Notes & News(Follow the bouncing ball.)

Jesuit Father Anthony de Mello’s works have been criticized by the Vatican declaring that positions of the best-selling Indian author’s writings present God as an impersonal cosmic reality, organized religion as an obstacle to self-awareness, and Jesus as one master among many. Fr. de Mello, who died in 1987, wrote numerous books on personal spirituality. While his early writings remained within the boundaries of Christian spirituality, later ones are faulted for the author‘s notion that divine revelation was not to be found in the words of Scripture, but rather in silence according to the Vatican.

Project Rachel Healing Mass for babies who have died before or shortly after birth, will be held at 11:00 am, Oct 17, at Holy Cross Cemetery, Colma. The Mass is sponsored by the Archdiocese of San Francisco, Respect for Life Commission.

The Library of Congress had a recent exhibit called "Religion and the Founding of the American Republic" which showed the vital role that faith played in the early years of the nation. Several artifacts noted Catholic practices and one focused on an address given by Bishop John England of Charleston, S.C. in 1826 before the US. House of Representatives. He boldly proclaimed the beliefs of his faith while at the same time stressing Catholic compatibility with the nation. He allayed myths regarding Catholic practices and addressed anti-Catholic remarks made by President John Quincy Adams before he became president.

Bishop England launched the first American Catholic weekly newspaper in the U.S. The Catholic Press Association presents an annual publisher’s award in his name. For more information about the Church in the US, read the American Catholic by Charles R. Morris, ISBN 0-8129-2049-X

Letty Ramos, Visitation Parish, SF, has been appointed by Archbishop Levada to succeed Norma Calip as the Assistant Liaison, Filipino Community for the Charismatic Renewal. Norma Calip, Corpus Christi Parish, remains on the Renewal Board of Directors .

Norma McCorvey, the Jane Roe of the 1973 Abortion Ruling which legalized most methods of abortion, was accepted into the Catholic Church recently at St. Thomas Aquinas Church, Dallas. McCorvey is now involved in the pro-life movement.

Regular religious worship and prayer help the elderly maintain lower blood pressure, according to a new study by researchers at the Duke University Medical Center, Durham. Researchers found that those who attended religious services and prayed weekly or studied the Bible at least once a week were 40 percent less likely to have high diastolic pressure or hypertension usually associated with heart attacks and strokes, than those who do not participate regularly in either activity.

A Healing Mass sponsored by the Association of Christian Therapists will be held at St. Albert the Great Church, 1095 Channing (at Melvile) Palo Alto, 7:00 pm, on October 23, 1998. Fr. Richard McAlear, O.M.I., will preside. Phone Mary An at (650)494-2496 ext. 15 for more information and directions.

Pax Christi USA, a national Catholic peace movement, urged prayer and fasting for peace, vigils, demonstrations and other actions to express opposition to the use of violence in battling terrorism. The National Conference of Catholic Bishops has not issued a statement on the recent missile strikes but a recent article in the National Catholic Register suggests that many Catholic theologians agree that the attacks are moral within the premise of the "just war theory" of the bishops’ pastoral letter, The Challenge of Peace, issued in 1983.

A dissenting opinion comes the director of the Interfaith Fellowship of Reconciliation, from Jesuit Fr. John Dear. He quotes the late Bishop Carroll Dozier of Memphis, who said, "The just war theory belongs in the same drawer as the flat earth theory." Fr. Dear said, "I believe the just war theory doesn’t hold any more because of the kinds of weapons we now have. Terrorism cannot be stopped by further terrorism. We call for creative non-violent means to solve international conflict", according to the NCR.

Cardinal William H. Keeler, Baltimore, US Episcopal Moderator of Catholic-Jewish Relations, met recently with Rabbi Jack Bemporad, director of the Center for Inter-religious Understanding at Ramapo College, Mahwah, NJ, and Imam Abdulmalik Mohamed, leader of the Muslim American Society, for a three-way dialogue of Catholicism, Judaism and Islam, co-sponsored by the Catholic Focolare movement and the Baltimore Archdiocese at St. Mary’s Seminary and University, Baltimore. They agreed that love and mutual respect are crucial to interfaith dialogue.

•Single Catholics Online http://www.singlecatholics.com is aimed at 18 and older singles who are looking for other serious, loyal to the faith, single Catholics to share life experiences.

World Rosary Day will be celebrated Oct 31. Prayer Groups and churches who would like to participate in the World Rosary Day by organizing an event in their city can contact rosario@churchforum.or.mx. The plans call for the simultaneous prayer of many rosaries throughout the seven continents.

"Pray American Back to God!" Pray USA is on the web at http://www.usprayertrack.org

United States Bishops’ web site offers answers to wide range of questions about the Catholic Church and practical information: http://www.nccbuscc.org . You can also check to see if a movie is appropriate for your children to see: http://www.nccbuscc.org/comm/archives/98-076.htm

This page is selected from the October 1998 edition of the San Francisco Charismatics, a member of the Catholic Press Association. © 1998 San Francisco Charismatics (ISSN 1098-4046). All rights reserved. If you would like to be on the mail list to receive a montly hard copy of our newsletter (USA only), please e-mail us your address.

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