WBEZ | religion

Cardinal George speaks in support of coalition for free water for nonprofits

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 18:03:00 -0500

Cardinal Francis George has joined a large interfaith coalition pushing for free or discounted water for religious institutions.

The coalition, working together since Mayor Rahm Emanuel cut the exemption that gave churches free water in December 2011, is now responding to the mayor’s proposal that would charge nonprofits for water based on their assets. Nonprofits with net assets under $1 million would be exempt from paying for water, while those with more than $250 million in assets would pay the full charge. Those in between would pay a discounted rate.

Cardinal Francis George voiced opposition to the plan, though he was careful in how he addressed his challenge to the mayor:

“As we go forward and people are saying that there has to be some kind of mutual accommodation, I would just like to say that they should look at the budgets and the operating deficits and the savings, much more so than assets,” he said. “If you don’t want a city that only has government institutions, then you have to see to the solvency of religious institutions and other non-profits.”

The Cardinal said he and other religious leaders want to find a middle ground with city officials.

Aldermen that support the coalition proposed a change to restore the water exemption last December, but that’s been stuck in committee.

In a statement, Tom Alexander, the mayor’s deputy communications director, called the asset-based compromise “a fair, reasonable proposal that will allow all non-profit institutions the chance to continue providing their vital community services, while paying their fair share, just as residents do.”

Alexander said the measure is the mayor’s “final proposal” after holding meetings with faith leaders, aldermen and community groups. He said they hope to bring the proposal up at the next City Council meeting.

'Media nuns' assist Catholics in staying connected in a digital age

Thu, 28 Mar 2013 05:00:00 -0500

The sanctuary inside St. Mary Catholic Church in the village of Huntley echoed with the voices of more than 200 high school freshmen. They fidgeted as they waited for confirmation class to begin.

A poster for the movie Warm Bodies appeared on a large screen behind Sister Helena Burns. She asked the students if any of them have seen it, and some raise their hands.

“What happens when the two fall in love?" she asked. "The zombie guy and the human girl, what happens?"

And yes, she was talking about a zombie movie.

“He starts to come back to life, right? His little heart starts beating. What else happens? Does it just stay between the two of them? It’s just their love, and it’s all closed off and private?" Sister Helena asked.

Hands began to pop up around the room, and one student shouted out the answer Sister Helena wanted.

"Yes, the love spreads," Sister Helena said to the students. "Two thumbs up! Wasn’t it great?”

The self-dubbed 'media nun' is teaching a class about theology of the body, the idea that the human body is a revelation of God.

Using popular movies as a way to communicate to teens is just one example of Sister Helena's media savvy. She also tweets, blogs, writes movie reviews and is making a documentary film about her order's founder with Spirit Juice Studios.

To get a sense of Sister Helena's social media presence, check out this sampling from Storify: Sister Helena Burns, 'Media Nun'

She’s part of an international order of nuns called the Daughters of St. Paul. They claim they’re the only order in the world whose sole mission is using media to “communicate the gospel in a digital age.” And at a time when studies show more and more people are feeling disconnected from institutional churches, the sisters may have found an unusual way to reach out.

The order was founded by Father James Alberione in 1915. He had a vision media would explode in the 20th century, and he should spread the gospel to as many people as possible using whatever technologies were available.

Back in those days, that was mostly newspapers and passing out pamphlets door-to-door. In 1932, the order opened the Pauline bookstores, which have locations across the country, including Chicago.

Over the years, the stores have adopted new forms of media and technology as they've come along.

Today, they're known as Pauline Books and Media.

They've expanded their technologies to include ebooks, smartphone apps and software, among others. Music from the Daughters of St. Paul choir can be found on YouTube and in iTunes.

The Chicago order of the Daughters of St. Paul is located over its Pauline Books and Media store on North Michigan Avenue in the Loop.

Dressed in her navy blue veil and smock, Sister Helena greeted me warmly when I dropped by the store. It was early, so there weren't any customers browsing the religious books or trying to track down communion gifts yet. Sister Helena led me to the back of the store, where we took an elevator upstairs to the convent. The furnishings in the florescent-lit kitchen were spartan but comfortable.

Sister Helena entered the Daughters of St. Paul at 17, after finding an ad in Catholic Digest. The order's mission of spreading the gospel through media spoke to her immediately.

“I felt, what better way could you bring God into somebody’s heart and soul and mind, just directly through a book, a song, a magazine, a film,” she said.

Sister Helena didn’t always know she was going to be a nun. Growing up, she dreamt of working with animals, especially birds. But she also loved reading and writing short stories

“I could see the influence for the good and the ill that media had on me, on my friends, and on society," she said. "I thought, ‘Wow, I would love to just get in there and affirm the good, and try to help people also reflect on their everyday media experiences.'"

The Daughters of St. Paul don’t just evangelize, they teach people to use media responsibly without allowing it to take over their lives. In addition to speaking to large groups like the confirmation class at St. Mary's, they also offer private sessions with families and individuals, or anyone who needs help balancing the media and technology.

Sister Helena told me about a woman whose granddaughter used to come over every day after school.

"'Because,' she said, 'Grandma, you look at me. I go to my house, my little brother’s playing with his games, my mother’s talking on her phone, my dad’s at the computer.' She said, ‘I come into your house, Grandma, and you’re at the computer, you shut it off.'”

In addition to working with teens and families, the order also uses media as a tool to recruit new sisters. A 2012 study from Georgetown University shows the number of nuns in the United States has dropped by two-thirds since the 1960s.

The Daughters of St. Paul hope to reverse that trend by reaching out to young women in their own language, social media.

That appealed to 30-year-old Danielle Lussier, who’s entering the order this September. Like Sister Helena, Danielle never pictured herself as a nun.

“They were other worldly, they were outside of my own worldview, totally, like, out of touch maybe? But also mysterious," she said.

Danielle studied photography and film in college, but she began to wonder if she was using her talents for the highest possible purpose. While on a religious retreat, she found her purpose in the Daughters of St. Paul.

“This is a means of reaching people where they are," Danielle said. "This is the language of our culture.”

Back at St. Mary Catholic Church, the nuns seem to be getting through. Fifteen-year-old Bailey said she's heard some "boring" speakers in confirmation class, but hearing a nun speak about a zombie movie caught her attention.

“She’s not just [living] this strict life, she can get out there and teach kids [in the way] we learn," Bailey said. "It’s kind of more our generation,” she said.

Now, Bailey said, she expects to pay more attention to Catholic issues when they pop up on Facebook.

The Color of Christ: The Son of God and the Saga of Race in America

Wed, 20 Feb 2013 15:08:00 -0600

How is it that in America the image of Jesus Christ has been used both to justify the atrocities of white supremacy and to inspire the righteousness of civil rights crusades? In The Color of Christ, Edward J. Blum and Paul Harvey weave a tapestry of American dreams and visions–from witch hunts to web pages, Harlem to Hollywood, slave cabins to South Park, Mormon revelations to Indian reservations–to show how Americans remade Jesus visually time and again into a sacred symbol of their greatest aspirations, deepest terrors, and mightiest strivings for racial power and justice.

The Color of Christ uncovers how, in a country founded by Puritans who destroyed depictions of Jesus, Americans came to believe in the whiteness of Christ. Some envisioned a white Christ who would sanctify the exploitation of Native Americans and African Americans and bless imperial expansion. Many others gazed at a messiah, not necessarily white, who was willing and able to confront white supremacy. The color of Christ still symbolizes America’s most combustible divisions, revealing the power and malleability of race and religion from colonial times to the presidency of Barack Obama.

Recorded live Tuesday, January 22, 2013 at The Newberry Library.

List: Reasons why I'd make a pretty good pope

Mon, 11 Feb 2013 09:31:00 -0600

I’d bring new fresh ideas to the Church like putting all the nuns in charge and re-instating the fun-to-say “It is right to give Him thanks and praise” and maybe swapping out the “Peace be with you” handshake for a more hygienic long-distance high-five.

I tweet a lot.

There might be a slightly different attitude towards abuse of small children if a former altar server and parent of a small child were in charge.

I like both bread and wine.

Every day of Lent would be Fat Tuesday until Easter.

When pop culture makes fun of Catholicism, instead of embarrassing us by getting all outraged I’ll say something more along the lines of “Okay, you got us, that was pretty good.”

I used to take Italian and Latin.

The Church would be much more inclusive because then when parishes have church parties we could maybe rent out a club instead of having to use the old church rectory basement again.

I look good in hats and dresses.

It’s time for another Polish pope.

I got my flu shot so I’m good to go.

Join the grand tradition of looking kind of bad at your baby's baptism

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 08:26:00 -0600

A friend of mine is having her baby baptized soon, which is very lovely, except for the fact that the baby is five months old already.

No, it’s not a problem because the parents let the baby risk being alive all these five months before getting some nice-smelling oil rubbed on his little baby head. If it weren’t for the cute frilly white dresses and the way everyone holds their breath when the baby gets the water splashed on the baby head, I’d say no one should be baptized until they’re 18 and have picked his or her religion.

The problem is that this mother unfairly skirted the tradition (in the christening set) of Looking Kind Of Bad At Your Baby’s Baptism.

Looking Kind Of Bad is not at all the same as looking actually bad. You wouldn’t find a picture of yourself in Glamour with a bar across your eyes for Looking Kind Of Bad. It’s just the sartorial result of being presented by the challenge of being required to look nice on a photo-op day that is a significant occasion shortly after you just had a baby. It’s been difficult enough simply taking care of the child, taking care of the house not to mention keeping yourself together in the face of basic biology (wherein, post-birth, your boobs explode and your uterus falls out.) Then you have to find a dress that covers up your postpartum belly but is slightly hipper than a muumuu. And you need to find shoes and jewelry to go with that nonexistent dress and don’t forget to do your hair and makeup. You could put your clothes on before you feed the baby but then the baby might spit up on you so hurry, hurry! Get dressed before you get to the church. Don’t forget the undereye concealer, you waking zombie. So it’s no wonder that mothers in their kids’ baptism photos look a tiny bit uneasy in addition to tired and happy. I myself purchased a Gap dress that was simultaneously gigantic yet also too short, but what really mattered was that it was a fun day, the baby behaved and we ate some delicious honeybaked ham.

Looks aren’t everything, especially when it comes to recording your kid’s life. (This essay by Allison Tate encapsulates that beautifully.) We can’t all look like Claire Danes who looks like she must have given birth to a pea-baby. What’s important on a christening day is health and happiness and family and whatever spiritual element one finds in the day (and of course whether the baby cries once its baby head gets wet.)

But once I realized that feeling awkward in your clothes on a baptism day is a funny sort of tradition and not a curse, it seems like some sort of cheat, like managing to skip over puberty and going straight from adorable childhood to confident adulthood. So whether you’re doing the christening late or you used a surrogate or adopted, just do the decent thing and at the very least, eat a big meal right before the christening, and join the club.

No apocalypse? Chicago residents can tell you why

Fri, 21 Dec 2012 05:00:00 -0600

You’ve heard it all: 2012, apocalypse, end of the world, blah blah blah. But for some Guatemalans and Mexicans in Chicago, December 21 is a time of celebration that has nothing to do with doomsday prophecies.

In the Mayan tradition December 21 is a major turning of the calendar, the end of an approximately 394-year-long cycle called a Bak’tun. It’s the 13th Bak’tun of the Mayan calendar era, and some say this era will be only 13 Bak’tuns long. Translation: time for a new world.

But in reality, December 21 more closely resembles Y2K than the John Cusack movie “2012.” It’s a big, huge renewal with numeric and astrological significance. Only one Mayan text suggests that it’s the end of the world, and people of Mayan descent are more likely to be celebrating than stocking up on bottled water and firearms.

“This is a time of reflection and to see what we have done with our lives, with mother nature, and how are we going to move forward in this new era,” said Hugo Hun, the Guatemalan consul general of Chicago. He said many Guatemalans will travel to large ceremonies in 13 different cities throughout Guatemala.

The Bak’tun events are also a tourist attraction, but some are concerned that the doomsday hullaballoo is commercializing the Mayan culture.

“The living Mayans are systematically losing the way they used to live and their beliefs as well,” Akaze Yotzin said.

He’s the leader of a Chicago group called Nahualli that practices and studies indigenous Mexican traditions. He said poverty and racial stereotypes already endanger Mayan identity in Mexico, and stressed that Mayans are not an ancient people, but a people who are alive today. Nahualli held a ceremony Friday morning at the American Indian Center to celebrate the winter solstice and the turning of the calendar.

Music and mathematics

Ancient Mayan culture gave great significance to math and numbers, and the number 13 is considered particularly powerful. The complex numerology of the Mayan calendar system inspired Chicago musician Juan Dies, who produced a song called "13 Bak'tun" with his band Sones de Mexico.

"13 Bak'tun" features 13 parts, each carefully planned to highlight numerology. For example, the second part is in 2/4 time and uses two instruments. The thirteenth has 13 instruments playing in 13/8 time. And guess what - the song is 13 minutes long.

Dies said the date is important and also misrepresented. His song is part of an effort to correct that. Sones de Mexico has been together for nearly twenty years studying and reinterpreting traditional Mexican music. The tenth part of "13 Bak'tun" features Chicago poet Carlos Mejia performing a poem in Quiche Mayan. According to Dies, Mejia traveled to Guatemala for Dec. 21, 2012 to join the Bak'tun celebrations.

"I think the Mayans are seeing it today as a closure of a long cycle, very much as we saw the end of our millenium," Dies said. "Along with that comes an opportunity to renew yourself, to look back at the achievements of the last four hundreds years, and how you may make changes or improvements or a rebirth in the new Bak’tun."

The noble path: A Buddhist Christmas

Tue, 18 Dec 2012 10:00:00 -0600

Lately I’ve been doing a little reading and research in Buddhist literature and philosophy. At the core of Buddhist thought is the achievement of personal wisdom and the practice of ethical conduct.

Buddhism argues that the world is imperfect, that life is full of suffering and that human nature is flawed. Nevertheless, our goal as rational and spiritual creatures is to accept the imperfections of reality, overcome our limitations and try to create a self that is free from the false illusions of success and the deadening effects of fear, frustration, disappointment and depression.

My reading of this venerable tradition is that life is a journey of suffering and self-improvement. We must find a middle way between self-indulgence (hedonism) and excessive self-mortification (asceticism) to achieve contentment. The goal laid out by Siddhartha Gautama (the Buddha) is the achievement of the “Noble Eightfold Path.”

1. Right View

2. Right Intention

3. Right Speech

4. Right Action

5. Right Livelihood

6. Right Effort

7. Right Mindfulness

8. Right Concentration

At its core the “Eightfold Path” is, in essence, a prescription for ethical conduct with others. In an imperfect world full of suffering and toil each of us must try to find a way to live with others. The “Eightfold Path” exhorts us to free ourselves of false illusions, to detach ourselves from false decisions, to overcome selfishness, to pursue charity and good will, to avoid cruelty and violence, and to develop a deep compassion for those we live with and love.

It seems to me that the essence of Buddhist thought can be easily rolled into the ethos of this Christmas season. Both positions, by different means, are advancing the same issues and outcomes: an undistorted view of reality; personal serenity, right conduct and charity, peace on Earth; and, lest we forget, the true purpose of the season — “goodwill to all.”

Al Gini is a Professor of Business Ethics and Chairman of the Management Department in the Quinlan School of Business at Loyola University Chicago.

Gypsy Smith's march

Thu, 18 Oct 2012 05:00:00 -0500

On this date 103 years ago, Chicago saw one of its strangest events. English evangelist Gypsy Smith led a march through the city’s notorious Levee.

Rodney Smith really was a Romani – a gypsy. By 1909 he’d become a famous and respected preacher on three continents. Now he was conducting a revival at the Armory on Wentworth at 34th Street.

The Levee was Chicago’s red-light district, centered around 22nd (Cermak) and State. Prostitution was supposed to be illegal in the city. But officials had always allowed the brothels to operate, as long as they remained clustered in one area.

A few days before, Smith had announced he would lead a march through the Levee. So on this evening, when he finished his sermon at the Armory, he quietly walked out the front door, and started heading north on Wentworth. The 3,000 people in his congregation followed.

They walked silently, earnestly. Men and women, young and old, all races, all levels of society. Every so often, Smith would turn to face the group and walk backward while preaching to them. Other joined the march along the way, until about 20,000 people were moving up Wentworth.

By the time they reached 22nd, the sidewalks were jammed with spectators from all over the city. Many stood in horse-drawn wagons, or in open cars, or on the roofs of buildings. Police estimated the crowd at over 50,000–bigger than any sporting event or election night rally. One cop shook his head, saying “This could only happen in Chicago.”

Meanwhile, all the brothels had closed down. The lights were off, the curtains shut, the doors locked. Many of the prostitutes had changed to street clothes and were among the throng watching the marchers.

In many ways, it was a more civilized time. The spectators did not heckle the marchers or throw things at them. They merely watched – respectful or cynical or amused, but always orderly.

Now that the marchers had entered the belly of the beast, they began singing hymns. Periodically they’d pause in front of a “resort.” Then Smith would lead them in a short prayer before moving on.

The march ended, and Gypsy Smith left. According to legend, some of his followers stayed behind to sample the delights of the Levee for the first time. But the evangelist was not disappointed. “Time will show that great good has been done,” he said.

Two years later, Mayor Carter Harrison shut down the Levee.

Rockford Diocese gets new bishop

Tue, 20 Mar 2012 16:16:00 -0500

Pope Benedict XVI has picked a priest from Lake Geneva, Wis., to serve as the next bishop in the Rockford Diocese.

Monsignor David Malloy currently is the pastor at St. Francis de Sales in Lake Geneva, which is in the Milwaukee Archdiocese.

Malloy will replace Bishop Thomas Doran, who submitted his resignation to the Vatican on his 75th birthday as the church requires.

Malloy is a Milwaukee native who graduated from Marquette University and studied at St. Francis de Sales Seminary in Milwaukee and the North American College in Rome. He was ordained in Milwaukee in 1983.

The Rockford Diocese covers 11 counties in northern Illinois and includes more than 450,000 Catholics.

Farrakhan: America is on its deathbed

Mon, 27 Feb 2012 03:21:00 -0600

Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan alternately defended and derided President Barack Obama during the group’s annual Saviours’ Day speech at Chicago’s United Center on Sunday.

Farrakhan challenged Obama’s recent statements that America is back on track.

“Mr. President, if America is not in decline, why is our government and state governments selling off the assets that belong to the government and American people?” Farrakhan said.

But Farrakhan also took Republicans to task who have disseminated racist material about Obama. On a projector, Farrakhan highlighted images that have depicted Obama as a Nazi and a chimpanzee. The minister also read passages from people who have called for the president’s assassination.

“Never has a sitting president been spoken of in the manner that President Obama and his family have had to endure,” Farrakhan said. “Not just by the birthers and right-wing zealots but those in high places – people with great influence have spoken against him in a manner that has never been according to even the worst of America’s white presidents.”

But Farrakhan said Obama is being pressured to destroy him.

“They want our president to deal with me and Iran and that would make the ‘synagogue of Satan’ happy,” Farrakhan said. He then warned that Obama may be a target for assassination.

Farrakhan’s speech was entitled 'What will 2012 bring to America, the World, Black and Oppressed People.' Saviours’ Day marks the birth of Nation of Islam founder W. Fard Muhammad. Farrakhan spoke for several hours to a crowd of thousands.

Farrakhan also delved into foreign policy. A staunch supporter and friend of Libya’s former leader Muammar Qaddafi — who was killed by rebels last fall — Farrakhan questioned Middle East policies as several countries bubble with tumult.

“Documents have surfaced that reveal the so-called Arab Spring didn’t start in the Muslim world,” Farrakhan said. “It started from plans in the United States to take over the Middle East, its natural resources for the Western World. But their Arab Spring is not going the way they originally intended and it is now turned into a harsh Arab Winter.”

Farrakhan also put forth the theory that the Sept. 11 attacks were not orchestrated by Muslims but were an inside job orchestrated by the U.S. government.