The Message for Catholics of Southwestern Indiana July 1,
Perspective
Supported by our faith community in grief and celebration
A thousand people "marched
for Jesus" in downtown Evansville
last Saturday. They professed their
faith on the public streets of the
city.
Several' hundred people came
to Providence Home in Jasper on
Sunday for a Marian Family Day
to celebrate Mass with the
bishop, and to pray the rosary.
They professed their faith in the
openess of an outdoor celebration
open to all who could see or
hear.
Hundreds of people gathered,
too, on Friday last week, at Holy
Rosary Church in Evansville, for the funeral
liturgy celebrating the life of Ronald C. Baumgart,
diocesan treasurer. Many more people had come to
l
By PAUL R.
LEINGANG
EDITOR
the funeral home the day before to
pay their respects, and to pray for
Ron and his family.
No person came alone to that
funeral home, to the Mass, or to the
cemetery. Each person -- one by
one or in family groups -- became a
part of the larger community gath-
ered together to express faith and
hope and love, at a time of sorrow.
There were weddings last
weekend, too, where assemblies of
Christians gathered to witness a
public and sacramental commit-
ment made by a man and a woman.
The common faith we Chris-
tians share is not a faith to be hidden away in se-
cret. It is to be celebrated publically and joyfully --
even in times of sadness.
Thank God for our Church community!
I confess that many times I have been distracted
from prayer and ritual, even at weddings or funerals.
But I know that all does not depend on me alone
for I have the community to support me.
If my faith wavers, it is the community gathered
in faith which gives me strength. My faith will be
strengthened again, as I witness the faith of others
in the assembly.
If my hope weakens, I find hope in the actions of
the community, where witness is given by those who
are full of hope.
If my love for another is threatened by hum an
weakness -- my own failing or that of another's
the community gives me comfort, until love returnS.
Where two or three of us are gathered in the
name of Jesus, he is with us. Our God is among us.
.,...--. Washington
Housing dilemma: To be or not to be 'primarily' religious
By NANCY
FRAZIER O'BRIEN
Catholic News Service
WASHINGTON (CNS)
Convinced that the deteriora-
tion of America's cities cannot
be turned around "without en-
gaging the moral and spiritual
forces of the community,:
Housing and Urban Develop-
ment Secretary Henry G. Cis-
neros convened an unusual
gathering of religious leaders
at HUD headquarters June 22.
But the U.S. Catholic Con-
ference's specialist in housing
matters, Thomas Shellabarger,
sees a not-insignificant obsta-
cle in the road to greater col-
laboration between HUD and
religious institutions w HUD's
own regulations. They ban
"primarily religious" organiza-
tions from seeking funding
under one of its largest pro-
grams, he said.
Shellabarger was among the
nearly 100 participants at the
June 22 "HUD and Religious
Institutions Conference." It in-
cluded representatives of Jew-
Father Brenner:
Blessed by support
To the editor:
l have been asked several
times in the past year whether
The MESSAGE
4200 N• Kentucky Ave.
Evansville, IN 47720-0169
Weekly newspaper of the
Diocese of Evansville
Published weekly except last week in
December by the Catholic Press of
Evansville
Publisher .............. Bishop Gerald A. Gettelfinger
Editor ............................................ Paul Leingang
Production Manager ........................... Phil Boger
Circulation ................................... Amy Housman
Advesing .................................... Paut Newland
Staflf writer ............................ Man/Ann Hughes
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Copyght t g94 Press of Evansvffe
ish and Protestant organiza-
tions as well as the U.S. bish-
ops' Campaign for Human De-
velopment, Catholic Charities
USA and other Catholic
groups.
To signal his personal inter-
est in the discussions, Cisneros
opened the session with an
hourlong talk and preceded it
by talking with a small group
of reporters, including Catholic
News Service, about the impor-
tance of religious institutions
in community life.
Describing churches as "the
most stable, the most long-
standing ... pillars of the com-
munity," Cisneros said some
problems such as drugs and
gangs seem to respond only to
an approach that includes a
spiritua! aspect.
"It's almost as if when a per-
son's spirit has been broken as
drugs will do, only spiritual so-
lutions can restore his place in
the community," he said.
Cisneros said there is a role
for churches in each of HUD's
five priority areas -- reducing
homelessness, revitalizing pub-
I find that respect for the
clergy has declined in the face
of all the bad publicity in the
news.
I can speak only for myself
but in many ways I find as
much if not more support than
ever. In May I celebrated my
twenty-fifth anniversary of or-
dination to the priesthood.
Many people know of the large
gift that the parishioners and a
few other people gave me in
the new pickup truck. Many
others have made it possible
for me to be able to put a shell
on it and keep it in fuel for a
long time. There were other
gifts as well. Others sent cards
letting me know they were
thinking of me and praying for
me. I thank you all.
I will never forget the packet
of cards and letters we re-
ceived during the first Convo-
cation of Priests in 1987. I'm
not sure those who organized
that campaign were ever ade-
quately thanked. I think that
somewhere in the midst of all
my treasures I still have them.
These past 25 years of min-
istry have been blessed by the
lic housing, expanding afford-
able housing and home owner-
ship, ensuring fair housing for
all and empowering communi-
ties.
There are already church-
based programs to respond to
each of these problems, he
said, and HUD wants those to
expand and others to follow in
their footsteps.
In his talk, Cisneros praised
two Catholic programs for
their contributions to the com-
munity. He recalled touring
the Brother Francis Shelter in
Anchorage, Alaska, a month
earlier with Archbishop Fran-
cis T. Hurley and said it was
the only large shelter for the
homeless in the state.
He also cited the New Com-
munity Corporation in
Newark, N.J., as "one of the
finest examples of what a
church-based organization can
do for the community."
Founded by Msgr. William J.
Linder of Newark, the organi-
zation has built a theater and
shopping center to provide jobs
in the community and some
support of so many great peo-
ple in the diocese among the
laity, religious, my brother
priests, my ordaining Bishop
Leibold, then Bishop Shea and
now Bishop Gettelfinger.
May God bless you all and
pray for me that I may be a
• faithful minister of the gospel.
Father Ray Brenner
Resurrection Church,
Evansville
Catechism: Is
it for everyone?
To the editor:.
Is the new Universal Cate-
chism directed toward and to
be used only by the Bishops of
the world?
The Holy Father on page 13
has this to say: "It (the Cate-
chism of the Catholic Church)
is also offered to all of the
faithful who wish to deepen
their knowledge of the unfath-
omable riches of salvation."
See LETTERS Page 5
3,000 units of low-income
housing and 1,000 units of
housing for the elderly•
It was in another Catholic
organization -- San Antonio's
Communities Organized for
Public Service, known as
COPS -- that Cisneros, former
mayor of San Antonio, has his
own political and religious
roots. COPS began 20 years
ago in Cisneros' home parish;
Our Lady of Guadalupe in San
Antonio•
COPS received nearly
$400,000 over the past two
decades from the Campaign for
Human Development, the U.S.
Catholic Church's domestic
anti-poverty program. It par-
layed those funds into commu-
nity benefits worth an esti-
mated $1 billion in streets and
drainage, curbs and sidewalks,
parks, libraries, literacy cen-
ters and housing.
"And that story has been du-
plicated in many, many places
around the country," said Je-
suit Father Joseph R. Hacala,
CHD executive director and a
participant in the HUD meet-
ing.
He praised the "close work-
ing relationship" between CHD
and HUD in the past and said
the conference was an "oppor-
tunity to lift that up again and
to look for ways for it to con-
tinue."
But Shellabarger of the
USCC's Department of Social
Development and World Peace
was less sanguine about the
possibility of close church ties
with HUD, unless regulations
governing the $1.275 billion
HOME program are
The current're
the HOME program
no funds may go to
religious organizationS,
as churches, for any
including see
Challenged by
about the regulations
the HUD meeting,
said the funding criterl
the HOME program are
lar to that of the
Development Block
program, which alloWS
pation by religiou.'
tions as long as
ject is "free from r,
influence." The
agrees that the regulatio""=
similar.
"They want ustO set
wholly secular entities'
which (the church)
trol, and to then give
good name and
ing of the
Shellabarger said.
can't have it
Talks will continue
attorneys for HUD
about the regulationS'
added.
Meanwhile, shell
said he was
neros' "recognition
gmus commumty s
commitment to
and moderate-incOW
ing."
"We're the largest
affordable housing
citizens, the larger
shelter for the
said. "If there's a
gious community
Bishop's schedU
The following activities and events are listed or* e
schedule of Bishop Gerald A. Gettelfinger.
