....... ., The Message -- for Catholics of Southwestern Indiana
5
Bishop's Forum
Requirements: What is a 'Catholic' school?
have read in the
• public press dent Catholic" school is misleading, children, for theirs becomes a heavy burden.
Iclependent Catholic No school can be independent of the Parents who choose to commit their children to
established.
n the same article, for which I
was not asked to comment, there "
the asserti-- ,4 . ". Is
,,^.t. .l, tna traditional
nolic do "
,, ctrme will be taught.
What does that mean?
The author wrote that the school
was being formed inde e
the o,,. .... p ndent from
alL.'. mvnc Diocese of Evansvill
!ve]t not in .... e,
voaCles. " " uaravention of its
net with the lead-
in forming a pri-
They indicated the
ld follow the format of home schooling.
to rent a church-owned facility. I denied
To have approved the request would
the Catholic Diocese liable for all the ac-
there is no such entity as a Catholic
of the teaching authority of the
To use the identification as " indepen-
ByBISHOP
GERALD A.
GETTELFINGER
bishop and retain the title of
Catholic. The school called "Anima
Christi" is not a Catholic school.
In our discussion I reminded the
same leadership that they were to
be careful not to call their school
"Catholic" for that is reserved for
those who, under my authority as
bishop of the local diocese, comply
with diocesan policy and practices.
They understood.
In the public press that prohibi-
tion has been violated. I cannot as-
sign responsibility. I regret the ap-
pellation of the school as "Catholic" nonetheless.
I learned from the article that Anima Christi has
indeed been formed by this group of parents who
have chosen to "home school" their children. I have
no quarrel with their rights as parents to do so. I
had affirmed their right to form such a school and
have expressed my admiration for the courage they
exhibit in assuming responsibility for each others'
this school must also be responsible for the integrity
of the education they receive. It must meet state ed-
ucational standards for attendance and safety, not
to mention teacher competency.
As Chief Teacher of the Diocese, I affirm that ed-
ucation of children is the responsibility of parents.
In a corollary way it is the responsibility of the faith
community to assist parents in meeting that re-
sponsibility.
In the Catholic Diocese of Evansville we make
available where possible Catholic parochial and in-
terparochial schools for parents choosing Catholic
schools. For those parents who do not have access to
Catholic schools or who choose to send their chil-
dren to the public school the Church provides
weekly religious education programs.
Parents may choose to exercise their rights out-
side the jurisdiction of the Catholic Diocese. In such
cases, I as bishop and chief teacher, cannot be held
accountable for the children's' education. Such is too
grave a responsibility.
ITy (CNS)
II, who began
magazine's "Man
seen his repu-
a year-long roller
pope's popularity, 1995 was a rollercoaster
out by leading
in the Philip-
ere Several million
S
Service
!heered him and
October came
to the United
Nations,
preaching once
GOspel must
and political
-ar drew to a
suffered dis-
in the public
the pope's
ex'communist
President over
church-supported Lech Walesa.
In Catholic Ireland, divorce
was legalized in a special bal-
lot.
Simplistic as it sounds to
many in the Vatican, both
votes were widely portrayed in
the media as papal defeats.
The pontiff, who celebrated
his 75th birthday in May,
walked without a cane for most
of the year and seemed to have
more energy than in 1994. He
showed that talk of the "twi-
light" of his papacy was prema-
ture, issuing major documents
on women, ecumenism, human
life issues and the African
church; traveling to five conti-
nents; and resuming his full
schedule of meetings with po-
litical and church leaders from
around the globe.
His letter to the world's
women in June won near-uni-
versal praise for its positive
tone and its apology for church
mistakes in the past.
But the Vatican came under
fire at the Fourth World Con-
ference on Women in Beijing in
September, having to convince
delegates and the world at
large that its teachings on
birth control, motherhood and
the right to life do not limit
women's role.
In January, French Bishop
Jacques Gaillot was removed
from his diocese for his opposi-
tion to church teaching on con-
dom use, married priests and
other issues. Many French
Catholics protested the Vati-
can action.
German and Austrian
Catholic petitions asked for
women priests, democratically
elected bishops and changes in
teaching on sexual morality.
The votes in Poland and Ire-
land were characterized as
"two slaps in the face for the
pope" by the Economist, a pop-
ular European magazine,
which said the votes were evi-
dence of the pope's weakened
world influence. In the 1980s,
the pontiff helped crack Soviet
communism, but "since then, it
is hard to think of anywhere he
has managed to shape events,"
it said.
The article also took to task
the Vatican's statement in
November that the all-male
priesthood has been "infallibly"
taught hy the church. By rais-
ing the issue of infallibility, it
said, the Vatican showed "it
lacks confidence in it argu-
ments."
The article, quoted in Italian
newspapers and circulated
among Vatican officials, stung
bitterly -- so much that the
Vatican newspaper came to the
pope's defense. In an unusual
Page One commentary Dec. 6,
it said a pope's success cannot
be measured by election re-
sults or opinion polls.
The Vatican newspaper
went on, in an increasingly in-
dignant tone, to say that "intol-
erance" toward the pope's mes-
sage was more offensive than
the 1981 assassination attempt
on the pope's life. It said some
of the criticism -- with dis-
paraging refrences to the pon-
tiffs Polish nationality -- bor-
ders on racism.
But while the pope's com-
ments on abortion, divorce and
euthanasia may not always
find favor among the powerful,
he is not about to play "court
chaplain" to the powers-that-
be, the newspaper said.
The pope, a man who has
never treated the papacy as a
popularity contest, knows how
quickly media praise can turn
into disapproval.
In January, asked about his
selection as Time's 1994 "Man
of the Year," he replied: "That
was last year."
Today, he might be thinking:.
Bring on 1996.
nselor's commentary: Marriages and miracles
that tonight
asleep is
Iraele happens
Problems are
u Were asleep
OCcurred you
anything
You awaken,
to notice
are different
Problems are
is the first
when
in
ur problems
COme for mar-
g this miracle
of the first
could be as-
to this
"I would
Palace- or "I
see a win-
on ray bed."
and fanciful
mstulated,
surprised
at the answer I hear in the
vast majority of instances
when I ask that question.
Most often the individual
will say, "he (or she, meaning
their spouse) would say good
morning." If I ask what would
happen next to further indicate
that this miracle had truly
happened they will inevitably
say "I would say good morn-
ing." Continuing along this
same path of what would hap-
pen next, they usually say that
the conversation would be:
"How did you sleep?" "Fine.
How did you sleep?" "Fine."
Sometimes it is hard for me
to believe that couples who
come to counseling with multi-
ple problems, and some even
on the verge of divorce, can say
that the first indication that a
miracle has happened and
their problems are gone is to
have their spouse say "good
morning." The importance of
this brief greeting has always
been known to marketing pro-
fessionals and others who in:
teract with the public, but it
also seems to be of great im-
portance when interacting
with one's spouse. It seems
that in problem saturated mar-
riages this simple greeting is
often not present. At the risk of
sounding overly simplistic,
when a couple who has an-
swered the miracle question in
this fashion decide to change
and say "good morning" it can
lead to other changes that di-
minish the problems they are
having. Many times very sim-
ple small changes such as this
can have a ripple effect that
can start to change the whole
relationship.
Further responses to the
miracle question might be, "I
wouldn't wake up feeling tense
or like I had a knot in my
stomach." Another very com-
mon response would be, "When
I get home from work he/she
would give me a hug and ask
me how my day went." Further
replies usually go along these
lines: "We would have a relax-
ing dinner with the kids, then
after they go to bed we would
have a nice conversation with
both of us listening and talking
and then we would go to bed."
Another common response
would be, "We would laugh
again."
One of the most interesting
aspects about this miracle
question is that if you ask the
person what makes them reply
in that manner they will usu-
ally say, "Oh, that is the way it
was with us before the prob-
lems." This statement seems to
indicate two things. First it
seems to show that the real
"problem" most people have is
not their problems but the way
they go about solving their
problems. The second thing
that it shows is that the solu-
tion to the "problem is known
by the couple and has even
been used by them before.
Sometimes when new "prob-
lems" appear such as those re-
lated to children, new job, or
other outside influences a cou-
ple "forgets" to use their famil-
iar problem solving skills and
fall into habits that are de-
structive to their marriage. By
helping them see how their life
will be when their problems
are solved they can change
their behavior to a familiar
style they exhibited when
things were better. Often when
the couple relates their miracle
vision they can see how some-
times some of those things
they describe are already hap-
pening. Maybe, for example, in
the recent past they were
greeted with a "good morning"
or a hug when coming home.
By seeing these exceptions the
couple realizes that part of
their miracle is already hap-
pening.
Sometimes people ask me if
I believe in miracles. I always
tell them that in the counsel-
ing business I see miracles
happen every day. I believe
that God loves to help bring
about miracles in the marriage
relationship and He provides
all the graces needed to make
it happen. We must do our
part, however, and accept his
grace to change our minds and
soften our hearts so our behav-
ior change will follow. How
about it? Are you ready for
your miracle?
Graham is a marriage coun.
selor and director of parish
outreach for Catholic Charities.
