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The Message -- for Catholics of Southwestern Indiana
• Perspective
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; T hanKsgl, 00tng.00 00.cknowledging,the hol,nes
I Suspect the phrase "Turkey
Day? originated with the same kind
of discomfort which led to the
phrase, "Happy Holidays." It's a
phrase of weakness, not of
strength.
I say, if we really want to show
respect for our neighbors of other
faiths, we should learn about the
holidays they celebrate and call
them by their right names. If you
mean "Merry Christmas," say
"Merry Christmas."
If you want to show sensitivity
to our spiritual ancestors, then
learn about Chanukah -- the eight,
day festival observed by Jews. This year, Chanukah
begins at sundown Dec. 8 and continues through
Dec. 16. It is not a "Jewish Christmas" but a "Festi-
val of Lights" which celebrates the Jewish victory
over the Syrian Greek oppressors in the year 165 be-
fore the Christian era, and the re-establishment of
their political and religious freedom. And be aware
PAUL R.
INGANG
EDITOR
that Yom Kippur -- which was cele-
brated Sept. 25 -- is in fact the holi-
est single day of the Jewish year.
Somehow, "Happy Holidays"
seems far too bland to acknowledge
the importance of our holy days --
or the holy days of any faith.
"Turkey Day" is o.k. in a
breezy, colloquial sense -- but what
k we celebrate on the last Thursday
of November is in fact a day of
Thanksgiving. And our expression
of thanks is factually and histori-
cally a day of thanks to God.
There. I said the G-word that
you won't find in many places.
The entertainment arts -- for the most part --
use the G-word only in exclamations, like, "Oh my
God!" or in other exclamations unprintable in this
newspaper.
Advertisements and articles about Thanksgiv-
ing tend to focus on the turkey and trimmings, on
stuffing first the turkey and then ourselves, on
football and travel.
In fact, Thanksgiving is a day
-- not just to each other, or to our counti
turkey who died to fill our bellies -- but t
know there are people who do not believe 1
but I do believe -- and I feel no need
lief so as not to offend persons
belief.
Mind you, I am not calling
and fasting. Far from it, I am
edgment of the truth that where
gathered in the name of Jesus,
sent -- and that is cause for gre
thanksgiving.
It is time for us to acknowledge
feasting and football and
our families practice. Whether ' tel
is not part of your own family t
acknowledge that the gathering of the (
fact holy. Thanksgiving is not only a
day. It is a holy day of the domestic
celebration of the family, and it is in
where we first experience the love
III
Vatian Letter
Protecting papal privacy from the probing press
By JOHN THAVIS
Catholic News Service
VATICAN CITY (CNS) --
After 15 years of navigating
thousands of stairs, ramps and
runways, Pope John Paul II fi-
nally missed a step.
The result was a dislocated
right shoulder -- the pope's
blessing arm, unfortunately --
and, a new wave of concern for
papal well-being among the
media and the faithful.
The episode Nov. 11 demon-
strated that the 73-year-old
pontiff, arguably the most pub-
lic pope in history, enjoys a
limited "right to privacy." As
the pope grows older, his
health and stamina are coming
under the same glare of atten-
tion that has accompanied his
pontificate from the start.
For obvious reasons, how-
ever, the Vatican is trying to
protect whatever private realm
remains. In the days following
his stumble, there seemed to
be a conscious effort to avoid
putting a bandaged pope on
display.
After an overnight stay in
the hospital, the pope was back
at work within 48 hours of his
misstep. But during the next
week, most public appearances
were canceled, including the
general audience, his weekly
tt
The MESSAGE
4200 N. Kentucky Ave.
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Published weekly except last week in
December by the Catholic Press of
Evansville
Publisr ............ Bishop Gerald A, Gcltelfinger
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Proiotl Ma2OL;....:.:..:,.; ........... Phil Boger
.:...:... ............... ,,,Amy Housman
Advertising ........ ; ................. :.,,.....Pa Newland
$tafff ter.,.:. ...................... Mary Ann Hughes :
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;nterel as 2hd class matter at the post
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€ i ..Psa,=r, :Rtum POD forms 3579
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I to Office of Publication
II " 1993 Caeli l=i °i Eva'vie
encounter with the faithful.
The pope made a brief ap-
pearance at his apartment
window and issued a left-
handed blessing, his right arm
immobilized in a well-con-
cealed sling. But for many of
the several thousand pilgrims
who showed up, it just wasn't
the same.
"He looks good, but he's so
far away: We had good seats,
and I hoped to get really close,"
said Sis Adamo from Pennsyl-
vania, who stood in St. Peter's
Square still clutching her audi-
ence tickets.
The Vatican said the audi-
ence was canceled to avoid
placing additional strain on
the pontiff, who usually shakes
hands with many in the crowd
and spends about 90 minutes
reading a talk and greetings.
His absence at a commemo-
rative Mass the day before was later the pope appeared on TV
likewise explained, but officials
also cited "aesthetic" reasons.
The idea of the pope pronounc-
ing "Oremus" with only one
arm outstretched apparently
bothered some people.
Whatever the explanation,
the reaction in the Italian
media to the papal nonappear-
ances was predictable: instant
speculation that the pope was
more seriously ill than offi-
cially disclosed.
On a recent morning in the
Vatican press office, for exam-
ple, a cabal of Italian re-
porters, working by intuition
and rumor, diagnosed hyper-
tension, low blood pressure,
high blood pressure and stress.
"Just look at him. He's
stressed out," said one overex-
cited hack. It didn't seem to
matter when a few minutes
Share your Christmas memories
° " . . . my fondest memory
was the year I received my
very own first camera."
• "With blankets bundled
around us, we four children
nestled in the warm straw. My
father sat hunched on the
wagon seat and my mother sat
with her back to the wind,
sheltering my baby brother
born in October."
Send your memories to
Christmas Memories, The Mes-
sage, P.O. Box4169, Evansville
IN 47724.0169.
The Dec. 24 issue of the
Message will include a sam-
pling of readers' Christmas
memories. Responses received
by Dec. 13 will be considered
for publication.
Following are excerpts from
early letters:
* "Our family was a large
one; but on Christmas Eve
there was always more since
relatives and friends always
came by to join the family cele-
bration. Sometimes we had 30
to 60 people in our home."
was no
looking upbeat and rosy-
cheeked.
"Alarm for the Pope: Faint-
ings and Amnesia," said a
headline in Rome's most popu-
lar daily, La Repubblica. The
article cited unnamed sources
as saying the pope had had
episodes of "blackouts" and
memory lapses even before his
fall. He even forgot the name
of his first encyclical in a con-
versation, it said.
This report was dismissed as
"fantasy" at the Vatican, which
said the pope had never suf-
fered fainting spells or loss of
memory. After his fall, he con-
tinued to work a 17-hour day
with no extra rest periods, a
papal spokesman said. The one
difference was that instead of
writing, he was dictating his
letters, talks and sermons to a
staffer, he said.
The Vatican has been
backed up by U.S. and Cana-
dian bishops who have visited
individually with the pope in
recent weeks and found him as
sharp as ever.
Much of the press specula-
tion was fueled by the fact that
no journalist was there to wit-
ness the pope's stumble, which
occurred as he descended a few
steps during a Vatican audi-
ence with members of the U.N.
Food and Agriculture Organi-
zation.
Oddly, in this most docu-
mented of pontificates, there
pope's fall, ei
can's own
switched off its
into place for a
session, a
The V
managed to
film.
Audience
brought
pher, who
Vatican to
of the papal
plied and
penance; he
eral th,
pictures the
sources said.
To many
amazing thin
John Paul haS:
feet for so
steep altar
popemobile,
floors and
plane aisles.
Doctors
slow down. In
a benign
surgically
doctors
can't
The pope
ment and
than I aires
months later,
his
tors know
prefers
ways eveIl
to the rocking'
Bishop's sch
The following activities and events
schedule of Bishop Gerald A. Gettelfinger. ::
