “We have a lot yet to accomplish,” she ing the children’s Christmas Mass.