December 4, 2009
News briefs from the Catholic Church in Indiana
Teachers hear from expert on school law
By KEVIN CULLEN
The Catholic Moment
WESTFIELD, Ind. — Sarah Wannemuehler, a nationally known expert on school law, uses this true story to show how common sense has fallen victim to an increasingly litigious society:
It’s Saturday, and some kids are playing on a school playground. To retrieve a Frisbee, one of the children climbs onto a dumpster, then onto the roof. For some reason, he decides to walk across a skylight. It breaks, and he falls to his death. A lawsuit is filed. The school is found guilty of wrongful death because the dumpster was too close to the building.
Although that civil case followed a real tragedy, “People will sue you and they’ll sue you for just about anything. All it takes is a $35 filing fee,” Wannemuehler told approximately 400 Catholic school educators at “Diocesan Teacher Day,” Nov. 6 at St. Maria Goretti School.
For this story and more news from the Diocese of Lafayette, log on to the website of The Catholic Moment at www.thecatholicmoment.org.
Catholic school grad Tony Bennett works to change direction of Indiana education
By JOHN SHAUGHNESSY
The Criterion
His heroes are U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt and U.S. General George S. Patton Jr.—two leaders who never backed down from a fight they believed was worth it.
In less than a year as Indiana’s superintendent of public ins-truction, Tony Bennett has be-come a lightning rod figure in his efforts to change the direction and improve the success rate of education in the state.
The 1979 graduate of Our Lady of Providence High School in Clarksville — and a former teacher and basketball coach there — doesn’t shy from controversy in setting a goal of a 90 percent graduation rate for high school students, in advocating changing the licensing requirements for teachers, in demanding that students be in school for the required 180 days each year, and in supporting charter schools and vouchers for private and Catholic schools.
For this story and more news from the Archdiocese of Indianap-olis, log on to the website of The Criterion at www.CriterionOnline.com.
Bishop D’Arcy relays goals for future of St. Joseph’s High School capital drive
By DIANE FREEBY
Today’s Catholic
SOUTH BEND — Referring to it as “the opportunity of a lifetime,” St. Joseph’s High School Principal Susan Richter beamed at the recent announcement that construction on a brand-new high school building, at a new downtown location, could begin as early as June 2011.
Bishop John M. D’Arcy made the announcement at St. Jo-seph’s, flanked by Richter and Nancy Hellyer, chief executive officer of St. Joseph Regional Medical Center (SJRMC). SJRMC is vacating its current building next month and moving to a new facility in Mishawaka, donating the land for the new school construction.
Despite the current economy, the diocesan requirement of $26,625,000 cash-on-hand before construction can begin on the $35 million project, and limited dates for fundraising, St. Jo-seph’s school board President Matt Edmonds believes the time is right.
“I think there’s great support for this,” said Edmonds. “It’ll show the wonderful impact the students and faculty of St. Joe High School can have on the South Bend community.”
For the complete story and more news from the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, log on to the website of Today’s Catholic at www.todayscatholicnews.org.
Scholars gather for ND conference on moral issues of the day
By ANN CAREY
Today’s Catholic
NOTRE DAME — For the 10th consecutive year, the Uni-versity of Notre Dame’s Center for Ethics and Culture drew hundreds of scholars from across the country and abroad to its annual conference that focuses on the crucial moral issues of the day.
This year’s conference theme, “The Summons of Freedom: Virtue, Sacrifice and the Com-mon Good,” was inspired by a talk Pope Benedict XVI gave at the White House last year on his visit to the United States. Over 100 papers on a wide spectrum of topics were presented and discussed by more than 400 participants at the three-day conference Nov. 12-14.
Josephite Father John Raphael, a 1989 Notre Dame graduate who is principal of St. Augustine High School in New Orleans and an active pro-life leader in the African-Amer-ican community, spoke on “Building a Bridge over Troub-led Waters: Inviting African-Americans into the Pro-Life Movement.” He said that bringing the African-American community into the pro-life movement has the potential to turn the pro-abortion tide and make America a truly pro-life country, but the road to wed the pro-life and African-American communities is difficult.
For the complete story and more news from the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, log on to the website of Today’s Catholic at www.todayscatholicnews.org.
Courage: People with same-sex attractions support each other to live chaste lives
By SEAN GALLAGHER
The Criterion
Courage.
This virtue, also known as fortitude, is described in the Cate-chism of the Catholic Church as “the moral virtue that ensures firmness in difficulties and constancy in the pursuit of the good.
This is also an apt description for Catholics who experience same-sex attractions, but want to live according to the Church’s teachings on chastity and homosexuality. The Church teaches that, while same-sex attractions are not sinful, acting upon them is. Therefore, people who are attracted to people of the same sex are called to lives of celibacy, as are all who are unmarried. They should not be the subject of unjust discrimination.
Courage is also the name of an apostolate in the Church that seeks to give support to such people.
It was founded nearly 30 years ago in the Archdiocese of New York. There are now Courage chapters in several countries around the world and in about half the dioceses in the U.S., including the Archdiocese of Indianapolis.
For the complete story and more news from the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, log on to the website www.CriterionOnline.com.