TheDialog.pdf - Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor, LLP

Serving the Catholic community of Delaware and Maryland's Eastern ShoreMarch 4, 2010Vol. 45, No. 9 T

HE OGDIAL

www.cdow.org/dialog.html

Best films of 2009 3

A project

agesMore than a decade ago

a North Carolina man went looking for his family’s roots

in Wilmington. Many volunteerhours later, local Catholics have

a valuable genealogical toolonline — parish sacramental

records from before 1900.Story, page 10

Ten receive papal honorsMajor study

of U.S. parishlife underway.

Page 4

Seven laypeople, two priests, and one sister cited for serviceDialog report

Ten men and women, including two religious-order priests, one woman religious,and seven laypeople, have beenawarded papal honors by PopeBenedict XVI for service to thechurch, Bishop Malooly hasannounced.

Receiving the Benemerenti Medalare Thomas Connelly Jr., Carl Dan-berg, Brother Ronald Giannone, Sis-ter Maria Mairlot, Father JosephMcLaughlin, Jack Raughley, andDarryl Simms, who is being honoredposthumously. The Benemerenti(“good merit”) Medal recognizesindividuals for exceptional accomplishments and ser-

vice to the church. Created in 1791 by Pope Pius VI,it depicts the image of Christ on a gold Greek cross.

Receiving the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice Cross areDorothy Arthur, Anthony Flynn, andDr. Eileen Schmitt. The Pro Ecclesiaet Pontifice (“for church and pope”)Cross was established in 1888 byPope Leo XIII and is given for distin-guished service to the church. Themedal includes a Greek-shaped crosswith an image of saints Peter and Paulin the middle.

The recipients will be formallyhonored during a ceremony May 30 at4 p.m. at St. John the Beloved Churchin Wilmington, along with four priestswho were recently named chaplains to

See Honors, page 3

The awards are the Pro Eccle-sia et Pontifice Cross (left)and the Benemerenti medal.

4

FOR THE

4

4

Church groupsaddress mythsBy Gary MortonStaff reporter

Church ministries and otherfaith-based organizations inDelaware that serve immigrantsand other underserved popula-tions are trying to counter somemyths as they promote participa-tion in the 2010 Census.

Census forms are beingmailed this month as part of thegovernment’s effort every 10years to get an accurate count ofthe people living in each state.April 1 is Census Day, which theCensus Bureau uses as a targetdate for returning completedforms by mail.

Maria Velasquez, communityorganizer for the Hispanic advo-cacy group Voices Without Bor-ders, urges all people to answerthe 10 questions on the formwhen it arrives. Among the ques-tions are how many people live atan address, their names and sex,and other demographic informa-tion.

One of the major mythsVelasquez battles among manyLatinos and other immigrants,especially those without properdocumentation, is that Immigra-tion and Customs Enforcementofficers will use the informationto deport them. By law,Velasquez said, census informa-tion “can’t be used for immigra-tion issues or anything like that. Idon’t think the community isaware of that.” None of the ques-tions asks whether the respondentis a citizen or has proper docu-mentation.

Voices Without Borders,which has offices at St. PaulParish in Wilmington, is one ofseveral church ministries and

Quellingimmigrants’census fears

See Census, page 2

2 THE DIALOG March 4, 2010

SATURDAY, MARCH 6• Confirmation, Ss. Peter

and Paul, Easton, Md., 11 a.m.SUNDAY, MARCH 7

• Mass and Knights ofColumbus Breakfast of Cham-pions, Christ Our King, Wilm-ington, 10 a.m.MONDAY, MARCH 8

• Mount St. Mary’s Univer-

sity board meet-ing, Emmitsburg, Md., 9 a.m.TUESDAY, MARCH 9

• Catholic Diocese Founda-tion meeting, 1626 Union St.,Wilmington, 1 p.m.WEDNESDAY, MARCH 10

• Diocesan Finance Council,1626 Union St., Wilmington,12:30 p.m.

Bishop Malooly’sschedule

Official newspaper of the Diocese of Wilmington

(USPS - 152440)

Publisher - MOST REV. W. FRANCIS MALOOLY

Editor-General ManagerJIM GRANTAssistant EditorJOSEPH KIRK RYANCopy EditorMIKE LANGPhotographerDON BLAKE

Member: Catholic Press AssociationThe Dialog is published 45 weeks per year (biweekly inJune, July & August) by The Catholic Press of Wilmington,Inc. Offices at 1925 Delaware Ave., Wilmington, Del. Subscription price is $20 annually.Periodicals postage paid at Wilmington, DEOffice Hours: Mon.—Fri., 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.Mailing Address: The Dialog, P. O. Box 2208, Wilmington, DE 19899-2208

TELEPHONE: Newsroom (302) 573-3109 Advertising (302) 573-3112 FAX (302) 573-6948E-Mail [email protected]

[email protected] Website: www.cdow.org/dialog.html

Send all news releases and photos to mailing addressabove. Send address changes to The Dialog, P.O. Box2208, Wilmington, DE 19899. Not responsible forunsolicited materials.

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THE 2009-10 DIRECTORYOF THE DIOCESE OF WILMINGTON

Order your copy now. Call 573-3109.

organizations in the dioceseworking with the Census Bureauon this year’s count. Othersinclude the diocesan Ministry forBlack Catholics, Hispanic Min-istry, Catholic Charities, andSeton Center, a Catholic Charitiesoutreach center in Princess Anne,Md. They are providingbrochures and other informationand encouraging their clients toparticipate.

“From a social justice stand-point, the census is important inthat it impacts how federalresources are allocated” forschools, roads, and social ser-vices, said Andy Zampini, direc-tor of Catholic Charities’ ParishSocial Ministry. “It is importantfor all to participate, but it is espe-cially important for underservedpopulations to participate so thatthey are counted for when itcomes to the allocation ofresources.”

After April 1, census workerswill visit households that did notreturn a form. The bureau isrequired to provide populationinformation to Washington inDecember. That information willbe used to distribute $400 billion

in federal funding.Alejandro Aguilera-Titus,

assistant director for Hispanicaffairs for the U.S. Conference ofCatholic Bishops, said threegroups are historically under-counted: “the new immigrant,those who are isolated due to littleknowledge of English, and thelow-income.”

The church, through ministriessuch as Seton Center in SomersetCounty, Md., reaches out to peo-ple in the categories Aguilera-Titus cited. Somerset County isthe poorest in Maryland, with aper capita annual income of$24,053.

“They trust us,” Sister ReginaHudson said of the center’sclients. “If we share with them it’sOK to tell how many people areliving in your house, they say‘Oh, OK.’ They realize it’s goingto be alright.”

In Wilmington, Velasquezunderstands some of the concernsnew arrivals have; she came to theU.S. from Colombia 10 yearsago. “It’s hard for some Latinosto understand a government doingsomething good,” she said, sincesome come from nations withcorrupt governments.

Within Hispanic communities,she said, frustration over immi-gration issues sometimes leads toa feeling “that undocumentedimmigrants can’t even be countedas real people in this country.”

“Here’s a chance to be countedfor something that matters,”Velasquez said. “This is only tocount you as a human being liv-ing and breathing and sometimeseven working in this country. It’sa count of the population and howmany of each ethnicity is in thecountry.”

Dialog report

The harsh winter weather has taken a toll on foodsupplies at Catholic Charities’ food distributionoutlets in the diocese. Demand is up and donationsare down. Through its “Stock the Pantry” program,the agency is again asking for contributions of non-perishable food and grocery store gift cards that canbe dropped off at Catholic Charities locations and11 churches in the diocese starting Saturday andending March 28.

“The heavy snowfall and cold temperatures,along with the continuing poor economic climate,have placed great demands on our emergencypantries and our food distribution programs,” saidRichelle Vible, Charities’ executive director. “Overthe last two years, our communities have donatedover 20,000 pounds of food. Unfortunately,Catholic Charities distributes that much food in onemonth. The need is constant.”

Catholic Charities coordinates food cooperativeprograms at Casa San Francisco in Milton, BayardHouse in Wilmington, and Seton Center in PrincessAnne, Md. Those programs distribute food month-ly to qualified participants, along with informationabout shopping on a budget, menu planning, andnutrition. Casa San Francisco and Seton Centeralso operate emergency food pantries; demand at

those pantries doubled from 2008 to 2009, theagency reported.

Donations may be made Monday through Fridaybetween 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. at the following loca-tions:

Catholic Charities’ main office, 2601 W.Fourth St., Wilmington, 655-9624

Bayard House, 300 Bayard Ave., Wilmington,654-1184

Kent County office, 1155 Walker Road, Dover,674-1600

Sussex County office, 406 S. Bedford St., Suite9, Georgetown, 856-9578

Casa San Francisco, 127 Broad St., Milton,684-8694

Eastern Shore office, 1201 Pemberton Drive,Suite 1-A, Salisbury, Md., (410) 749-1121

Seton Center, 30632 Hampden Ave., PrincessAnn, Md., (410) 651-9608

Casa San Francisco and Bayard House canaccept donations 7 days a week. Call ahead beforemaking a donation.

Monetary donations also are accepted. Onlinedonations may be made at www.cdow.org/ccdonation.html; choose “Food Distribution Programs” asthe designated ministry.

For food distribution program guidelines, call

Catholic Charities’ needs foodto restock pantries in diocese

Continued from page 1

Census

The Census Bureau has pro-duced material for peoplewho work with immigrants.

On the coverPhotograph of St. Mary’s in Wilmington (top, circa 1905)courtesy of the Delaware Historical Society; Photo of TheCathedral of St. Peter by Don Blake/The Dialog.

See Food, page 5

His Holiness Pope Benedict XVIand given the title of monsignor:Msgrs. Charles Brown, GeorgeBrubaker, John Hopkins andDaniel McGlynn.

Bishop Malooly said the newhonorees, like the new mon-signors, were selected from a listhe developed with his predecessorBishop Michael A. Saltarelli’shelp last summer, just monthsbefore Bishop Saltarelli died inOctober.

“We tried to think of men andwomen, laity and outstanding reli-gious, who were active during his12 years and during my 10months. I felt this was an opportu-nity to honor those who servedhim so well and people I was find-ing out were serving me well.”

The bishop said Simms’ papalhonor had been approved inRome before his death in Decem-ber at age 56; members of hisfamily will participate in the May30 ceremony.

Here are brief descriptions ofthe honorees’ service to thechurch:

• Dorothy Arthur, a memberof St. Anthony of Padua Parish inWilmington, was a founder of thefirst radio ministry of the diocese,“Catholic Forum of the Air,” forwhich she wrote scripts andhelped produce for 25 years. Shewas also a television pioneer inthe diocese with the CatholicTelevision Guild, which produceda weekly half-hour show withCatholic themes from 1950 to1957. At St. Anthony’s, Arthurhelped revive the Lenten dramaVia Crucis, writing the script 50years ago for the annual presenta-tion of the Passion of the Lord anddirecting it for 44 years. Nowretired, she lives in West Grove,Pa.

• Thomas M. Connelly Jr., amember of St. Joseph on theBrandywine Parish in Greenville,is executive vice president andchief innovation officer at theDuPont Co. He formerly servedon the board of directors ofCatholic Charities and has been amember of the Circle of Honor ofthe Diocese of Wilmington for hissupport of the Annual Catholic

Appeal. In May 2008 he wasnamed a co-chairman of Visionfor the Future 2008, a $6 millionmajor-gifts campaign to raiseendowment funds for tuitionassistance to Catholic schools. Hetaught religious education at St.Joseph’s and was involved inyouth ministry at St. Ann’s inWilmington in the 1980s.

• Carl Danberg, a member ofSt. John’s-Holy Angels Parish inNewark, is commissioner of theDelaware Department of Correc-tion, taking office three years ago.Delaware’s attorney general fromDecember 2005 to January 2007,he serves on the boards of direc-tors of Mount Aviat Academy inChilds, Md., and the St. Patrick’sDay Society, which supports theSt. Patrick’s Senior Center inWilmington through activitiessuch as an annual Communionbreakfast. He is an extraordinaryminister of the Eucharist at hisparish, a member of the Knightsof Columbus, and serves in theDelaware National Guard.

• Anthony G. Flynn, a memberof St. Ann’s Parish in Wilming-ton, is a partner at YoungConaway Stargatt & Taylor, legalcounsel for the Diocese of Wilm-ington, a member of the NationalDiocesan Attorneys Association

and a founding member of thediocesan St. Thomas More Soci-ety, a Catholic organization forthose in the legal profession. AtSt. Ann’s he has served on theparish council, including as presi-dent; the parish census commit-tee; and the Centennial Commit-tee. A graduate of ArchmereAcademy, he is legal counsel tothat school, a member of its exec-utive committee and former mem-ber of its board of trustees. In2001, he chaired the executivecommittee of the Committee toSave Archmere. He is a formerexecutive officer of the Diocese ofWilmington’s pastoral counciland served on the diocese’s plan-ning task force on parishes andschools in the 1990s.

• Brother Ronald Giannone isthe founder and executive directorof the Ministry of Caring, a net-work of social-service facilitiesand programs in Wilmington.Brother Ronald, a Capuchin Fran-ciscan priest ordained in 1990,began the ecumenical Ministry ofCaring in 1977. Since then, theministry has grown to includemore than 20 facilities and offersfood, shelter, job placement, edu-cation, child care, before- andafter-school programs, andaffordable housing for seniors.

Brother Ronald received theMsgr. Thomas J. Reese Awardfrom Catholic Charities in 1994for his “deep commitment to pro-moting and restoring the well-being of people.”

• Sister Maria Mairlot, amember of the Carmelites ofCharity Vedruna, is active in His-panic ministry at St. Michael theArchangel in Georgetown, whereshe directs the Spanish-languagechoir and the Hispanic religiouseducation program for adults andchildren. She and fellowCarmelite Sister Rosa Alvarezmoved to Georgetown in 1995 tohelp meet the needs of Latinos.She serves on the board of direc-tors and volunteers at La Esperan-za, a Georgetown outreach pro-gram to help migrants assimilateinto society, and has worked forDelmarva Rural Ministries. SisterMaria received a Governor’s Out-standing Volunteer Award inDelaware in 2003.

• Father Joseph McLaughlinis in his second stint as headmas-ter of Archmere Academy inClaymont, a post he has held since2006. Ordained in 1970, he cameto Archmere that year to teachEnglish, public speaking and reli-gion. He became headmaster in1983, serving in that post until

1996. The Norbertine priestreturned to Archmere in 2001 andwas its chaplain until his selectionas headmaster. He will step downas headmaster at the end of thisschool year but will remain atArchmere as chaplain and directorof mission and heritage.

• John “Jack” Raughley is apast state deputy for the DelawareCouncil of the Knights of Colum-bus. He is a member of theChristopher Council and the Bish-op Thomas J. Mardaga Fourth-Degree Assembly, both in Clay-mont. As a fourth-degree knight,he helped coordinate transporta-tion for visiting bishops for theinstallation of Bishop Maloolyand the funeral of Bishop MichaelSaltarelli. He also was in the colorcorps for Pope Benedict XVI’sMass at Nationals Stadium inWashington two years ago. He isa member of Immaculate Heart ofMary Parish in Wilmington,where he has been involved inperpetual adoration since itsinception more than a decade ago.He is a retired financial and sys-tems manager in the insuranceindustry.

• Dr. Eileen Schmitt is knownfor her medical outreach to thepoor and homeless throughoutthe diocese. After leaving herposition as president and chiefexecutive officer of St. FrancisHospital in 2001, she becamemedical director of the St. ClareMedical Van for six years, mak-ing rounds throughout the Wilm-ington area to provide free healthcare to those who could notafford it. She received the Msgr.Thomas J. Reese Award fromCatholic Charities in 2006 andserves on the diocesan board thatreviews allegations of sexualabuse. She is now in privatepractice.

• Darryl Simms, director of theMinistry for Black Catholics forthe diocese from 2003 to 2009,died in December at age 56. Hewas a member of St. Joseph’sParish on French Street in Wilm-ington and served as president ofits parish council. He also sang inthe parish choir and with thediocesan gospel choir. He was aKnight of Peter Claver, Knight ofColumbus, member of the dioce-san school board and a foundingmember of the Delaware Allianceof Catholic School Parents.

March 4, 2010 THE DIALOG 3

The Dialog wants to hear about yourfamily’s faith traditions, past and pre-sent. Besides attending Sunday Masstogether, what traditions connected toyour Catholic faith have developed inyour family over the years?

Is there a religious item treasured byfamily members over the years? Doyou recite the rosary or other prayers

as a family at home? Do you celebratefirst Communions with a traditionalgift or other family custom? Does yourfamily gather at a favorite place for ameal after Mass on Sundays? Is there aretreat house favored by the family? Adevotion to a particular saint? A parishevent or social service venue wherefamily members faithfully volunteer?

Describe your family’s faith traditionand its significance to your family in200 words or less and send it byMarch 8 to Elissa Serrao at [email protected] or to FamilyFaith Traditions, The Dialog, Box2208, Wilmington, DE 19899. Pho-tographs illustrating your tradition arealso welcome.

What are your family’s faith traditions?Faith and the family

Honors

Father JosephMcLaughlin

Brother RonaldGiannone

Sister MariaMairlot

Thomas Connelly Jr.

Carl Danberg

Jack Raughley Darryl Simms

Dorothy Arthur Anthony Flynn

Dr. Eileen Schmitt


By Catholic News Service

WASHINGTON — Re-searchers are working on an in-depth study of Catholic parishlife in the United States.

The study is being conductedby the Center for AppliedResearch in the Apostolate,based at Georgetown Universityin Washington, on behalf of theEmerging Models of PastoralLeadership Project.

“This research will provide theU.S. church with the most com-prehensive and accurate pictureof parish life” since a NotreDame study of parishes was con-ducted in the 1980s, said MercySister Mary Bendyna, CARA’sexecutive director and seniorresearch associate.

“Among other things,” shesaid the study will “examine the

new models and new structuresfor parish ministry that areemerging as parishes are reorga-nized and the people they serveare more diverse.”

The first phase of the research— currently under way —involves a series of surveys thathave been sent to representativesamples of Catholic parishes inthe United States. The initial sur-veys will be followed by an in-depth study of parish leaders andparishioners at approximately 60parishes, including a sample of35 parishes that reflects thediversity of geographic region,demography, and size of U.S.parishes.

The study also will examineparishes that do not have pastorsbecause of a lack of priests aswell as multicultural parishesand parishes using multiple-

parish ministry.An interim analysis of the

research results is expected inthe late spring, with a full reportto be issued by early summer,said Trish Sullivan Vanni, pro-ject director for the EmergingModels of Pastoral LeadershipProject, which commissioned thestudy.

The second of three phases ofthe research, the in-depth study at60 parishes, would begin aroundSeptember, with initial results duein January or February of 2011,she said. Initial results of the thirdphase, the in-pew parishionerstudy, are expected in mid-2011,with a full report on the researchfindings to follow in late 2011.

Researchers hope the data willprovide pastoral leaders with acomprehensive overview ofCatholic parishes and a detailed

picture of emerging trends inareas such as:

• Opportunities and chal-lenges in multicultural parishes.

• Young adult involvement inparish life and pastoral leader-ship.

• Changing patterns in parishstaffing and compensation.

• Ministry in parishes thatshare a pastor and/or staff.

• The roles of business man-agers and finance councils.

• Experiences of parishionersin parishes administered byparish life coordinators.

The Emerging Models of Pas-toral Leadership Project is an ini-tiative of the Washington-basedNational Association for LayMinistry with the Conference forPastoral Planning and CouncilDevelopment in New York City;the National Association of

Church Personnel Administra-tors, based in Cincinnati; theNational Catholic Young AdultMinistry Association, which hasoffices in Washington and theChicago area; and the NationalFederation of Priests’ Councils,which is in Chicago.

The project is funded by theLilly Endowment, and recentlyreceived a $1 million renewalgrant from Lilly for research ini-tiatives focused on parish leader-ship.

Since 2004, the EmergingModels of Pastoral LeadershipProject has conducted a series ofresearch symposiums and sur-veys on such topics as the bestpractices of pastoral leaders; pas-toring multiple parishes; the nextgeneration of pastoral leaders;human resources; and diversityin Catholic parishes

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Fire destroys historic rectoryDialog report

HOCKESSIN — The 198-year-old rectory of the firstCatholic Church in Delawarewas gutted by fire Feb. 10.

The three-story stone farm-house, on Lancaster Pike southof Hockessin, sits on the site ofthe Coffee Run Mission, estab-lished in 1772. The house wasbuilt as a rectory in 1812 underthe supervision of FatherPatrick Kenny, pastor of thechurch that was named St.Mary of the Assumption about1790. The house is listed on theNational Register of HistoricPlaces.

The fire has been ruledarson by the Cranston HeightsFire Company and was beinginvestigated, according to areport in the Feb. 28 Commu-nity News. The property’sowner — WCNJ, LLC, man-aged by commercial redevel-opment company HarveyHanna and Associates — saidthe building was no longereconomically viable forrestoration and would be torndown as a safety hazard,according to the news report.A stone barn and other struc-tures on the property survivedthe blaze, which occurred dur-

ing the Feb. 10-11 majorsnowstorm, but a demolitionpermit had been issued forthose buildings prior to thefire, according to the report.

The original St. Mary’s logchurch was replaced in 1850by another log structure that

was used until 1882, when St.John the Evangelist Churchopened to the north inHockessin. That church be-came the current St. Mary ofthe Assumption in 1965.

Father Kenny died in 1840and is buried at Coffee Run

Cemetery, adjacent to thefarmhouse property. Thecemetery is closed but is stillmaintained by the Diocese ofWilmington. The 1850 churchwas razed in 1908, and thediocese sold the rectory in1912.

The Dialog/Don Blake

A three-story stone farmhouse near Hockessin that served as the rectory of the first CatholicChurch in Delaware was gutted by fire Feb. 10. The farmhouse, built in 1812, is listed on theNational Register of Historic Places.

Food

Send comments to The Dialog, P.O. Box 2208, Wilmington, DE 19899, or email [email protected].

Casa San Francisco at 684-8694, Bayard House at 654-1184, or Seton Center at (410)651-9608.

Churches accepting dona-tions are: St. Ann, St. Catherineof Siena, and Immaculate Heartof Mary in Wilmington; St.Elizabeth Ann Seton, Bear;Holy Cross, Dover; St. Poly-carp, Smyrna; St. John theApostle, Milford; St.Bernadette, Harrington; St.Jude, Lewes; St. Edmond,Rehoboth Beach; and St. JohnNeumann, Berlin, Md. Checkwith the parish for drop-offtimes.

Suggested donation itemsinclude:

Canned goods like spaghetti,chicken, chili, tuna, salmon,beef stew, corned beef hash,beans, soups, vegetables, andfruit; boxes of pasta, macaroniand cheese, crackers, cereal,oatmeal, and pancake mix; jarsof peanut butter and jelly; juice,coffee, tea, hot cocoa mix,instant breakfasts; shelf-stablemilk, either dry or evaporated;baby food and cereal; condi-ments like spreads, ketchup,mustard, relish, barbecue sauce,pickles and syrup.


6 THE DIALOG March 4, 2010LOCAL

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Md. bishops oppose recognizingsame-sex unions from other statesBy Catholic News Service

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Maryland’s Catholicbishops took “strong exception” to a Feb. 24 opin-ion by Maryland’s attorney general stating that stateagencies should recognize same-sex marriages per-formed in other states.

“We trust our legislature and the people of Mary-land will also object, and will act accordingly tocounteract this opinion,” said a jointstatement released Feb. 24 by Arch-bishop Edwin F. O’Brien of Balti-more, Archbishop Donald W. Wuerlof Washington and Bishop W. Fran-cis Malooly of Wilmington, whosedioceses include parts of Maryland.

The statement was released by theMaryland Catholic Conference, thepublic policy arm of the state’s bish-ops, based in Annapolis.

Attorney General Douglas Ganslerissued the opinion on same-sex marriage inresponse to a legislator’s request he look into aquestion some say in unclear in state law.

Maryland is one of 41 states with a statute thatdefines marriage as only between a man and awoman. Measures to allow same-sex marriages inMaryland have failed, although the state’s lawmakershave extended some benefits to same-sex couples.

Although it will not change state law, Gansler’sopinion can guide Maryland officials. The attorneygeneral’s office, for example, can defend a stateagency in court for recognizing a same-sex mar-riage from another state.

Legislation stating that Maryland would recog-nize same-sex marriages performed in other states

has not made it through the General Assembly.The bishops noted that the General Assembly has

“repeatedly and explicitly upheld Maryland’s defi-nition of marriage ‘between a man and a woman’even as certain limited benefits have been extendedto same-sex couples.”

They said the attorney general’s opinion “chipsaway at our society’s foundational institution” anddemonstrates a “fundamental disregard for the

nature and purpose of marriage andits impact on society, as well as forthe expressed will of the legislatureand previous attorney general opin-ions.”

“We urge lawmakers, the gover-nor and the courts to uphold the def-inition of marriage through allappropriate means,” the bishopsstressed.

The bishops said they “respect thedignity of homosexual persons and

roundly reject all unjust discrimination againstthem,” but noted that Maryland’s marriage statutereflects the “convictions of Maryland’s citizens andtheir legislators.”

They noted marriage between a man and awoman is not “merely a fact of religious faith or aninstitution established by civil authorities” but is“invariably reserved to the union of one man andone woman because of their unique ability to bringchildren into the world, thus forming a stable andsecure foundation for our society.”

“Allowing the decisions of out-of-state jurisdic-tions or courts to dictate public policy in Marylandundermines the proper role of the legislature and thecitizens they represent,” the bishops added.

Maryland’s bishopssay the attorneygeneral’s opiniondemonstrates a

fundamentaldisregard for the

“nature and purposeof marriage.”

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“Celebrate Life Day” scheduled forApril 18 at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

WILMINGTON — The diocesan Office for Religious Educa-tion will hold its annual “Celebrate Life Day” for people with spe-cial needs and their families and friends on April 18 at St. Eliza-beth Ann Seton Church, 345 Bear-Christiana Road, Bear.

The day includes Mass with Bishop Malooly at 4 p.m. and alight supper to follow. Those who plan to attend are asked to bringtwo or three cans of food for the parish food closet.

To register, call the Office for Religious Education at 573-3130by March 24.

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Church won’t fault Spain’s king for signing abortion lawBy Catholic News Service

MADRID, Spain — If KingJuan Carlos of Spain signs a newlaw easing restrictions on abor-tion, as he is constitutionallyrequired, the country’s bishopswill not take action against him,the general secretary of the Span-ish bishops’ conference said.

As the law was being debated,Spain’s bishops had said Catholicmembers of parliament who voteto liberalize abortion would placethemselves outside the churchand should not receive Commu-nion.

“That his majesty the kingmust sanction this law with hissignature is a unique situation. Noother citizen would encounterthis,” and so “general principles”cannot be applied, said AuxiliaryBishop Juan Antonio Martinez

Camino ofM a d r i d ,conferenceg e n e r a lsecretary.

B i s h o pMar t inezspoke tothe press atthe end of ameeting ofthe perma-nent com-mission ofthe bish-ops’ con-ference Feb. 25, which also wasthe day after Spain’s Parliamentnarrowly approved a law easinglongstanding restrictions on abor-tion.

In a vote of 132-126, membersof Parliament passed the lawremoving all restrictions on abor-

tion up to the14th week ofp r e g n a n c yand extend-ing legalabortion to22 weeks ofgestation ifthe life of themother is atrisk or if thefetus showssigns of seri-ous malfor-mations.

A s k e drepeatedly about church sanc-tions against the king and againstCatholic members of Parliamentwho voted for the law, BishopMartinez said the bishops “haveexcommunicated no one,” butthose who actively supported thelaw have seriously separated

themselves from the church andshould not receive Communion.

The situation of a politicianwho can vote and the king whomust sign the law “are differentconsiderations,” he said.

Pro-life Catholics have begunan Internet-based petition drive toconvince King Juan Carlos not tosign the law.

“Please, Your Majesty, do notsanction this new holocaust withyour signature,” the petition said.By noon Feb. 26, the Internet sitereported receiving almost 57,700signatures.

The late King Baudouin of Bel-gium faced a similar dilemma in1990 when his nation’s Parlia-ment passed a bill liberalizingabortion.

Saying his conscience andCatholic faith would not allowhim to sign the bill, he worked

out an agreement with parliamentallowing him to resign for lessthan 48 hours. During his tempo-rary abdication, the country’scouncil of ministers assumed theking’s powers and signed the bill.Parliament then reinstated theking.

Ending their spring meetingFeb. 25, members of the Spanishbishops’ conference said Spain’snew law takes “attacks on the lifeof those about to be born, con-verting them into a right.”

The statement also said thebishops wanted to remind“women tempted to abort or whohave already experienced thistragedy that they always will findmercy and comfort in theCatholic community. As a moth-er, the church understands theirproblems and will not leave themon their own.”

CNS/Reuters

Spain’s King Juan Carlos greets Car-dinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican'ssecretary of state, during the cardi-nal’s visit to Madrid last year.

Legionariesofficial asksforgiveness forfounder’s actsBy Catholic News Service

MEXICO CITY — The gen-eral secretary of the Legionariesof Christ asked for forgivenessfrom the people who wereharmed by the “immoral actions”of the order’s founder, FatherMarcial Maciel.

“We ask forgiveness becausewe are sincerely sorry for whatthe church and people have suf-fered,” Father Evaristo Sada saidduring the Youth and FamilyEncounter in the Mexican capitalFeb. 20.

The comments were the mostrecent in an effort by the order toovercome allegations of sexualabuse of seminarians by FatherMaciel and the subsequent reve-lation that the Mexican priestfathered at least one child.

Father Maciel died Jan. 30,2008, at 87. In 2006 after itsinvestigation, the Vatican orderedthe then-frail Father Maciel towithdraw to a life of prayer andpenance. The Vatican has sinceordered an apostolic visitation ofthe Legionaries. ArchbishopCharles J. Chaput of Denver isvisiting Legionaries seminariesand religious houses in the U.S.

Father Sada said an apostolicvisitors asked him if he felt as ifthe rug had been pulled out fromunder him when his superiors toldhim “about the immoral behav-iors in your founder’s life.”

“I answered, ‘I was not foundedon our founder,’” he said. “Myhuman handles collapsed, and thatis hard, but the rock I’m foundedon is firm. It is the rock of God’slove. I am founded on the certain-ty that this work is from God andthat I consecrated myself to God.”


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Church workers struggle to aid rural Chileans after quakeBy Barbara J. FraserCatholic News Service

LIMA, Peru — While mediaattention focused on looting inConcepcion, the largest city nearthe epicenter of the magnitude 8.8earthquake Feb. 27, CatholicChurch workers struggled toreach quake victims in rural areaswho are far from the spotlight.

“We are receiving funds tohelp the poorest people, who arein the countryside,” Father WaldoAlfaro, head of the Caritas Chileoffice in Linares, said in a tele-phone interview Monday. Linaresis in the Maule region, wheremost of the quake deathsoccurred.

“The entire coast was hard-hit,but this is an area where the poor-est rural residents live,” FatherAlfaro said. “Aid is not reachingthem because these are very smallvillages.”

Three trucks left Linares earlyTuesday to distribute supplies,especially food and water, to res-idents of far-flung villages in thefarming region. The greatest needis for milk, water, food, fuel andcots for victims, as well as assis-tance in rebuilding houses thatcollapsed in the quake, FatherAlfaro said.

The adobe houses common inthe poorest rural regions “are theones that collapsed,” he said. The

Linares office of Caritas, thechurch’s social assistance agency,is compiling an inventory of dam-aged and destroyed homes.

Meanwhile, buckled andcracked highways complicatedaid distribution.

“Roads are passable, but dan-gerous,” Father Alfaro said.

The national government issending aid to the region by shipto bypass the buckled roads, dam-aged bridges and crowds of peo-ple who swarm vehicles arrivingin urban areas, he said.

Between 30 and 40 churchesand chapels in the Linares Dio-cese were badly damaged ordestroyed, along with twoorphanages. In coastal villages,churches that remain standinghave been turned into makeshiftmorgues.

The official death toll is nearly730, with 542 of the confirmeddeaths in the Maule region. But“many people are still missing,”Father Alfaro said. “There aremany bodies that have not beenidentified.”

The last weekend in Februarymarked the end of summer vaca-tion for students, and many fami-lies were spending a few finaldays on the coast, camping on thebeach or visiting small resort andfishing villages.

The earthquake, which struckat 3:34 a.m., triggered a tidal

wave that was more than 30 feethigh in places and which sweptmore than a mile inland. Whilesome people reached highground, others were washedaway. Cars were left piled on topof houses, Father Alfaro said.

While church leaders mournedthe deaths, they also called forsolidarity and condemned thelooting of stores and businesses.

Archbishop Ricardo EzzatiAndrello of Concepcion calledthe pillaging a “second earth-quake.” Bishop Alejandro GoicKarmelic of nearby Rancagua,president of the Chilean bishops’conference, said it “strikes our

conscience” and “raises questionsfor us about deeply held values.”

Chilean President MichelleBachelet imposed a curfew inConcepcion and sent militarytroops to stem the looting. Cur-few hours were extended to noonTuesday.

President-elect Sebastian Pin-era, who was to take office March11, faces the task of reconstruc-tion, which he estimated couldcost between $15 billion and $30billion. Up to 500,000 houseswere badly damaged or destroyed.

In a statement issued Monday,Bishop Goic said the church was“praying for the eternal rest” of

those who had died and asking“the God of life for consolationand hope” for their families.

“We love this country, whichhas recovered from earthquakes,tidal waves, volcanic eruptionsand floods, a people that has risenin peace from death and violenceso many times in its history,” hesaid. “At a time of understandabledesperation, we call for calm andsolidarity, and intense family andcommunity prayer.”

In the United States, CardinalFrancis E. George of Chicago,president of the U.S. Conferenceof Catholic Bishops, offeredprayers for earthquake victims ina March 1 letter to Bishop Goic.

“I write to assure you of myprayers and those of my brotherbishops in the United States forall who have been affected by thistragedy,” Cardinal George wrote.“I assure you also of our prayersfor the church and for our brotherbishops of Chile.”

He told Bishop Goic thatCatholic Relief Services, the U.S.bishop’s international relief anddevelopment agency, “standsready to be of assistance to youand your Caritas groups as theywork to alleviate the sufferingcaused by the earthquake.”

Donations to CRS can madethrough its Web site atwww.cr s .o rg /ch i l e /mau le -quake.cfm.

CNS/Reuters

A resident looks at San Francisco de Curico Church March 1 afterit was damaged Feb. 27 in a major earthquake in Curico, Chile.

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ASTON, Pa. — Sister AlmaFrancis Collins, who was a

teacher andprincipal atC o r p u sC h r i s t iSchool inE l s m e r efrom 1967-69, diedFeb. 21 atA s s i s iHouse. AprofessedSister of St.Francis of

Philadelphia for 70 years, shewas 89.

A native of County Cork, Ire-land, Sister Alma Francis servedprimarily in elementary educa-tion, mainly in the archdiocesesof Philadelphia, Baltimore andWashington. She also worked atthe San Damiano Retreat Centerin Aston from 1985-89 and washouse treasurer at Our Lady ofAngels Convent from 1989-2005.

Services were at Assisi Houseon March 2, with burial in OurLady of Angels Cemetery.Donations in her name can bemade to the Sisters of St. Fran-cis Foundation, 609 S. ConventRoad, Aston, PA 19014.

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Address ChangesIf you have moved, or the mailing label on your Dialog is incorrect,please call 302-573-3109 or e-mail [email protected]

Bandingtogetherfor Haiti

High-school students gath-ered Saturday night at Ursu-line Academy in Wilmingtonfor Shake the Quake, afundraiser for Haiti earth-quake relief. The event, withperformances by highschool bands, raised almost$9,000, which will be given tothe American Red Cross,according to Ursuline. Orga-nizers estimate that about800 students from Ursuline,Padua, Salesianum, TowerHill, Tatnall and WilmingtonFriends participated.Shown standing from leftare: Amanda Doughten,Erika Stroh, Rachel Samples,Adria Rebbecchi, EmilyBerg, Candace Galentine,Fiona Curtis and PaigeGugerty. Kneeling from leftare: Noel Monzo, OliviaDiAntonio and Gab Perrotti.

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Wilmington maninducted intochivalric order

Stephen L. Hyde of St. Johnthe Beloved Parish in Wilm-

ington wasr e c e n t l yi n d u c t e dinto theEquestrianOrder of the

Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalemby Cardinal Edward Egan inNew York City.

The Knights of the HolySepulcher is an order ofchivalry under the patron-age of the Holy See.

Hyde has served on theboards of Ursuline Acade-my and the diocesanCatholic Youth Organiza-tion and on the parish coun-cil of St. John the Beloved.He is a member of theparish’s finance council anda board member at St.Mark’s High School and theCatholic Leadership Insti-tute.

LocalBrief


By Joseph RyanAssistant editor

On May 8, 1878, Anna Hart walkeddown the aisle of the Cathedral of St. Peterin Wilmington to marry Michael Lally, agrocer who was born in Ireland’s CountyRoscommon. Soon after, Father John A.Lyons dutifully recorded the Hart-Lallynuptials in the parish register.

Anna and Michael couldn’t have imag-ined it back then, but more than a centurylater, Joseph M. Lalley, one of their grand-sons, would look for information on hisgrandparents and find their marriagerecorded in St. Peter’s sacramental register.

And that’s why the Diocese of Wilming-ton now has older parishes’ baptismal andmarriage records up to the year 1900 avail-able online.

Anyone researching Catholic family his-tories in the diocese can visit the archivessection of the diocesan Web site —cdow.org/archives.html — and click on“Searchable Parish Sacramental Records”to find links to baptisms and marriages list-ed by parishes and surnames. Donn Devine,archivist for the diocese, believes no otherU.S. diocese offers parish records that areso thoroughly indexed, searchable and free.

The site, a godsend for Catholics tracingtheir family history, is the result of 10 yearsof persistence and work by Joe Lalley, aretired North Carolina school headmaster,and some 40 volunteers, all amateur geneal-ogists from the diocese, other states and asfar away as Ireland.

From one man’s search,project takes root

Michael and Anna Lally moved toPhiladelphia and raised eight children. Afterfinding his grandparents’ marriage in St.Peter’s register during a visit to Wilmingtonin the 1990s, Joe Lalley (the family addedan “e” to its name since his grandparents’time) became interested in the history of the

Irish in Wilmington and his family connec-tions in the area. As he gathered familyinformation, Lalley posted it on his ownWeb site.

During one of Lalley’s visits to the His-torical Society of Delaware, Nancy Lyons,who lives in St. Mary of the AssumptionParish in Hockessin and who was research-ing her own family history, overheard himdiscussing his First State connections.

“Are you connected with John Lalleywho married my grandfather’s sister?”Lyons asked.

Lalley wasn’t, but he and Lyons pooledtheir efforts to investigate all the Lalleysand Hart family members who had Wilm-ington connections. Lalley had help devel-oping his family-information Web site fromMichael Carroll, an IT expert who worksfor an Irish bank in County Galway.

In 2000, Lalley, Lyons and Carroll metwith Devine to discuss a massive project.

“Our goal was to transcribe all the sacra-mental records of the diocese,” Lalley said.

Over lunch, the four agreed to try tran-scribing the Cathedral parish’s baptismalrecords to Lalley’s Web site,www.lalley.com, as a first step toward theirlarger goal. “We did it in a month,” Lalleysaid.

Soon others were drawn to the project.“We started recruiting volunteers just byword of mouth,” Lalley said.

“People would see something of intereston the site and come forward as volun-teers,” Devine said. Often they were peoplewho had stopped at the diocesan archives

next to St. Joseph on the BrandywineChurch in Greenville to do family research.

From microfilm to Web siteWith Lalley living in North Carolina and

Carroll in Ireland, it was Lyons who coordi-nated volunteers as they transcribed parishrecords from archival microfilm or parishbooks for the Web site.

“My part in this was because I do a lot ofgenealogical research,” said Lyons, whogives talks on Irish family research.

She gave Lalley the names of the firstpeople who would be part of a group thattranscribed the records.

Lyons volunteered to “download” parishregister pages from microfilm, copy themand distribute the copies to volunteers whoentered the records of marriages and bap-tisms onto an Excel spreadsheet templatethat Carroll developed for Lalley’s site.

On the page of volunteer profiles on Lal-ley.com, Lyons is acknowledged as a primemover of the sacramental records project.“She has spent countless hours photocopy-ing microfilm records of the baptismal andmarriage records for the Roman CatholicDiocese of Wilmington and distributingthem on her own time and at her ownexpense to our volunteers as well as to oursite’s Web master,” it says.

Said Lyons: “I know the importance ofthe church records for providing parents’records and place of origin information.Catholic church records play a huge role infinding that information.”

Lyons said her ongoing quest to findinformation about her own ancestors —Mentons, Matthewses, Carlins, Cas-sidys, O’Neills, McKibbins, Duffys,Devanneys, McDonalds and O’Devlins— spurred her enthusiasm to help putparish records online.

“If you can do Irish research, you can doanything,” Lyons said, “because of thescarcity of the records and political prob-lems in Ireland.”

The project led the volunteers down someinteresting paths. Mary Roddy Morris andher sister, Kathy Connor, volunteered forthe sacramental records project becausethey were researching their own family.

“I did mostly baptism records,” Morrisrecalled. “The last time I did something wasabout a year ago, at least, a couple of pagesfrom St. Patrick’s on the Eastern Shore (thePilottown, Md., mission of Good Shepherdin Perryville).”

Connor, principal of Corpus ChristiSchool in Elsmere, said she and her sisterhave researched their Roddy family rootsback to the people who left Ireland aroundthe 1850s.

Some of the diocesan records Connortranscribed were from St. Francis Xavier inWarwick, Md.; established in 1704, it’sknown as Old Bohemia shrine and is now amission of St. Joseph Parish in Middletown.

Connor noticed in the old records thatslaves were being baptized, and often theparish records didn’t include a last name. “Ifound that very fascinating.”

Connor eventually visited the shrine andtook pictures of the gravestones in thecemetery there. “I just wanted to see if peo-ple were there whose records I was tran-scribing.”

In late January in Ireland, Carroll enteredonline the final records of the 10-year pro-ject — marriage records up to 1900 for St.Joseph Mission in Cordova, Md. Coinci-dentally, the project was completed on Jan.24, the feast of St. Francis de Sales, patronof the Diocese of Wilmington.

More than 83,000 recordsThe cost of 10 years of transcribing

records by volunteers amounted to a $100grant from the diocesan archives for theproject, said Lalley, who said Lyonsabsorbed most of the cost of copying therecords.

Search for one man’s family history led to 10-year effort to put pre-1900

baptism and marriage records from parishes online.

Continued on next page

To find the records go tocdow.org/archives.htmland click on “SearchableParish SacramentalRecords.”

Find the records

A project ages

Clockwise from lower left: Anna and Michael Lally were married in 1878 at the Cathedralof St. Peter, Wilmington; parish registry from St. Joseph’s in Cordova, Md.;

St. Mary Church, Sixth and Pine streets in Wilmington, circa 1905.Church photo courtesy Delaware Historical Society

FOR THE


The server where all the infor-mation exists through thearchives’ link to lalley.com is inIthaca, N.Y., where it’s tended byLalley’s son, Joseph M. LalleyIII, who works for ClarityCon-nect, an Internet service provider.

The fact that the online searchengine is free is one of the reasonsvolunteers were attracted to theproject, Lalley said. “The Dioceseof Brooklyn contacted me andthey were horrified we don’tcharge a fee, and the Archdioceseof Philadelphia is very tight aboutwhat they let you see.”

An archives office typicallycharges a fee to do familyresearch the old-fashioned way,Devine said, but since the fullrecords up to 1900 on lalley.comare interactive for users, meaningthey can be searched by parish orfamily surnames, a fee isn’t nec-essary.

Parish baptismal and marriagerecords after 1900 are still avail-able only on microfilm or paperthrough the diocesan archives,Devine said. “But one thing wedon’t charge for is searching forrecords for canonical purposes,”such as when Catholics need their

baptismal or marriage records forsacramental reasons.

As for the security of the infor-mation on lalley.com, Lalley saidhis son in Ithaca has assured himhe’ll take care of maintaining it,and Lalley intends to back up theinformation on CDs.

Lalley estimates that the siteincludes more than 83,000 pre-

1900 records from the diocese.The site also includes passengerlists of immigrants who came tothe United States from certaincounties in Ireland during the mid1800s, limited death and cemeteryrecords from Wilmington andcensus and other records fromCounties Galway, Mayo andDonegal in Ireland.

“I had no intention of gettinginto genealogy,” Lalley said whenasked about adding parish records

after 1900 to the site. “This hasbeen 10 years and if I were askedto do more, I would probably behung by my wife.” No efforts areunderway in the diocese to tacklethe post-1900 records, Devinesaid.

The 10-year project is com-plete but its benefits will continue.Last month, Kath Murphy, wholives in Providence, R.I., and hasbeen attempting to trace her fami-ly roots, went online to find infor-mation about her great-grandfa-ther William Windish-, who she believed moved fromPennsylvania to live in Wilming-ton in about 1872.

When she searched the Internetfor records from Catholic parishesin Wilmington, she discoveredLalley’s site.

“Many of my family werethere,” Murphy told The Dialog,“in Sacred Heart and St. Mary’sparishes, starting with a baptismof a second child in 1873 and end-ing with her grandmother’s birthin 1888.”

Murphy e-mailed a note ofthanks to Lalley for the Web site.“I’m very much encouraged withwhat your site gave me today,”she wrote. “You’ve inspired me tokeep trying.”

Records: Site should provehandy for family historians


Two key figures in the project were diocesan archivist DonnDevine and Nancy Lyons of Hockessin, an avid genealogist whocoordinated the efforts of local volunteers.

From previous page

Parish baptismaland marriage

records after 1900are still availableonly on microfilm

or paper.

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In her book, “The Abbess ofAndalusia,” Lorraine Murrayaims to “uncover the self-portrait

F l a n n e r y(O’Connor)created inthe dailystream of let-ters that

poured out of Andalusia,” theGeorgia farm where the writerlived for 13 years until her deathin 1964, when she was only 39.

That this Southern Catholicnovelist, perhaps rememberedbetter for her short stories, was aprolific letter writer is wellknown. Nonetheless, the self-por-trait that emerges here is refresh-ing. O’Connor is viewed as awoman of robust humor, a dedi-cated friend to many, a disci-plined composer of fiction and

someone who experienced suffer-ing firsthand, diagnosed withlupus when she was 25.

Apparently, though, if poorhealth found ways to consume herphysically, it never consumed herspiritually.

For Murray, the spiritualitymanifested in O’Connor’s self-portrait is paramount. O’Connor’sletters reveal “an extraordinaryspiritual life beneath the decep-tively ordinary surface,” Murraywrites. O’Connor, she notes, “rec-ognized the sacramental elementin all of life.”

Murray brings to the fore theCatholic dimension of O’Con-nor’s life as as a writer and as aperson for whom the Eucharistwas “the center of existence.”

O’Connor comes forward asprofoundly Catholic, yet notreluctant to criticize what shetermed “pious pap.”

O’Connor criticized priestswho offered “oversimple solu-tions to complex problems,” Mur-ray notes. Other times O’Connorwas “quick to defend the clergyagainst ... unfair attacks,” express-ing an understanding of the bur-dens placed on priests’ shoulders.

Murray describes O’Connor as“fiercely Catholic,” a womanconvinced that “all human life isprecious” and that “love alwaystriumphs over suffering.”

How O’Connor’s Catholicismfactored into her writing contin-ues as a topic of interest. Murrayrecalls O’Connor writing of hersense “that being a Catholic hassaved me a couple thousand yearsin learning to write.”

Murray’s includes a commentmade just days after O’Connor’sdeath in August 1964 by Atlanta’sArchbishop Paul Hallinan, whopraised her in an archdiocesannewspaper column.

Archbishop Hallinan calledO’Connor a writer who served“the cause of the supernatural by aworking knowledge of the secu-lar.”

12 THE DIALOG March 4, 2010SIGHTS & SOUNDS

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Archbishop Pietro Sambi, apostolic nuncio to the United States, views "Christ as the Man ofSorrows" by Pedro de Mena as he tours "The Sacred Made Real" exhibit Feb. 19 at theNational Gallery of Art in Washington. The exhibit of religious paintings and sculptures fromthe Spanish golden age runs until May 31.

Letters reveal writerwho served ‘causeof the supernatural’

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“Astro Boy,” an animatedadventure about a scientist whoreplaces his dead son with a robotreplica, only to rejects his cre-ation, leaving the innocent ‘botvulnerable to widespread preju-dice. (A-II, PG).

“Bandslam” is a comedy withmusic about a newcomer at a highschool who overcomes his social-ly disastrous past when befriend-ed by a popular fellow student.(A-I, PG).

Disney’s eerie animated adap-tation of Charles Dickens’ classic“A Christmas Carol” featuresJim Carrey as the voice ofEbenezer Scrooge. Largely faith-ful retelling is unabashed aboutthe Christian context (A-I, PG).

The animated fantasy “CloudyWith a Chance of Meatballs”concerns a young inventor whofashions a machine that makesfood fall from the sky. Cautionary

tale warns against overindulgenceand extols the virtues of persis-tence (A-II, PG).

The romance “Hannah Mon-tana the Movie” tells how a teensinger (Miley Cyrus), is forced byher father to retreat to the Ten-nessee farm where she grew up.Delightful idyll emphasizes theprimacy of family obligationsover professional goals (A-I, G).

In “Harry Potter and theHalf-Blood Prince,” the teenagewizard (Daniel Radcliffe) ingrati-ates himself with a Hogwartsinstructor who once taught hisarchenemy. This sixth adaptationof the novels is a richly texturednarrative in which good and evilare clearly delineated (A-II, PG).

In the animated comedy

“Monsters vs. Aliens,” a trio ofkindly monsters and a womanwho became a giant combat anevil alien. Celebrates teamworkand the heroic potential of people(A-II, PG).

“Ponyo” is the enchantingEnglish version of a Japanese ani-mated fable about a determinedgoldfish who comes under theprotection of a plucky 5-year-oldboy. Masterful artistry recapturesthe innocence and wonder ofchildhood (A-I, G).

The animated “The Princessand the Frog” shows the effectsof a voodoo sorcerer’s spell. Thelavish hand-drawn romanceemphasizes the value of love overmaterial wealth (A-I, G).

“Shorts” is a clever children’sfantasy about a rock that grantsthe wishes of anyone holding it.Film carries messages about thedangers of power and the isolat-ing effects of contemporary tech-nology (A-II, PG).

By John MulderigCatholic News Service

This year, for the first timesince 1943, the Academy ofMotion Picture Arts and Sci-ences allowed for 10 best-pic-ture Oscar nominees instead offive. At the U.S. Conference ofCatholic Bishops’ Office forFilm & Broadcasting, the tradi-tion of selecting 10 top filmseach year, based on spiritual,moral and artistic criteria, datesto 1965.

Since some of these films areappropriate only for adults, theoffice also compiles a list of the10 best family films of the year.

As we await Sunday night’sOscar ceremony, here in alpha-betical order are the USCCBfilm office’s selections for2009, with their USCCB classi-fications and Motion PictureAssociation of America ratings:

Based on real events, “TheBlind Side” recounts how awealthy white couple, portrayed

by Sandra Bullock and TimMcGraw, offered shelter to ahomeless black student.Unapologetically Christian taleof human solidarity is funny,shrewd and uplifting (A-III,PG-13).

The French-language docu-drama “The Class” re-createsthe experiences of an idealisticliterature teacher over thecourse of an academic year.Film is an engrossing medita-tion on social and class divi-sions and on the possibilities ofan educator’s vocation (A-III,PG-13).

“Fantastic Mr. Fox” — adroll stop-motion animatedadventure — tells how the titu-lar creature tries to recapturehis wild past as a chicken thief.Clever, lovingly crafted filmoffers abundant fun for young-sters and a few insights foradults as well (A-I, PG).

A fact-based comedy, “TheInformant!” follows theexploits of an agribusinessexecutive (Matt Damon) whoturns whistle-blower. Offbeattale benefits from Damon’sintense performance as a sym-pathetic egomaniac (A-III, R).

In “The International” adogged Interpol agent (CliveOwen) and a New York prose-cutor (Naomi Watts) investigate

the leaders of a global bankimplicated in murder. Sleekconspiracy yarn focuses on thefrustrations of operating withinthe law and the perils of actingoutside it (A-III, R).

The fact-based drama “Invic-tus,” starring Morgan Freemanand Matt Damon, charts SouthAfrican President Nelson Man-dela’s campaign to unite hiscountry behind the nationalrugby team. Movie chronicleshow Mandela used sportingenthusiasm to break downracial prejudice (A-III, PG-13).

“Julie & Julia” is the charm-ing dramatization of the lives ofmaster chef Julia Child (MerylStreep) and Internet bloggerJulie Powell (Amy Adams). (A-III, PG-13).

“Star Trek” sees the youth-ful James Tiberius Kirk (ChrisPine) forgoing his delinquentways to join the crew of theStarship Enterprise. Well-exe-cuted action sequences are bal-anced with an absorbing story(A-III, PG-13).

The animated instant classic“Up” tells the story of a grumpywidower (voiced by Ed Asner),who decides to relocate his hometo South America with the help ofthousands of balloons. Thistouching fable offers lessons onlove, loss, marriage and persever-ance (A-I, PG).

In the fantasy “Where theWild Things Are,” a runaway(Max Records) sails to theisland abode of a community ofgiants. This subtle adaptation ofMaurice Sendak’s classic bookis a meditation on the interiorstruggles of childhood (A-II,PG)

March 4, 2010 THE DIALOG 13SIGHTS & SOUNDS

General patronageAdults and adolescentsAdultsLimited adult audience,films whose problematiccontent many adultswould find troublingMorally offensive.

A-IA-II

A-IIIL

O

USCCB Movie Classifications

Oscar, schmoscar: Here are the best movies of 2009

CNS

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The top 10 family films

State must keepinterests of allstudents in mind

I am writing in response tolast week’s letter regarding thepossibility of the governorrescinding the transportationcredit to parochial and privateschool parents.

I have three school-age chil-dren, two of whom attendBrandywine Springs School (apublic school in the Red ClaySchool District) and one whoattends a Catholic school.

Sending a child to Catholic orprivate school is a choice parentsmake. Parents often make sacri-fices (financial, travel distance,etc.) when choosing to opt out ofthe public schools. Nevertheless,it is a choice.

We are living in uncertainfinancial times, where our elect-ed politicians and our governorare forced to make tough finan-cial decisions. Taking away the

transportation credit seems likean obvious choice to me. Aslong as the funds from the trans-portation credit are used for edu-cational purposes, I have noproblem with that.

The letter writer commentedthat Catholic schools are of thehighest quality because they areallowed to have God in theirclassrooms. As a devotedCatholic, I believe that thosewho truly believe in God carrythat belief in life wherever theymay be, not just in a Catholicschool classroom. I spend a lot

of time volunteering at Brandy-wine Springs School and I feelas much Christian spirit andkindness there as I feel at myoldest son’s Catholic school.Every teacher I have encoun-tered in my experience with thepublic school has been caring,kind, fair and absolutely dedicat-ed to the children.

I hope that the governormakes his decision with the bestinterests of all school children inmind.

Christine PelilloWilmington


Many dioceses have officesto assist immigrants, especiallythose from Third World coun-tries or those seeking asylumfor political reasons.

With fences being built tokeep out our neighbors to the

south andp a t r o lboats inour south-ern watersto dis-c o u r a g e

our Caribbean friends as well,our bishops write about wel-coming strangers and beingChrist to one another eventhough many of us don’talways know what language touse as we greet these newestmembers of our communities.

Over the last 10 years or so,the influx of Lati-nos has coincidedwith decreasingdiocesan budgets,especially whenmore and morepeople are losingtheir jobs in thepresent economy.

Jobless parish-ioners contributeless to a parish ordiocesan bottomline. And, as every-one knows, min-istry costs money, real money,and can’t be paid for with goodintentions, although volunteerscan make a world of differencein almost any situation.

With more people needingmore services from a parishthat takes in less revenue, ten-sions mount between those inneed and those covering thecosts. Finances always play arole in decision-making, espe-cially now during difficult eco-nomic times, but the welcom-ing issue trumps finances.

In today’s economy, parishesface troubling questions: Dowe spend more money onimmigrant services even asother poor, homeless or indi-gent parishioners come to thedoor? What about the capitalcampaign to build or repairparish buildings? Is that moreimportant than caring for immi-grants?

No easy answers comequickly to mind when the vari-ous groups are lined up in frontof us. In some cases, what hap-pens is that welcomingstrangers means letting theparish ministers take care of“them” instead of everyonestepping up to be part of thatwelcoming committee.

One parish that has a rela-tively new and significant Lati-no population that was more orless unwelcome when it beganarriving about a dozen yearsago now has a regular SpanishMass. The pastoral associatehas been trying to bridge thecultural and language abyssbetween the immigrants andnonimmigrants.

Finally, last year the Latinossponsored a dinner after a litur-gy and invited the whole parishto gather at the table. Not a sin-gle non-Latino parishionershowed up for the meal. Notonly did those folks miss awonderful meal, they lost anopportunity to share their faithand learn about their fellowparishioners.

We can only hope that this isnot the usual orcustomary wayour immigrantbrothers and sis-ters are treated, butit does open a win-dow on the diffi-culties clergy face,whether theyspeak from thepulpit or the seatof the diocese: Justbecause someonesays it — or evenshouts it from the

rooftops or church steps —doesn’t make it true or real forthe folks in the pews.

Like any relationship, thebond begins to form betweentwo people and spreads outfrom there. Put another way,people relate to each other atthe grass-roots level; a top-down model generally doesn’twork, even if the “top” has thepurest of motives.

The message is clear: Wel-come immigrants; but translat-ing that message into realityrequires, in some cases, achanging or opening of heartsto people from a different cul-ture.

That doesn’t change theneed to make a place at thetable, nor does it relieve us ofthe responsibility to take actionon our own, one at a time, tosee others not as strangers butas friends and members of ourcommunity whom we will nowhave the great good fortune toknow as brothers and sisters inChrist who deserve not onlyour help but also our respect.

Liz Quirin, editor/generalmanager of The Messenger inBelleville, Ill., writes forCatholic News Service.

VIEWPOINTS

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

About lettersLetters should be typed or neatly written and include the writer’s

name, address and telephone number. They should not exceed 250words and should focus on one topic. Shorter letters stand a bet-ter chance of being published. They may be edited for style, sizeor content. The opinions are the letter writers’ and do not neces-sarily reflect those of The Dialog or the Diocese of Wilmington.Fax letters to (302) 573-6948, mail to P.O. Box 2208, Wilmington,DE 19899-2208 or e-mail to [email protected].

LizQuirin

Ministry costs money,real money,and can’t

be paid forwith goodintentions.

Stranger, can youspare a dime?

EExxtteenndd tthhee ppeeaaccee ooff tthheeOOllyymmppiiccss ttoo tthhee wwoorrlldd

It’s good to see nations battling it out, aggres-sively striving for world dominance.

But the battles I’m referring to are not the bloodyconflicts fought with bullets, bombs and missiles,but rather the nonviolent competitionswaged with skis, skates and bobsleds.

The 2010 Winter Olympics in Van-couver, Canada, showed a world hun-gering for peace where countries of allsorts can compete on the sports fieldinstead of on the battlefield. But theOlympics offer far more than nonviolent nationalglory.

In his Olympic message to Archbishop J.Michael Miller of Vancouver, Pope Benedict XVIsaid sports can contribute to “peaceful understand-ing between peoples and to establishing the newcivilization of love.”

Olympic speedskater Joey Cheek showed theworld how. Winner of gold and silver medals at the2006 Olympic Games in Turin, Italy, Cheek donat-ed his entire $40,000 medal bonuses to Right toPlay.

Founded by Norwegian Olympic championJohann Olav Koss, Right to Play (www.righttoplay.com) uses sports and play as a way to teachchildren teamwork, respect, communication, self-esteem and conflict resolution.

Operating in 23 poor and/or embattled countrieslike Chad, Sudan, Ethiopia, the Palestinian territo-ries and Israel, the organization strives to translatethe best practices of sport and play into opportuni-ties to promote development, health and peace.

Cheek is also the co-founder and president ofTeam Darfur (www.teamdarfur.org), an interna-tional coalition of athletes committed to raisingawareness of and bringing an end to the humanitar-ian crisis in Darfur, Sudan.

Cheek and like-minded athletes are continuing toselflessly use their skills and position to improvethe lives of the poorest of the poor and to promote

world peace. These Olympic humanitarians areshowing us, as Pope Benedict suggested, howsports can indeed contribute to “peaceful under-standing between peoples and to establishing the

new civilization of love.”This new civilization of love will not

be realized until we begin seeing eachother as belonging to the one humanfamily.

In his 2008 World Day of Peace mes-sage titled “The Human Family, a

Community of Peace,” the Holy Father wrote thatall people are “called to build relationships of soli-darity and cooperation among themselves, as befitsmembers of the one human family.”

The Olympics offer us a wonderful glimpse ofthe world looking like one human family. Whileit’s sadly true that even during the Olympics warsand internal conflicts do not cease, nonetheless, aswe see nations across the globe gathering in peaceto compete in peace, a joyful hope rises up withinus, encouraging us to believe that peace is possible!

Then, the games are over. Like a meteor, a brighthope for world peace is quickly gone and the dark-ness of war and preparation for war returns.

Why do we allow the Olympic Games to be sim-ply games when they have the potential to lasting-ly contribute to peaceful understanding betweenpeoples?

We can keep the peaceful spirit of the Olympicsburning in our hearts by following the Christ-likeexample of Olympians such as Joey Cheek whocontinue long after the games are over to build apeaceful world based on selfless solidarity with theearth’s poor and war-torn.

The motto of Right to Play should be the mottoof the world: “Look after yourself! Look after oneanother!”

Tony Magliano, a pastoral associate in Balti-more, writes for Catholic News Service.

TonyMagliano

Don Peck, writing in The Atlantic(March 2010), paints a dismal picture aboutthe future of employment in America.

The national economy lost 10 millionjobs since the beginning of this recession;many of those jobs will return only slowly.

With population growth and new peopleentering the job market,Peck says, our economyneeds to add 1.5 millionnew jobs a year, roughly125,000 per month, toavoid slipping back fur-ther. To grow from 10percent unemployment tothe 5 percent level we

experienced before the recession wouldrequire creating 600,000 jobs per month,double the strong job-creation rate of themid-to-late 1990s, and even that would takeabout two years.

Employment is shifting. The constructionand finance industries, absent the housingbubble, will probably not regain their for-mer share of the economy, and employmentin the auto industry will offer fewer oppor-tunities. Manufacturing jobs are continuingto move offshore, but now they are joinedby outsourcing many white collar jobs.

Economists see one bright spot aboutunemployment coming through innovationas some laid-off workers become entrepre-neurs. A Labor Department report identifies10 occupations that will add the most jobsby 2016, and hence offer the most creativebusiness opportunities. They include: order-lies and nursing-home aides, personal and

home-care aides, registered nurses, retailsalespeople, customer service representa-tives, food preparation and serving workers,office clerks, accounting clerks, janitors,and postsecondary teachers.

These types of service jobs cannot moveoffshore. However, aside from nurses andpostsecondary teachers, most of these jobspay too little to meet a small family’s basicneeds unless they are unionized.

While market resiliency will continue toproduce more business opportunities, this

will happen by requiring different skills.Many unemployed workers will need to beretrained, which means starting over interms of earning level. Upward mobility formany seems stalled.

For people of faith, high unemploymenttriggers a pastoral concern for workers andtheir families. The unemployed face spiritu-al, psychological and social problemsbesides their economic ones. Researchshows the unemployed suffer more alco-holism and drug abuse, more spousal and

child abuse, more cardiovascular problemsand hypertension, and the children of theunemployed are sick more often and longer.

Unemployment also offers a chance torethink our expectations about success andwork. Many of the unemployed report theyhave become less materialistic and morefinancially responsible. Their idea of suc-cess has shifted from riches and purchasesto family and relationships. Some avoidundue stress by revisioning their work lifefrom “making money” to “earning a liveli-hood.”

Many unemployed people volunteermore and have discovered satisfaction inhelping others through community projects.Herein might lie an important discoveryfrom our national crisis.

Since the the recession came largely fromthe get-rich housing bubble and hocus-pocus financial transactions, businessinvestment needs to shift to innovation thatstrengthens community. Investment thatpreserves creation, like retrofitting housesand developing green energy, keepsemployment local while giving workers asense of purpose. Designing programs thatsupport people, like universal health careand continuing education, builds a safetynet and offers a ladder up.

This crisis offers a unique opportunity tochange the uncritical cry for jobs to ademand for good work with a social pur-pose.

Father Rausch is a Glenmary priest whowrites, teaches and organizes inAppalachia.


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Turning ‘jobs’ into work with sense of purpose

FatherJohn S.Rausch

CNS photo/Shannon Stapleton, Reuters

Waiting in a job fair line in New York City in December.

VIEWPOINTS

READINGS FOR MARCH 7Third Sunday of Lent

Exodus 17:3-7; Romans 5:1-2, 5-8;John 4:5-42

As I read this week’s first reading from the Bookof Exodus, I could not help to think about the situ-ation in Haiti following the earthquakein that country. I also thought about thefamilies in the village of Caserio Yalu inSan Marcos, Guatemala, as I witnessedthe dedication of a potable water projectin that community.

In today’s Old Testament reading, wecan certainly feel the fear, anger, anddespair of the Israelites as they wereexperiencing their plight in the desert.They needed water to live and there wasnone and they knew they couldn’t makeit back to Egypt. With each passingmoment they could feel the life beingsapped out of them. What could theydo? They complained to Moses, “Whydid you ever make us leave Egypt? Wasit just to have us die here of thirst withour children and our livestock?” Theemotions were palpable.

I can imagine that the people in Haitimust be experiencing many similar emotions —fear of finding out that your loved ones may beamong those hidden under a white sheet lined upon the street; anger about the sporadic distributionof food and water; despair as you have no place tolive or a job to help feed your family and rebuildyour home. The chaotic reality must be over-whelming and difficult to accept.

Moses was facing hundreds of thousands ofpeople who were desperate for water. Moses criedout to the Lord, “What shall I do with this peo-ple?” And, as we hear in the readings, the Lordanswered Moses and provided him the means toobtain the precious element essential for survival.

In Guatemala, the availability of clean water isnot a given. In fact, many children die each yearfrom infections they contract from contaminatedwater they use in their villages. Thanks to the gen-erosity of parishioners in our diocese, the villageof Caserio Yalu, as well as two other communi-ties, has for the first time potable water dispensed

at each home in the village. It waspriceless for me to witness the faces ofadults and children as they turned thespigot at their homes and were able todrink clean water for the very first time.They finally didn’t have to walk sever-al miles to gather water to bring backhome.

As I thought about the reading fromExodus, and the situations in Haiti andGuatemala, I was drawn to the verse,“Is the Lord in our midst or not?” Theanswer is unequivocally, yes. I saw itfirst hand in Guatemala. Amid stagger-ing poverty and facing incredible hur-dles in just about every aspect of theirlives, the people I encountered werefilled with joy, hope and most of allfaith in God.

While the people of Haiti are under-standably troubled and filled with so

many anxieties, most of which we can probablynever relate to, I understand from reports fromCatholic Relief Services, that the faith of the Hait-ian people is a paramount factor sustaining themduring this extremely difficult time.

This week’s reading from the Book of Exodus isone we’ve heard many times over the years. Asyou read it this week, consider difficult situationsin your life or in the world, and ask, “Is the Lordin our midst or not?” You will find the Lord is def-initely with us.

Andy Zampini is program manager of CatholicCharities’ division of Parish Social Ministry.

16 THE DIALOG March 4, 2010? Faith & Spirituality

ACROSS1 Trembling poplar6 Pertaining to the non-ordained

members of the Church10 “...the Lord is with ____.”14 First name in puppetry15 Actress Lancaster16 Sub ____: secretly, as the

appointment of a cardinal17 Wading bird18 Biblical measure19 Diamond arbiters20 Affirmatives22 Rev.’s alma mater23 Housing for a patriarch24 Annoy25 NT epistle27 Ardently31 Alphabet string34 David married his widow38 Wood sorrel39 The last John41 Monetary unit of South Africa42 Avril follower43 “___ ideal world...”44 Tendon46 Sea eagle47 18th letter of the Greek alpha-

bet48 Roker and Capone49 Determined

52 The Supreme Being53 Catholic Oscar-winning actress,

Vivien _____57 “But of that day and ____ no

one knows” (Mt 24:36)60 Poverty or obedience, for exam-

ple63 Servile65 Raison d’____66 First place68 Dough69 First-class70 One of Columbus’ ships71 Citrus fruits72 School spot73 Bordeaux bean?74 Wear awayDOWN1 Pale2 “Feed my ____.” (Jn 21:17)3 Analyze, as a sentence4 Uneven5 Jonah’s destination (Jon 1:1-2)6 There have been 13 popes with

this name7 Donation to the poor8 Words of understanding9 Mount ___10 “I am the way and the ___ and

the life.” (Jn 14:6)11 Nazareth, to Jesus

12 Sports buff’s TV station13 Cain traveled this direction

from Eden (Gn 4:16)21 Jonah was thrown into this26 Container for communion host28 Wife of the prophet Hosea29 americangreetings.com product30 And the ____ came31 Sign of papal office32 Former name of Thailand33 Ike’s ex34 ___ Minor35 Church divider36 Taverns37 Summer drink40 Number of apostles, in Roman

numerals45 Catechism question: ____ made

me?47 Church spire50 Season before Christmas51 Tree52 Paul surprised a soldier when

he spoke this (Acts 21:37)54 “The bombs bursting _____...”55 Gadget56 Despised57 Catholic Hollywood costume

designer58 Native American59 Jars

61 Drooling dog of comics62 Departed

64 Suffix with Congo67 Burns’ “no”

The DIALOGCROSSWORD

Answers to this week’s puzzle: page 19

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 01 11 21 31

41 51 61

71 81 91

0 12 2 22 32

42 52 62

72 82 92 03 13 23 33

43 53 63 73 83 93 04

14 24 34

44 54 64 74

84 94 05 15

25 35 45 55 65

75 85 95 06 16 26 3 46 6

56 66 76 86

96 07 17

27 37 47

moc.scilohtacrofsemagdrow.www

Is the Lord in the midst ofHaiti and Guatemala or not?

SUNDAYREADING

ANDY

ZAMPINI

�

One Family In Mission

The Society for THE PROPAGATION OF THE FAITH…a Pontifical Mission Society

Enclosed is my Lenten sacrifice for the Missions of $__________

Name__________________________________________________________

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did not abandon His beloved Son, but raised Him fromdeath to glory. And God does not abandon us. Everyone shouldknow that.

This Lent, will you support the priests, Sisters, Brothersand lay catechists in the Missions who bring this

hope-filled Easter message to the poor and suffering?

Please send to: Deacon Joseph Romans, Mission’s Office

Diocese of Wilmington • P.O. Box 2030 • Wilmington, DE 19899

March 4, 2010 THE DIALOG 17? Faith & Spirituality

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How to return to the church Q. I have two friends who left the Catholic

Church years ago, one because he became disillu-sioned with a priest, and the other just stoppedattending Mass. Now they both want toreturn but don’t know how. Someonesaid they must go through the Rite ofChristian Initiation of Adults process,which doesn’t make sense to me. Anoth-er said they must talk with a priest, makea good confession and that is all.

I’m sure other former Catholics wouldalso like to know how to come back.(Maryland)

A. You are right. Many Catholics havedeparted from the practice of their faithand sometime later wish to return, but arediscouraged because they envision somecomplicated process to do so.

Most of us don’t realize how hesitant and afraidCatholics can be who have been away, perhaps feelsome guilt and frequently seethemselves as somehow unwor-thy to be active in the churchagain.

Encouragement and supportfrom people such as you isinvaluable. I thank you for beinginterested in their struggle, and Ihope other Catholics who havefriends like this will follow your example.

The second person you refer to is basically cor-rect. Theoretically, all one needs to do is return tothe sacraments — penance and the Eucharist — andresume a prayer life and regular participation in theMass.

In practice, however, most of the time somethingmore is at least helpful, if not practically necessary.If one has been away for a number of years, for

example, much may have happened in the interven-ing time that could be unfamiliar; they need tocatch up.

Particularly, anyone who has not beento Mass for the past 30 years or so willhave missed many changes in the litur-gies of the Mass and sacraments that willconfuse them if they’re not prepared.

Perhaps most obviously, experiencingand trying to participate in the Mass inEnglish will be puzzling unless someonehelps them understand reasons for thosechanges and how they enhance andenrich our Catholic worship.

Another factor in helping them returncould be the reason they stopped living aCatholic life in the first place. A real orperceived injury suffered from a priest or

other representative of the church, or just a seriousmisunderstanding, is the reason a huge number of

Catholic people stay away, oftenfor years. They need help in heal-ing.

Whatever the reason, I believeit is well worthwhile for “former”Catholics to meet with a parishpriest or other parish minister tofind out what is necessary andease their return.

Of course, a priest will also be able to help suchindividuals deal appropriately with other possiblefactors, previous marriages for example, that willnecessarily be involved in renewing their practiceof the Catholic faith.

Questions for this column may be sent to FatherDietzen at Box 3315, Peoria, IL 61651, or e-mail:[email protected].

Catholic News Service

Father JohnDietzen

It is well worthwhilefor “former”

Catholics to meetwith a parish priest.

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By John Knebels

When told that she came high-ly recommended by facultymembers as an uncommonlywell-rounded individual, Arch-mere Academy senior LizzyProfita appeared bewildered.

“Are you sure you have theright person?” she said with asheepish smile.

Yes indeed.A co-captain for the Auks

swimming team, Profita is alsoArchmere’s community servicepresident and an important advo-cate for the school’s retreat pro-gram. Her teachers and peerscollectively describe her as adiligent worker who has main-tained a low profile despite animpressive resume that includesa 3.7 grade-point average.

When told that Profitaappeared a tad stunned afterbeing asked for an interview,Archmere campus minster MikeJohnson wasn’t surprised.

“She doesn’t seek out thelimelight,” said Johnson. “Shedoes things merely out of thegoodness of her heart.”

As a junior Profita was one of17 underclassmen who attendedArchmere’s Kairos retreat pro-gram last March. This past Sep-tember, Profita was selected as aKairos leader and, according toJohnson, did a “tremendous”job.

“She was a fine example to theretreatants as a person of greatcompassion for others,” saidJohnson. “She’s a person with agreat heart, a great faith, and agreat soul.”

Denise O’Meara, Archmere’scommunity service moderatorfor the past 16 years, raved aboutProfita’s contribution to bothArchmere and the surroundingarea. She labeled Profita as “oneof the best” service leaders inschool history.

“Lizzy doesn’t do things

because it looks good or becauseit will help out her career in col-lege,” said O’Meara. “She trulyloves service.

“She started getting involvedwhen she was a freshman and Ican’t think of anything that shehasn’t helped with. She leads byexample beautifully. She doeswhatever she can to help others’needs. She consistently does herwork humbly, and that is thekey.”

A graduate of Ursuline Acade-my grade school and a lifetimeparishioner of St. Joseph’s on theBrandywine, Profita admitted tofeeling awkward when her class-mates occasionally complimenther for spending so much timewith people in need.

Whether it’s tutoring young-sters at Serviam Academy or Har-lan Elementary, working with thementally challenged at the MaryCampbell Center, or playingbingo with AIDS hospice resi-dents at the House of Joseph orthe elderly at Eden Rock AssistedLiving, or feeding the hungry atSt. Francis Inn in Philadelphia,Profita views service as a privi-lege rather than a sacrifice.

“It’s just a normal part of myday, and I always look forwardto it,” said Profita. “When I was

playing three sports (as anunderclassman), I still tried to doservice when I could, even onSaturdays. I really missed it.

“The people we meet are justregular people who enjoy beingaround other people and like tohang out and have fun. And if Ihelp brighten their day, that’sgreat. They’re brightening myday, too, and reminding me thatI should appreciate everything Ihave.”

Profita was dealt a major emo-tional blow last August when herpaternal grandmother, KeanProfita, died after battling can-cer. During the school year,Profita had visited her grand-mother almost every day andwould usually eat dinner withher and play the piano. Shewould also spend most of hersummers at her grandmom’shouse at Bradley Beach, N.J.

Spending quality time withher grandmother, says Profita,taught her the values of patienceand fortitude.

“I miss her,” she said. “Shewas an important part of my life.Some of my friends are not veryclose to their grandparents, so Ifeel fortunate to have so manygreat memories.”

While trying not to be over-bearing, Profita tries to encour-age other Archmere students togive service a try. She also triesto persuade the Archmereseniors to make sure they experi-ence a Kairos retreat before theygraduate.

“My sister (Archmere gradu-ate Katie) loved hers and kepttelling me to go,” said Profita.“After I went, I understood whypeople loved to go so much. Yousee people in a completely dif-ferent light.”

Profita is leaning towardattending the University ofHawaii. Her parents are under-standably concerned about theirdaughter traveling roughly 5,000

miles away.If she goes, the 50th state will

by lucky to have “one of the

best” from the first. (John Knebels can be reached

at [email protected].)

18 THE DIALOG March 4, 2010YOUTH

Lizzy ProfitaSScchhooooll :: Archmere AcademyHHoommeettoowwnn:: WilmingtonPPaarriisshh:: St. Joseph’s on the Brandywine


This is one in a series of profilesThe Dialog will publish on high schoolstudent-athletes. These profiles focuson students’ activities and achieve-ments outside of sports along withtheir involvement in athletics.

SSppoorrttss

Archmere senior dives into service activities

Sals againthe big fishSalesianum senior ZachPryor swims to a seventh-place finish in the 200 indi-vidual medley at Saturday’sswimming and diving statechampionship meet inNewark. Pryor also was partof Salesianum’s first-place200 medley relay team andplaced third in the 100-meterbutterfly. Sallies won its fifthstraight swimming statechampionship, easily out-distancing runner-up Char-ter School of Wilmington.The Sals’ 439 points werethe highest in the state meetsince 2001.

Lizzy doesn’t dothings because it looks good orbecause it willhelp out her

career in college.She truly

loves service.— Denise O’Meara,Archmere’s service

coordinator

Bud Keegan Images

St. Peter the Apostle won theteam championship in the CYMwrestling tournament, whichwas held Feb. 21 at St. Mark’sHigh School. St. Peter’s finishedwith 104 points. The otherteams, in order of finish, wereSt. Mary Magdalen, 76; HolyAngels, 62; and St. Edmond’sAcademy, 21.

Individual champions: ColinWalker, St. Peter’s, 65 lbs.;Michael Hanley, St. Mary Mag-dalen, 70 lbs.; MatthewMcCurnin, Holy Angels, 75lbs.; Austin Walker, St. Peter’s,80 lbs.; Justin Engelmann,Holy Angels, 85 lbs.; BrendanLamey, St. Mary Magdalen, 90lbs.

Paul Groome, St. Mary Mag-

dalen, 95 lbs.; Patrick King, St.Mary Magdalen, 100 lbs.; LouisFedele, St. Peter’s, 105 lbs.;Thomas Otlowski, Holy Angels,110 lbs.; Kyle Reaume, St.Peter’s, 115 lbs.; Tyler Szymans-ki, St. Peter’s, 120 lbs.; AnthoneyRoe, St. Peter’s, 126 lbs.

Nico Palomo, St. Peter’s, 133lbs.; Mike Albanese, St. Peter’s,140 lbs.; Anthony Mancini, St.Peter’s, 150 lbs.; Luke Hernan-dez, St. Peter’s, 170 lbs.; GusGallegos, Holy Angels, heavy-weight.

Complete results of the cham-pionship and consolation roundsare available at cdowcym.org/athletics/Sports%20Folders/Wrestling/2010CYMWrestlingChampionshipResults.pdf.

St. Peter’s wins CYM wrestling

’

‘

Lenten programsNEW CASTLE COUNTY

“Growing in Understanding” ofother faiths, six-week Lenten series.Tonight, 7-8:30: Islam: Adly Gorrafa,a Muslim, discusses his faith and hismarriage to a Christian woman.Immaculate Heart of Mary School,4701 Weldin Road, Wilmington. Mon-day, 7-9 p.m.: Roman Catholicism:Father Francis Sariego from St. Fran-cis Renewal Center will guide partici-pants in reflection. Immaculate Heartof Mary Church, 4701 Weldin Road,Wilmington. Tae or Terry [email protected] or 764-4693.

Ecumenical Lenten Series:Through March 31, 6 p.m.: Mealbegins at 6; service follows at 7.Freewill offering. Father Clem Man-ista, 530-3979. Wednesday, Ss.Peter and Paul Orthodox Church,1406 Philadelphia Pike, Wilmington;Very Rev. Father Stephen Hutnick.March 17, Chester Bethel UMCChurch, 2619 Foulk Road, Wilming-ton; Rev. Gary Meekins.

Friday, March 12 and 19, 10-11:30a.m.: “Mysticism and Social Jus-tice,” series by Anita Wood in herMiddletown home. $45; light refresh-ments provided. Register at [email protected] or 540-8041.

Saturdays and Sundays: English“Gorzkie Zale” follows Saturday 5p.m. Mass. Polish “Gorzkie Zale” fol-lows 11:30 a.m. Polish Mass, St.Hedwig Church, 408 S. Harrison St.,Wilmington. 549-1400.

March 14, 2 p.m.: “LentenLessons,” Scripture readings,hymns, a meditation, time for prayer-ful silence. Cathedral of St. Peter,Sixth and West streets, Wilmington.654-5920. Free-will donations to theRector’s Scholarship, which helpsgraduates of St. Peter’s CathedralSchool buy high school textbooks.

March 14, 3 p.m.: Lenten choralseries, St. Helena’s Church, 602Philadelphia Pike, Wilmington. Fea-tures members of various highschools and the community. Free withdonation for Haiti. Richard, 429-4208.

KENT, SUSSEX COUNTIESSunday, 3 p.m.: “Gorzkie Zale”

traditional Polish Lenten service, St.Polycarp Church, 135 RansomLane, Smyrna. 2 p.m.: St. Faustinafilm “Divine Mercy: No Escape.” Pol-ish delicacies available. 653-8279.

Stations ofthe Cross

NEW CASTLE COUNTYFriday and March 19, 7 p.m.: Pol-

ish and English traditional Stationsof the Cross, St. Hedwig Church,Linden and Harrison streets, Wilming-ton. 549-1400.

Fridays, 7 p.m.: Holy RosaryChurch, 3200 Philadelphia Pike,Claymont. 798-2904.

Fridays, 7:30 p.m.: “Via Crucis,”St. Anthony of Padua Church, Ninthand Dupont streets, Wilmington.Freewill offering. 421-3700.

March 12 and 26, 7 p.m.: ShadowStations of the Cross by parish chil-dren, St. Hedwig Church, Lindenand Harrison streets, Wilmington.549-1400.

EASTERN SHORE, MD.Fridays, 7 p.m.: Bilingual Stations

of the Cross, St. Mary Refuge ofSinners Church, 1515 Glasgow St.,Cambridge. Carol, (410) 228-8144.

Lenten retreatMondays during Lent, 7-8:30 p.m.:

Six-week retreat focusing on the Sun-day Scripture. Pamela Nash’s home inNewark. $15/week; $80/series.Pamela, 366-1018 or 530-3612.

Lenten mealsNEW CASTLE COUNTY

Fridays, noon-2 p.m.: Fish fry, St.Joseph Church hall, 1012 FrenchSt., Wilmington. $5 for sandwich, $8for dinner. Sponsored by the Knightsof Peter Claver. 656-5562.

Fridays through March 26, 5-7p.m.: Fish fry, St. Mary of theAssumption Church hall, 7200 Lan-caster Pike, Hockessin. John, 998-0752.

March 12 and 26, 5-7 p.m.: Lentenfish fry, St. John the BelovedChurch hall, 907 Milltown Road,Wilmington. $8 adults; $4 children;family discounts. Bake sales. Bob andRonnie, 998-2723; Steve and Valerie,234-8150.

KENT, SUSSEX COUNTIESFridays through March 26, 5-7

p.m.: Lenten dinner, St. Jude theApostle Parish center, 152 TulipDrive, Lewes. $8-$9 adults; $5 chil-dren; add $.50 for takeout. Soda, beerand wine available. Last seating 6:30p.m. Bob, 644-4727.

Theology on TapA speaker-and-discussion series

for adults in their 20s and 30s. Allsessions are at 7 p.m. at CatherineRooney’s Irish Pub and Restau-rant, 1616 Delaware Ave., Wilming-ton, in Trolley Square. ContactSusan Murray [email protected] or 658-3800. Apartial schedule:

Tonight: “The Seamless Gar-ment: Protecting Life in AllStages.” Speaker: Joan Solomon,2009 graduate of Catholic Universityof America and member of St. Johnthe Beloved Parish in Wilmington.

March 11: “Reconciling Scienceand Religion,” Stephen Barr,physics professor at the University ofDelaware and member of St. ThomasMore Oratory in Newark.

ServicesNEW CASTLE COUNTY

Friday, 8:30 p.m.-2:30 a.m.: Com-munion of reparation all-nightvigil. St. Hedwig chapel, 408 SouthHarrison St., Wilmington. Irene, 738-1285.

March 25, 6:15 p.m.: “ACIES”promise renewal ceremony, spon-sored by the Legion of Mary, HolySpirit Church, 12 Winder Road, NewCastle. Legion prayers at 6:15; Massat 7 p.m. Refreshments follow. Win-nie, 998-5211.

LATIN MASSSunday, 3 p.m.: Traditional Latin

Mass, Holy Redeemer Church, Bi-State Boulevard at Chestnut Street,Delmar.

RetreatsMarch 12-14: Guided prayer

weekend led by Liz Sweeney andAnita Wood, Jesus House Prayerand Renewal Center, 2501 MilltownRoad, Wilmington. Focuses on ourneed for deeper knowledge of Jesus’spirituality and union with God and allpeople. $200. Edie, 995-6859 [email protected].

March 13, 1:30-4:30 p.m.: Spiritu-al encounter with the Prodigal Sonmini-retreat, St. Hedwig Church hall,408 S. Harrison St., Wilmington.Denny, 994-0764.

ProgramsNEW CASTLE COUNTY

Saturday, 11 a.m.-1 p.m.: Irish-American family research work-shop, the basics, Hockessin PublicLibrary, 1023 Valley Road,Hockessin. Free. To register: 239-5160 or [email protected].

Sunday after 10 a.m. Mass: Irishtea, St. Mary of the ImmaculateConception Church, Sixth and Pinestreets, Wilmington. Anita, 658-5441.

PENNSYLVANIAMarch 13, 9 a.m.: “The Priest,

People, and the Legion of Mary”Marian day, St. Charles BorromeoSeminary, 100 E. Wynnewood Road,Wynnewood. $10 except priests, dea-cons and religious. To register, call(610) 785-6270. Carpool info, Winnie,(302) 998-5211.

FundraisersNEW CASTLE COUNTY

Saturday, 6 p.m.: Basket bingo,Our Lady of Fatima Church hall,801 N. Dupont Highway, New Castle.$20 in advance; $25 at door. Diana,571-5723.

March 13, 7-10 p.m.: Familybingo night, sponsored by BoyScouts, Holy Rosary Church hall,3200 Philadelphia Pike, Claymont.$25 table, seats up to 5; six-card pageper person. Eileen, 798-5685 [email protected].

March 14, 7-11 a.m.: Pancakebreakfast, St. John the Belovedparish hall, 907 Milltown Road,Wilmington. $6 adults; $3 children 12and under. Vince, 998-3591.

March 14, 2 p.m.: Bag and basketbingo, Christ the Teacher gym,2451 Frazer Road, Glasgow. Doorsopen at 1. $15 in advance, $20 atdoor. 18 and over. Nikki, 832-3138 [email protected].

KENT, SUSSEX COUNTIESSaturday, 5-7:30 p.m.: Irish dinner

fundraiser, St. Edmond Churchhall, King Charles Avenue and LaurelStreet, Rehoboth Beach. Live enter-tainment. $15, add $.50 for takeout.

Bob 226-0906; Joe, 858-7056.CECIL COUNTY, MD.

Sunday, 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.: All-you-can-eat breakfast, Good Shep-herd School, 800 Aiken Ave., Per-ryville. Benefits the school.

MealsMarch 13, 3-7 p.m.: Fried oysters

and chicken and dumplings din-ner, Immaculate ConceptionChurch, 518 Main St., Marydel. $15adults; $7 children 6-12; free under 6.Takeout available. (410) 482-7687.

MeetingsMonday, 1 p.m.: Over 55 group

anniversary luncheon, St. JosephMiddletown parish hall. $13 mem-bers; $15 others. Joan, 376-6352.

Tuesday, 6 p.m.: Adoptions fromthe Heart information meeting,Wilmington office, 18-A TrolleySquare, Wilmington. Introduction todomestic and international adoptionoptions. To register, call 658-8883 orwww.afth.org.

Stage/musicMarch 14, 3 p.m.: Sergio Azocar

in concert, Sacred Heart Oratory,917 N. Madison St., Wilmington. Theclassical guitarist/singer will performsongs in English, Italian and Spanish.Freewill offering. 428-3658.

March 26-28: “Willy WonkaJunior,” St. Edmond’s Academy,2120 Veale Road, Wilmington. March26 and 27 at 7:30 p.m.; March 28 at 2

p.m. $10 adult; $7.50 student/senior.Deborah, 475-5370, ext. 241 or [email protected].

DancesMarch 19, 7 p.m.: St. Patrick’s

Day party, St. Agnes Church hall,150 S. Queen St., Rising Sun. $12,includes Irish dinner, dessert, bever-age, live entertainment. Benefits St.Patrick’s Chapel restoration fund.William, (410) 658-4378.

SalesMarch 13, 9:30 a.m.-1 p.m.: Chil-

dren’s clothing and toy resale, St.Catherine of Siena school gym,2503 Centerville Road, Wilmington.Cash only. 545-5520 or 463-7792.

BingoFriday, 7 p.m.: St. Elizabeth Ann

Seton, 345 Bear-Christiana Road,Bear. Doors open at 6. 18 or older.Karen, 322-6430, ext. 100.

TripsMar. 24-25: Overnight to Atlantic

City Hilton Hotel. $90 includes hotelstay, bus trip, and $70 in return. Jim,655-1127.


A S P E N L A I C T H E ES H A R I E L S A R O S AH E R O N O M E R U M P SY E S S E S S E M T E N T

P E E V E E P HE A G E R L Y R S T

U R I A H O C A X X I I IR A N D M A I I N A NS I N E W E R N S I G M AA L S H A R D S E T

G O D L E I G HH O U R V O W M E N I A LE T R E E D E N P A S T EA O N E N I N A L I M E SD E S K T E T E E R O D E

m

Answer

to this

week’s

puzzle

Check out ...Pro-lifers on the Eastern Shore can “Unite for

Life” Monday at 5 p.m. at St. Mary Church, 109Duke of Gloucester St., Annapolis. A bus leavesSalisbury at 3 p.m. and stops in Easton around 4.$15 for adults, $5 for students. Children ride forfree. Louise, (410) 829-4721.

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What kind of Catholic homedid you grow up in?

In Italy, when I was growingup ... Catholicism was as com-mon as pasta. Everything you didwas Catholic. Since very early,pretty much in middle school, Itook religion to a whole differentlevel. I was involved in parishactivities, was going aroundpreaching, because I wanted tolive the Gospel.

When did you think youmight have a vocation to thepriesthood or religious life?

The first time I thought aboutthe priesthood was in middle

school. I did one year of minorseminary. Then I left, and I didn’tthink about it until after I enteredreligious life [with the HolyCross brothers]. What becameimportant was for me to givemyself totally to God, work forGod, and that’s what led me toreligious life.

The one who got me to thinkabout the priesthood seriouslywas Bishop Saltarelli, who in away was my vocation director. Iwas in religious life when heinvited me to think about becom-ing a priest. [He approached me]several times, which made thebrothers a little upset. I remem-ber my superior said, “Bishop,Brother Stanislao is a member ofour congregation.” BishopSaltarelli said, “I’m just invitinghim to think about the priest-hood.” And I remember thatquestion stuck.

Did you have a priest youlooked up to in your youth?

My pastor played an importantrole. The pastor who baptized mewas also the pastor who concele-brated my first Mass. He was inthe same parish for my entire life.So when I was ordained and Iwent back to Italy to celebrateMass there, he was still pastor ofthe same church.

Is there a priest today thatyou look up to or turn to foradvice?

When I became a priest, I sur-rounded myself with priests thatin my opinion are quite groundedand solid. We founded a supportgroup, and we get together once amonth. We just sound things off;we try to be as fraternal as possi-ble. In times of crisis we call onone another, and in times ofrejoicing.

What did you envision yourpriesthood to be?

Honestly, I always have seenthe priest being another Jesus.Therefore, when I study theGospel, I always was surprisedthat Jesus did mostly two things:presented the kingdom of God,

but brought people together, cre-ated communities, and reconciledthem to the Father and to oneanother. So I always envisionedthe priesthood to be based on this— reconciliation and creatingcommunities through the preach-ing of the Gospel and sacraments.

What has played a biggerrole in your work than youexpected?

I think the role of being a lis-tener. I realize that people justneed someone who loves themand who is there listening to themwithout expecting anything inreturn.

What is the most difficultthing in your ministry?

Balancing time, so that every-

thing gets done and everybodyhas enough fair time.

What is your greatest joy inministry?

Let’s say ordinary joys wouldbe celebrating the Eucharist andpreaching the Gospel. But I get akick out of celebrating baptisms.When I do baptisms, there is alevel of joy that is awesome.

What do you tell someonewho is considering the priest-hood?

I would say live your life as ifyou were called. One thing thatis very important is that we donot call ourselves. It’s a dis-cernment. So give it a try. Liveyour life as though you arecalled to this life of priesthood,and then discern with peoplewho are in charge, and trustthem. You don’t have to do allthe work by yourself.

How often do you go backto Italy?

According to my parents, notoften enough. I’m trying tomake it every other year. Whenthey had the lira, I was the richuncle coming from the States.Change the dollar into lira,wow, I was inviting everybodyto dinner. Now with the euro, itis very expensive.

Do you have a favoritedevotion?

The rosary. And my favoriteform of prayer, outside liturgi-cal ones, is lectio divina, whichI’ve been doing since ’86.

Do you belong to any reli-gious groups?

I’m a Knight of Columbus,and I belong to this groupcalled Focolare [a lay move-ment that promotes world unitythrough the living witness ofChristian love and holiness inthe family and small communi-ties] and my priest supportgroup.

What do you do to relax?I play guitar, and I do taek-

wondo. I’m a martial artist. If Idon’t get kicked too much it’squite relaxing.

Describe a good day atwork.

A good day would be wheneverything is done and theunexpected happens, and I’mstill smiling.

It would surprise people toknow ...

... that I’m preparing to testfor my black belt, which shouldbe in April.

— Mike Lang, The Dialog


This is one in a series of inter-views with local priests that The Dia-log will publish through the end ofthe Year for Priests in June 2010.

Age: 41Current assignment:Associate pastor, Immaculate

Conception, ElktonHometown: Naples, ItalyOrdained: 2003

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THE YEARFOR PRIESTSJune 19, 2009 - June 19, 2010

Father StanislaoEsposito

Sunday, March 21 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.610-558-5616

OPEN HOUSEI

TheDialog.pdf - Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor, LLP

Documents

Transcript of TheDialog.pdf - Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor, LLP