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“Some feel that a vision of society rooted in mercy is hopelessly idealistic or excessively indulgent. But let us try and recall our first experience of relationships, within our families. Our parents loved us and valued us for who we are more than for our abilities and achievements. Parents naturally want the best for their children, but that love is never dependent on their meeting certain conditions. The family home is one place where we are always welcome (cf. Lk 15:11-32). I would like to encourage everyone to see society not as a forum where strangers compete and try to come out on top, but above all as a home or a family, where the door is always open and where everyone feels welcome.”

Message from Pope Francis50th World Communications DayJan. 24, 2016

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On the cover...

4 | Model student:A 12-year-old is inspired to reach out to those in need on the other side of the globe.

7 | Unique legacy:A local architect gets a special opportunity from the Vatican.

10 | Staying active:Sister Claire Young is reaping the benefits of maintaining an active lifestyle.

12 | Environmental concerns:“Laudato Si” and pursuing the cosmic common good.

16 | Masterful artist:Stained glass artist Nick Parrendo may be gone, but his works live on..

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Mother's Day is May 8, 2016


Heath Chase is a 12-year-old boy with a game plan to help the poor.

A sixth-grade student at St. Bernadette School in Monroeville, Chase was inspired to build houses for the people living in Chimbote, Peru, after Mike Clark, a news anchor for WTAE-TV, spoke to students about poverty there.

When speaking with the students, Clark, a Chimbote Foundation board member, asked the cost of new gaming system. When they told him it was about $250, he said that is how much it cost to build a home in Chimbote.

“It’s hard to ask for an Xbox when the same amount of money could pay for someone to have a house,” said Chase, who placed an Xbox on his Christmas list last July and later changed his mind.

His strategy to raise money began as a fund-raiser he called “Gaming for Chimbote.” He collects old video game consoles and games and turns them into cash. His best friend, Jeremy Arbster, 12, offered to help him work on the gaming project. So far, with money from donations and the Knights of Columbus, he has enough for 20 houses.

Charles Chase, his father and a graphic designer, is overwhelmed with his son’s initiative and agreed to create flyers to inform people about the project.

Heath then asked St. Joseph Sister Carol Arch, principal of St. Bernadette for 34 years, for permission to place 20 flyers at school with a donation box.

Sister Carol thought it was a great idea and suggested placing the box right outside her office near the front door of the school.

“Heath was touched by what Mike Clark said and what spoke to him was what it took to build a house in Chimbote,” said Sister Carol. “It is a wonderful gift. It’s something that spoke to a

child.”In November of last year, he asked Father

Tony Gargotta, pastor of St. Bernadette Parish, if he could talk to parishioners at the weekend Masses, insert flyers in the parish bulletins and place a donation box in the church.

Father Tony was excited about the project and gave permission for the requests. Heath spoke to parishioners at Masses following the Christmas holidays.

“When Mike Clark talked about Chimbote, Heath lit up and stepped forward,” said Father Tony. “He has a huge heart and is doing a great job. Heath is a good example to his classmates and I’m proud to have him in my parish.”

Heath remembered after speaking at the Masses parishioners would joke about calling it “Heath” town and he thought it should be called “St. Bernadette” town because support came from the school and the church.

By January, there was enough money raised from the school to buy one house.

Mary Chase, Heath’s mother who teaches seventh and eighth grade at St. Bernadette, is humbled and amazed that her son could try to get a whole project going. “After he spoke at church, he wondered if he could go to other parishes to find a student to be part of his Gaming for Chimbote team,” she said.

Because of the diocese involvement in Chimbote, Heath wrote a letter to Bishop David Zubik in February telling him about his project.

Dr. Patrick Joyce, director of the Office for Stewardship, said Bishop Zubik received and read his letter, conveyed his heartfelt thanks and encouragement and called Heath’s efforts “an inspirational act of love.”

“God bless him, Heath Chase,” said Joyce. “On his own he got some people behind him and went out and raised a lot of money for the people of Chimbote. We bless, congratulate and thank him for his compassion for the poor. As Pope Francis and Bishop Zubik often say, we must see the face of Christ in these poor and to them be the face of Christ representing the people of Pittsburgh.”

In March Joyce visited St. Bernadette to meet Heath, his parents, Sister Carol and the students of the school at an assembly. He will bring a rosary for Heath from Bishop Zubik that was blessed by Bishop Angel Francisco Simon Piorno, Bishop of the Diocese of Chimbote. The rosary was intended to be given to a mission partner in the Diocese of Pittsburgh who is doing God’s work by advancing the work of the mission in Peru.

Heath says he is not looking for fame because everybody should help people.

“I’m going to continue doing this for the rest of my life and one day I’ll go to Chimbote,” he said. “I want to see what I’ve done and how much more they still need.” For more information, e-mail Heath at: [email protected].

St. Bernadette School student raises funds for 20 houses at Chimbote missionBy PAULA A. SMITH Correspondent

Photo by CHUCK AUSTINHeath Chase is congratulated by Dr. Patrick Joyce, director of the diocesan Office for Stewardship, for his fund-raising efforts for the people of Chimbote, Peru. From left is Atty. Gretchen Roos, a member of the board of The Chimbote Foundation and Heath’s parents, Mary and Charles Chase. Roos’ uncle Msgr. Jules Roos, founded the Center for Social Works and the Maternidad de Maria at the Chimbote mission.

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DUBUQUE, Iowa (CNS) — As Cari Campbell scrolled through the content of her Facebook newsfeed one day last August, the post of a friend living in Oregon caught her attention.

Campbell could not have foreseen at the time how quickly that social media post would turn her world upside down or the way in which God was about to bless her and her husband’s lives, threefold.

The post would lead Campbell and husband Kevin to adopt triplets and have them baptized at Easter morning Mass March 27 at Resurrection Church in Dubuque.

The infants — Sebastien, Sidney and Sophe-Elizabeth — were among thousands welcomed into the Catholic Church this Easter.

“When I reached out to the parish this past fall to ask about baptism, the parish had suggested the idea of baptizing them on Easter if it all fell into place. We thought that sounded like a neat idea,” Campbell told The Witness, newspaper of the Archdiocese of Dubuque. “And I was baptized at the Easter

Vigil myself when I was 16 or 17 years old, so it just made it extra special.”

The Facebook post that forever changed the course of her and her husband’s lives was about an adoption.

A 35-year-old attorney from Dubuque, Campbell decided to send her friend — a woman whom she knew from law school — a private message after she saw that friend post something on Facebook about an emergency adoption situation.

Campbell’s curiosity was piqued; she wondered what might be going on. She learned that her friend’s mother was the pastor in a prayer group at a Christian clinic in Oregon. A woman there was pregnant with triplets but was planning on having an abortion if she couldn’t find someone to adopt all three of the children together.

The pregnant woman had contacted an agency and had found several people who wanted to adopt one of the babies but not anyone who would adopt all three.

“So my husband and I put our names in as people who would be willing to adopt them,” Campbell said of her and her husband, a 42-year-old engineer at John Deere. “We just wanted to put the process on hold. We thought someone else would step forward to take the children. But then the birth mom called us the night before she was scheduled to terminate the pregnancy and said to us, ‘If you’ll take them, I won’t do it.’”

That night, the Campbells agreed to adopt the three children, but they had just accepted an enormous responsibility, and it would take a little time before they were sure they were

“None of this was our plan, it just happened. They found us — that’s what my husband and I like to say about the three of them. It all just fell into our laps, but that just make us feel all the more that it was really meant to be.”– Cari Campbell

Adopting triplets life-changing for parents of babies baptized on Easter

By JILL KRUSE

CNS photoSebastien, Sophe-Elizabeth and Sidney, the adopted triplets of Kevin and Cari Campbell, are pictured in the neonatal intensive care at a hospital in Oregon. The children were baptized Easter morning at Resurrection Church in Dubuque, Iowa.

See Triplets, Page 6

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really up to the challenge.“About a week later, Kevin and I had a

heart-to-heart conversation and discussed whether this was something we could really do,” recalled Campbell. “After talking it all out, we couldn’t think of a good reason not to, so we decided to go for it.”

So the Campbells, who had three cats and a dog, but no children, began to buy baby supplies and to prepare for the prospect of becoming the parents of three small infants. The couple also continued to be in touch with the birth mother who sent them ultrasound photos and kept them up to date with how the pregnancy was progressing.

When she was 30 weeks along, the birth mother sent a text to Campbell saying that she was going into emergency delivery. The triplets were born Jan. 7. They were premature and quite tiny, weighing just over 3 pounds apiece, but were otherwise completely healthy.

Campbell was able to make it out to the West Coast to see the two little boys,

Sebastien and Sidney, and their sister, Sophe-Elizabeth, a couple of days after they were born. It was the first of two trips she would make there before they were discharged from the hospital, and she and her husband were able to take them home in mid-February.

Since they were so small and couldn’t fly on a plane and couldn’t sit in a car seat for more than an hour and half at a time, the couple decided to bring them back to Iowa by Amtrak train. “It took us 48 hours to get home. We rented a room in the back. They were the hit of the train,” Campbell told The Witness.

She said the parish has been very supportive as she and her husband have gone through the adoption process.

“We went through a time for about a week and half in January when we faced some legal drama, and we weren’t sure if the adoption was going to go through or not. It was a really trying time,” she recalled. “We really leaned on our faith and the prayer group at our parish to get through it. They were wonderful.”

The Campbells now have full legal guardianship of the triplets; the final adoption decree was to be issued in a few weeks. As

the couple settles into their new roles as Mom and Dad, Campbell said things haven’t been as overwhelming as they thought they might be.

“They are great kiddos, and my husband and I are pretty calm by nature,” she said. “We’ve learned to feed and change the three of them almost in an assembly line. We prepared for the worst, but it’s been really good so far.

“We haven’t had any freak out moments” she said, but then added with a laugh, “but they’re also immobile yet. Wait until they get moving.”

Campbell said no one is more surprised than she and her husband as things have unfolded, but they also could not be more grateful.

“None of this was our plan, it just happened,” she reflected. “They found us — that’s what my husband and I like to say about the three of them. It all just fell into our laps, but that just make us feel all the more that it was really meant to be.”

Kruse is an editorial assistant at The Witness, the newspaper of the Archdiocese of Dubuque.

TRIPLETSContinued from Page 5

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Since he was elected in 2013 and decided to live in the Domus Sanctae Marthae instead of the apostolic apartments, Pope Francis has said daily Mass in the Chapel of the Holy Spirit located just next to the modest hotel.

Prior to the pope moving in next door, only visitors to the Domus Sanctae Marthae used the chapel. Since then cardinals, bishops and religious along with Vatican maintenance staff, gardeners and others invited to daily Mass with Pope Francis have been inside.

The pontiff’s daily homilies are one of the highlights of his pontificate and offer a window into Francis’ theology. However, one of the things that makes this chapel unique is that it is the first building in the Vatican designed by an American. The architect is Louis Astorino, a Pittsburgh native whose work includes critically acclaimed PNC Park, home of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

In 1993, Astorino, founder of the firm Astorino, went to the Vatican to consult on the design of the Domus Sanctae Marthae, which would be built on the site of an old hospice. John Connelly, a Pittsburgh businessman and entrepreneur who was financing the hotel’s construction, brought him in.

The idea for Domus Sanctae Marthae came from St. John Paul II. Synods of bishops were being held more regularly, and those, combined with the annual “ad limina” visits, meant there was a need for a place where visiting clergy and bishops could lodge. Some larger, wealthier countries have seminaries in Rome where visiting clergy and bishops stay but those from smaller countries must find other accommodations.

The pontiff also had the election of his successor in mind. During previous conclaves, cardinals slept on cots in the halls of the Vatican Museum, sharing bathrooms and having little privacy.

“John said when he found out about that, he said he would fund the hotel,” said Astorino. Connelly’s only stipulation for funding the project was that he be able to

stay there when he visited and “he said, ‘I know the best architect in the world and I want him to do the architecture.’”

When Astorino and Connelly went to Rome for their first meeting, they discovered the Vatican already had a design for the hotel. During that meeting, the Vatican asked Astorino to consult on the design, because neighbors were worried that the hotel would obstruct their view of the dome of St. Peter’s Basilica. Vatican officials were considering lowering the hotel to the level of the ancient Leonine Wall located next to the site to prevent the problem. Pope Leo IV (847-855) constructed the wall to protect the Vatican from the Saracens.

Later in 1993, Astorino returned to the Vatican with proposed changes to the original design. The Vatican engineer who created the design repeatedly objected to different parts of the new proposal and Astorino saw hurdles ahead.

“I thought, ‘This is going to be a battle from day one.’ So I pulled John aside and I said, ‘John, this should be a good experience for you,’” Astorino recalled. “‘I think this engineer will torture us.’”

The American pulled his proposals from consideration and that evening all parties went out to dinner to celebrate

final approval of the hotel’s design. Everyone was in good spirits except Astorino.

“I was down in the dumps because I felt I let God down. I had an opportunity here to make a difference in the Vatican and to help and I blew it,” Astorino said in an interview for Catholic News Service.

A day later Venezuelan Cardinal Rosalio Jose Castillo Lara, then president of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Holy See, proposed a new project for him — to design the hotel’s chapel.

“I smacked myself on the side of the head and I said, ‘Oh my God. Where is my faith?’” he said. God didn’t want him to do a hotel but a chapel. “It was just a marvelous moment for me.”

In December 1993 Astorino and his team received the official appointment as architects for the new chapel.

“It was from that moment on that I felt I became a pencil in God’s hands. I just

U.S. architect recalls events that led him to design chapel at VaticanBy JOYCE DURIGA

Catholic News Service

CNS photo/courtesy of AstorinoThe Chapel of the Holy Spirit in Rome is seen under construction in this undated photo.

See Chapel, Page 8

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prayed and listened and tried to design this chapel to be something that God would be proud of and so would everyone using it,” said Astorino.

The space presented challenges since it was small, triangular and located between the hotel and the Leonine Wall, which they couldn’t alter. To Astorino, the space was a message from God, since for centuries the triangle has served as a symbol of the Trinity. The triangle also regularly occurs in nature — in leaves, snowflakes and crystals.

“If you really study nature and God’s work you’ll see triangles in everything,” Astorino said.

He and his staff let the triangle direct

CNS photo/courtesy of AstorinoThe interior of the Chapel of the Holy Spirit in Rome is seen in this undated photo. The chapel is the only building at the Vatican designed by an American. Pittsburgh architect Louis Astorino used triangles throughout the design to symbolize the Trinity.

CHAPELContinued from Page 7

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the chapel’s major design elements — the floor, ceiling and walls. “The mystery of the Holy Spirit, the mystery of the Trinity would speak from every angle of the work, literally and figuratively,” he said.

The axis of the Chapel of the Holy Spirit and the axis of the dome of St. Peter’s Basilica — along which lays the tomb of St. Peter — intersect at the entrance to the chapel. To mark the significance of this — especially for the times of conclave when cardinals pray there before electing a successor to St. Peter — they commissioned a bronze sculpture of an inverted cross and placed it on the spot. History states that St. Peter asked to be crucified upside down because he didn’t feel worthy of dying the same way Jesus did.

Four thousand pieces of marble in different colors and sizes form a triangular grid that makes up the chapel floor. The floor pattern contains symbolic references to the Trinity, Jesus and the Twelve Apostles. The ceiling reflects the floor with an embossed triangular grid hiding soft lighting. Another dramatic element is the glass wall along the right side displaying the ancient Leonine Wall and the Stations of the Cross. A series of mosaics depicting the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit are on the opposite wall. Even the copper roof displays the triangular influence.

As a finishing touch, the words “O Come Holy Spirit, Renew the Heart of Thy Faithful” are on an arch over the altar in Latin.

Construction began in 1995 and finished a year later. St. John Paul was the

first person to pray in the chapel.Shortly after its completion, Cardinal

Donald Wuerl of Washington, who was the bishop of Pittsburgh at the time, celebrated Mass there with some Pittsburgh priests and a group that included Astorino and his wife.

“You recognize just how keen an eye he (Astorino) has because the space he had to work with was somewhat limited. What he was able to do was maximize it so that it does all come together as one piece even though it is an odd configuration of a floor plan,” Cardinal Wuerl said. “It’s a beautiful chapel. It’s very prayerful chapel. And of course the inspiration that you see every time you turn around, every time you look in there, is the Holy Spirit and the Trinity.”

Cardinal Wuerl joined the other cardinals in praying there before entering

the Sistine Chapel for the conclave that elected Pope Francis. It was a powerful experience, he said.

“One of the old cardinals who was not in the conclave said to me, ‘When you are in the chapel, open your heart to the Holy Spirit. Then when you’re in the conclave in the Sistine Chapel and they close the door, just listen.’”

The chapel is a unique legacy at the Vatican that makes Cardinal Wuerl proud.

“I’ve said this to him (Lou) many times, that will always be the Astorino chapel. There is Nervi Hall, the Lateran dome, the Laventes facade. He’s in good company,” the cardinal said. “Hundreds of years from now people will go in and say, ‘Oh, this is the Astorino chapel.’ It’s no small thing.”

Duriga is editor of the Catholic New World in Chicago.

Louis Astorino, architect of the Chapel of the Holy Spirit at Domus Sancta Marthae.

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A sound mind in a sound body is a motto that Sister Claire Young has lived by for many years. From her own school days to her time as the first physical education teacher at Magnificat High School in Rocky River, Ohio, to the present, she has always maintained an active lifestyle.

Whatever form that activity has taken — field hockey, basketball, running, swimming, or walking — Sister Claire has always believed that everyone should establish their own routine of doing something for their health. “It keeps you mentally, physically, and

spiritually alive.”Sister Claire was the first physical

education teacher at Magnificat High School, where she said she faced many challenges. It was her first assignment after completing her time in the novitiate, and the gym facilities were not yet complete. She had to be creative and organize activities between classes. In 2010, she was honored for her contributions to the wellbeing of Magnificat students when she was inducted as part of the inaugural class of the Magnificat Athletic Hall of Fame.

Sister Claire started jogging in the 1970s when she was the dean of girls at Archbishop Hoban High School in

Sister embodies motto and encourages all to practice active lifestylesBy KYLENE KAMENSKY

Sister Claire Young displays her gold medal from the 2006 U.S. Masters Swimming National.

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Akron, Ohio.“It gave me a lot of pep and energy

to start the day,” she said. And when a colleague wanted to run with her, she welcomed the company. After a time, she began entering 5K races with that colleague.

Two races that stand out for her are ones she did in Cleveland: the first race’s final stretch was running down the main aisle of Higbee’s Department Store and out the front revolving door, and the second race’s final stretch was the inside of the old Cleveland Browns Stadium.

“I met a lot of people and went a lot of places,” she said of doing the various 5K races. “It was very social.”

When her ministry took her Bangladesh, Sister Claire said she had to stop running because “women didn’t run there.”

After she returned to the U.S., she Claire proved the adage that it’s never too late to learn something new when she picked up competitive swimming. “I learned how to swim effectively when I was 70,” she said. “And I began to swim competitively because I learned to swim correctly.”

Sister Claire was involved with U.S. Masters Swimming — an organization for adult swimmers that helps local swim clubs provide instruction, coaching, competitive events, and learn-to-swim programs — for a number of years where she competed in local, national, and international events. She even took first- place in the 50-meter breaststroke for

the 75-79 age group at a national meet in 2006.

“It was hard work — you have to be there every day and swim thousands of meters. When I hit 80, I thought ‘I’m not getting any younger’ and decided that I wouldn’t compete any longer. I would just swim recreationally.”

Today, Sister Claire walks every day and still swims to keep herself active. What she likes about swimming now is that it’s a challenging and healing way to live life. “Water is so healing,” she said. “And I’m just so thankful for the pool we have here at the Villa.”

Kamensky is communications specialist for the Sisters of the Humility of Mary in Villa Maria, Pennsylvania. This article originally appeared in HM Voice, a publication of the religious community.

Photo courtesy Magnificat High SchoolAs the physical education teacher at Magnificat High School, Sister Claire led her classes in a variety of activities, including jumping jacks.

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Like many Catholics around the world, I was thrilled when Pope Francis gifted the church and the world with his encyclical, “Laudato Si’.” A beautiful and deeply theological document, “Laudato Si’” addresses far more than climate change or even “environmentalism” as a whole. Rather, it offers a way, at once both new and ancient, of reconceiving our humanity before the creator.

Some Catholics may view environmental concerns as a minor issue, far less significant than protecting human life, feeding the hungry or fighting racism. I felt similarly when I was in college and began deepening in my faith. After reading the

autobiographies of two American Catholics recently honored by Pope Francis — Thomas Merton and Dorothy Day — I came to see that serving the poor and protesting injustice are absolutely central to the call to be Christian.

So after college I chose to join a Franciscan volunteer program, which led me to work in soup kitchens, build houses, and tutor students in Anderson, South Carolina. The Franciscans invited me to attend their annual retreat for those who worked on social issues, a group called Justice, Peace and the Integrity of Creation. I was excited to learn more about the intersection of social justice and the people I was serving in South Carolina.

That year’s retreat, though, focused on the work of Thomas Berry, a Passionist priest and cultural historian who was among the first religious thinkers to grapple with the scope of the ecological crisis. He believed that the “great story” of the universe, the story of the evolutionary cosmos as told by the sciences, is the context for understanding the biblical story and central for moving humanity to a sustainable relationship with the Earth. To be honest, I was disappointed. I recognized intellectually that protecting whales and forests are worthwhile, but they simply pale in comparison to the suffering of the poor.

As I listened to the presenters, though, something about Berry’s vision clicked: this worldview connects all the dots and makes sense of our modern world. It links social problems like war and violence, poverty and hunger, to pollution of ecosystems and species extinction. It explains why, despite all our wealth, there still remain so many who are poor; and even why the materially rich still feel spiritually poor.

I began to see the Earth in a new way, as my home, and I remembered moments from my childhood when I felt close to

God because I was connected to nature: swimming for hours in the ocean, sensing its power and vastness; climbing trees; hiking up mountains; and lying down in a hammock with my dad in the back yard, looking at stars, learning how to find the Big Dipper and North Star. These are precious moments that I now share with my kids.

At the core of “Laudato Si’” is a call to recover humanity’s belonging to the rest of creation, and in doing so to recover a relationship with the creator that we often overlook. Pope Francis describes a Gospel of Creation, which emphasizes the interconnectedness of all creatures based in Trinitarian love. Creation, Pope Francis says, “is of the order of love. God’s love is the fundamental moving force in all created things” (77). Because of the creator’s love, and because we are made in God’s likeness and made for love, Francis calls us to love all creatures — in short, to view them as God the creator might view them.

“Creation can only be understood as a gift

By DR. DANIEL P. SCHEID

The love that moves the stars: Laudato Si’ and pursuing the cosmic common good

Scheid with son, Eamon, at Cucumber Falls in Ohiopyle State Park.

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from the outstretched hand of the Father of all, and as a reality illuminated by the love which calls us together into universal communion” (76). Pope Francis takes us to the heart of what it is to be human — linked to all creatures, humans, the cosmos, because of our one creator, who loved us into existence. Creation is not just the setting for the human drama of salvation; instead, it is itself a “splendid universal communion” (220).

In my academic work, I have developed expanded principles of Catholic social thought, which I think correspond well to Pope Francis’ understanding of the Gospel of Creation. In particular, I propose a framework of the cosmic common good and dignity of all creatures.

The moral vision of a cosmic common good, I believe, springs from an authentically Catholic and creator-centered theology of creation. The doctrine of creation emphasizes not only the interconnectedness of all creatures to each other but also the presence of the divine in every creature and every place.

Human dignity, so important to the Catholic tradition, is really part of a broader

category of creaturely dignity in which each creature has dignity and value because it comes from the creator. If we think of the common good and dignity as applying only to human beings, we lose sight of the goodness of creation and hence of the creator. Instead, the cosmic common good offers a robust defense of human dignity, in which protecting and caring for both human and nonhuman lives is a central way in which we attest to our “God-given dignity” (181). The cosmic common good reflects creation as the order of love, in which creatures share their lives with each other and flourish only in relationship to each other.

While the cosmic common good is rooted in the Catholic tradition, it bears many similarities to concepts in other religious traditions, such as Hindu, Buddhist and American Indian traditions. Pope Francis urges religions “to dialogue among themselves for the sake of protecting nature, defending the poor, and building networks of respect and fraternity” (201). Dialogue between religions suggests many areas of agreement, a kind of “overlapping consensus” on a broad moral vision that underscores the goodness of nonhumans

directly and the importance of protecting the Earth for future generations.

The cosmic common good and creaturely dignity can act as a common ground, a bridge between multiple cultures and hopefully spur everyone to protect the goodness and beauty of Earth, “our common home.”

Dr. Scheid is assistant professor of theology at Duquesne University. He is the author of “The Cosmic Common Good: Religious Grounds for Ecological Ethics” (published by Oxford University Press), which depicts how multiple religions intersect at the crossroads of caring for the Earth and its inhabitants.

14

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ROME (CNS) — Walking in a crowded Rome neighborhood with his prayer beads wrapped around one hand, Hassan said, “You must write: Big thanks to the pope because he helps my kids — really.”

Hassan and his family, who are Muslim, are being hosted by a Catholic parish in Rome. Out of concern for their safety, the family, the parish priest and the Catholic school that welcomed Hassan’s three youngest children asked that identifying details remain unpublished.

Like millions of refugees around the world, Hassan packed up his family to flee violence and to try to find a safe place where his children could grow and thrive.

Also like many refugees, his story is much more complicated than that. Hassan is a Palestinian born in a refugee camp in Lebanon. After university studies there, he had a good career as a nurse. Then came the war.

He stayed, though, working harder than ever. “Too much blood,” he said.

Hassan was shot in the arm; the entrance- and exit-wound scars are still visible.

Seeking a safe place to work and to find a wife and start a family, he moved to Libya in 1986. He met and married Adiba, whose father is Palestinian and mother is Egyptian. Hassan and Adiba eventually had four children. Hassan found a job in a hospital and ran a shop for a while. They bought a home and later a small farm. Then came the

war.During an interview in Rome March 22,

Hassan constantly fingers his prayer beads, which he made himself by stringing together 33 olive pits. Many Muslims use the beads to recite God’s praises, but Hassan said his prayer usually is repetitions of “God, help us.”

“I always am praying. That is why I am still alive,” he said in the tiny two-room apartment where he, his wife and four children live. A Catholic parish answered

Pope Francis’ call for every parish to take in a refugee or refugee family.

While there is a small refrigerator and microwave in the apartment, there is no space to cook, so the family goes to the parish each day for lunch, traditionally the Italians’ main meal.

The children do

their homework on their bunkbeds. The school requires every student to have a laptop computer, which was a worry for the family and parish. But Pope Francis, through his almoner’s office, provided what the kids needed. The parish provided the Wi-Fi connection.

“If we ask for anything, they provide it,” Hassan said. “But this is not our life.”

Hassan — and his wife and children — see their lives as being in Sweden, where they have friends and relatives and had spent 15 months making a start for themselves. That ended shortly after the Paris terrorist attacks in November.

Father Marco, pastor of the parish hosting the family, calls them “victims of the Dublin Regulation,” a European Union agreement that refugees must apply for asylum in the first EU country they arrive in and wait there for their cases to be heard. In the aftermath of the Paris attacks, governments that had not been enforcing the agreement took steps to do so.

Paying 4,500 euros (just over $5,000), Hassan and his family had boarded an overcrowded fishing boat in Libya Sept. 5,

Amid prayer and fear, Muslim refugee family thanks pope for helpBy CINDY WOODEN

CNS photos/Paul HaringA photo of Pope Francis is seen on the wall as Adiba and Hassan, who fled from war in Libya with their four children, give an interview at a Catholic parish in Rome March 22. The parish is hosting the Muslim family in response to Pope Francis’ call for every parish to take in a refugee or refugee family.

15

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2014. With 350 other people, they bobbed around the Mediterranean for four days until they were picked up “by the Italians with a big ship” and taken to the port city of Bari.

“They took our fingerprints, then they said, ‘You are in Europe. You can go,’” he said.

Hassan and his family went by train to Milan, then paid people, who turned out to be thieves, to drive them north. When they reached Sweden, they applied for asylum.

The Swedish government assigned them an apartment and gave them a monthly stipend. The children started school.

But after about a year, Swedish authorities phoned to tell Hassan the family had to go back to Italy and apply for asylum there, where they had left their fingerprints. There were letters and meetings and lawyers.

“Two days after the trouble in Paris, they

came at 5 in the morning and broke down the door,” Hassan said. The police took the family and “many of our things, but not all,” to the airport. In a small plane with 10 police or immigration agents, Hassan, Adiba and the four children were flown to Rome’s Ciampino airport and turned over to the Italian police.

They slept in the airport that night and, after meeting immigration officials in the morning, were told they could go. They slept in Rome’s main train station for a couple of nights before hearing about a makeshift center for refugees staffed by welcoming volunteers. From there, they went to a Red Cross shelter where Father Marco and some of his parishioners volunteer.

“We are a family and at the Red Cross center, there were many men,” Hassan said. He asked Father Marco to help, and by Christmas they were in an apartment near the parish.

“I thank Don Marco and the pope — they help us too much,” Hassan said. “But for how long can they help us? I still feel much dark for our future.”

Follow Wooden on Twitter: @Cindy_Wooden.

Adiba and Hassan, who fled from war in Libya with their four children, walk down a street in Rome March 22. A Catholic parish in Rome is hosting the Muslim family in response to Pope Francis’ call for every parish to take in a refugee or refugee family.

Hassan, who fled from war in Libya with his wife and four children, holds prayer beads during an interview at a Catholic parish in Rome March 22. The parish is hosting the Muslim family in response to Pope Francis’ call for every parish to take in a refugee or refugee family.

16

Father's Day is June 19, 2016


Pittsburgh lost one of its internationally known artists Feb. 11 when Nicholas Parrendo of Hunt Stained Glass Studios died after more than 60 years of working in the craft he loved. He was an artist/designer and company owner since 1987, after starting there as a young apprentice in 1950.

While he illustrated a wide range of subjects, his most extensive work was in religious themes, seen in hundreds of windows in western Pennsylvania. As a 2008 article in the Pittsburgh Catholic Newspaper noted, “Parrendo has always taught Scripture through his art, and his work can be seen in churches throughout the diocese and across the country.”

Some of the more striking local images include the windows that actually form two walls at St. Thomas More Church in Bethel Park. They are not conventional stained glass, but faceted glass — many pieces of colored glass set in epoxy cement. Each window is 17 feet high and 74 feet wide. The window facing Fort Couch Road symbolizes the public life of St. Thomas More, and the other series feature his private life.

Other local windows are featured at St. Richard in Richland Township, Nativity in South Park Township, St. Bonaventure in Glenshaw and St. Ferdinand in Cranberry Township. He created glass etchings on the entrance doors at St. Stephen in Pittsburgh’s Hazelwood neighborhood and on the doors of the Diocesan Pastoral Center in Downtown Pittsburgh. He also designed the striking Good Shepherd window at the building’s entryway.

His work is also at St. Joseph in Verona, the former St. Gabriel on Pittsburgh’s North Side, St. Sebastian in Ross Township, St. Teresa of Avila in Perrysville, Ascension in Ingram and St. Christopher in Prospect, to name a few.

Hunt Stained Glass Studios, dating to

1890, provides design, fabrication and installation of new stained-glass windows, plus sand etching, sculptures and murals for churches and synagogues, in addition to residential and commercial work. Much of the work today involves restoration of old windows. More of the history and artwork can be seen on the studio website, www.huntstainedglass.com.

Over the years, Parrendo was honored for his work, including a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Stained Glass Association of America, and was invited to Rome during Jubilee Year 2000 for a Vatican symposium for artists.

At St. Catherine of Sweden in Hampton

Township, the stained-glass windows — 27 in all — that surround the nave tell the story of faith.

Beginning at the left side, the first window is called “Creation.” The story of the windows then proceeds through Old Testament themes to the birth of John the Baptist. The nine windows behind the tabernacle tell the story of the life of Jesus from his birth to his ascension into heaven. The nine windows on the right side of the nave tell the story of the church from Pentecost through the ages, including the parish history to Judgment Day.

At St. Alphonsus in Wexford, the center of the expanded church is the altar with a brass crown suspended above it, artistically pulling the new and old sides together with the Holy Spirit imagery of doves and tongues of fire. Parrendo designed the crown. He also designed stone reliefs of the baptism of Christ and the Holy Family that are placed over the baptistry and side altar.

A devout Catholic, Parrendo’s funeral Mass was celebrated in his home parish,

Stained glass master dies, but his windows shine onBy WILLIAM HILL

“He had many friends. He was a great family man, a great man of faith, a great friend, a great artist.” — Father Regis Ryan

Huge arched windows at St. Ferdinand show Christ at the center surrounded by figures from various backgrounds and time periods.

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St. Cyril of Alexandria, where the adjacent school building, now Northside Catholic, features a mural in the entry designed by him, assisted by his daughter, Celeste Parrendo, a master painter who joined the studio in 1987.

His final journey passed beneath the seven stained-glass windows that run the width of the back of the church, depicting the seven sacraments: baptism, confirmation, reconciliation, Eucharist, anointing of the sick, holy orders and marriage.

Father Regis Ryan, homilist at the Mass and a longtime friend, said he was a “most spiritual person, full of light and kindness. He was always tranquil and so willing to give of himself. People would just drop by the studio and he would give them tours, always glad to talk about the work they were doing there.”

“He had many friends,” Father Ryan added. “He was a great family man, a great man of faith, a great friend, a great artist.”

Parrendo’s Good Shepherd located in the entry way of the Diocesan Pastoral Center in Downtown Pittsburgh.

One of the most distinctive features of St. Thomas More Church is the windows that actually form two walls. These are not conventional stained glass, but faceted glass — pieces of many faced colored glass set in an epoxy cement. They were designed by Hunt Studios of Pittsburgh. Each window is 17 feet high and 74 feet wide.

18

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PastFrom the Pages of


Jan. 9, 1930My dear Girls: Do you know what Dutch Dating

is? Well, I admit I didn’t know of it under that name until the other day. But now I have a letter here from a girl reader who asks if I approve of Dutch Dating, and if I do not think it should be the way to help girls get dates.

I had to read on down through the many-paged letter to find out that Dutch Dating meant a fifty-fifty proposition of sharing the expenses of an evening spent with a boy friend.

Well, I’ve heard of it before, but you know it’s chiefly a European idea. As for my view, it’s plainly this: I’m old-fashioned enough to believe that a girl’s company for an evening is assuredly well worth its cost, within reason.

This is part of what the letter says: “I think if a man asks a girl to go out — asks her for a date — then he should foot the bill. But if the girl asks the man to take her out, then she should bear some of the expense.”

Well, I had no idea that a girl would be asking a man to “take her out” — and I haven’t changed my mind yet. She continues: “If this were done, there would not be so many girls asking men for dates, because the girls would know the cost of such things.”

Young People’s OpinionsI inquired of friends among the younger people

what they thought about this thing. I was told it all depended on the girl. That some girls will not accept an invitation to the theater unless they are given three and four dollar seats, go to a nightclub afterwards, dance till dawn, and also have a corsage bouquet. That if a boy does not do this sort of thing he is branded as a “tightwad” and if he does he is called a poor “simp,” whatever that might be evidently because he’s easy with his money.

I was also told that a girl has no earthly right to be reckless with a boy’s hard-earned money and that the majority of girls think greenbacks are showered upon men and boys as “special” gifts from heaven like the manna from old.

There was a lot more, too. It took me some little while to digest all this, but it did not make me change my mind, for I could not think of a girl paying for anyway in her part in the evening’s

pleasure, when she is asked for a date, or at anytime except when she is the acknowledged hostess.

Of course there are girls and girls, and when a boy finds out a certain girl is reckless with his pocketbook, there is no law against him letting her severely alone. Common sense should tell him if she shows no consideration whatever for

the amount of money he is called upon to spend for an evening, she will be equally as inconsiderate as a wife. Some girls may be treasures, but it takes a treasury to keep them.

Girls may go to any entertainment these days in groups, they do not have to depend upon the men. Therefore, there seems to be no excuse for Dutch Dating with men.

Now girls, what do you say, “Am I right or just plain wrong?” Let’s hear about it, and do not hesitate to express your opinion. I am very eager to hear it.

DUTCH DATING

19

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WASHINGTON (CNS) — Thinking in terms of the little engine that could, the annual Catholic Almanac, which sells about 5,000 copies each year, not only could, it can and does, each and every year since 1904.

A world of Catholic information gets packed into its 640 pages. And in the almanac’s 116 years, two men can claim to have been at the helm for more than half of its existence: Franciscan Father Felician Foy, who was its editor for 42 years, and Matthew Bunson, who succeeded Father Foy in 1997 and has been in charge ever since.

Father Foy supervised the production of the Catholic Almanac from his base in New Jersey. Thanks to technology, Bunson has been able to edit the work from Las Vegas and from Huntington, Indiana, which is headquarters to Our Sunday Visitor, which publishes the compendium.

“Each year is so interesting to work on. Each year is so very different,” said Bunson in a telephone interview with Catholic News Service.

Even so, “I don’t see how he managed to do it for 42 years,” Bunson said of his predecessor, Father Foy. “He came back from an ice-skating expedition with some fellow Franciscans and received a phone call and was told he would be taking over as editor of the almanac. So it wasn’t really a question.”

Father Foy’s editorship spanned the time from Pope Pius XII to St. John Paul II, with the Second Vatican Council in between and “the slow creep of technology” to deal with. Father Foy also had a staff of up to 50 to direct. Bunson’s staff is considerably smaller — “three or four, depending on the time of year,” he said — plus “a trusted staff of writers and consultants.”

The early almanacs were a Catholic version of Poor Richard’s Almanac or the Farmer’s Almanac in that they provided detail on the past year in

general so that Catholics didn’t need to buy another almanac to get those facts. “There would be baseball scores, the Oscars” in early editions of the Catholic Almanac, Bunson said. But as Catholics made greater strides in secular society, that kind of material got dropped.

The almanac serves as “a snapshot of what’s going on in the life of the church at that time. In the 1950s, you don’t find too much stress on ecumenical outreach. But that really begins to change in the years of the (Second Vatican) Council and the postconciliar period,” he said.

With Bunson at the helm, “one of the first things we realized that we wanted to do was to make sure that each year’s edition reflected more of that year. So we expanded the annual coverage. Each section of the almanac, we’re talking about doctrine, we’re talking about canon law, ecumenism and interreligious dialogue, the

Roll over, Poor Richard: Catholic Almanac well into its second centuryBy MARK PATTISON

See Almanac, Page 21

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church in the world, each had to be looked at from top to bottom,” he said.

“You include as much new, interesting material but important material as possible. It kind of becomes a juggling game,” and “it’s where technology becomes your friend,” as he’s able to edit, insert and delete material until the work

absolutely has to be shipped to the printer.For the 2017 edition, to be published this fall,

“we are trying, as we always do, to keep up with Pope Francis,” Bunson said. “With Francis, it’s in our new events section of the monthly news, including as much about his activities as possible. People are really interested in what Pope Francis is doing.”

What does the future hold for the Catholic Almanac? “One of things we’ll be looking at in the coming years is the digital opportunities

for the almanac, as with any other publication,” Bunson told CNS. “There’s a lot more we can do with the almanac, and it’s a really valuable resource, online as well as in published form. I’ve always been surprised over the years that we have many institution subscribers who see it as a go-to — you can’t find it on the Internet, the searches you’d have to do to find this information at your fingertips. There’s a shocking number of Catholics who read it to find out what’s going on tin the church.”

ALMANACContinued from Page 19


FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (CNS) — Licensed clinical therapist and family therapist Peter Kleponis believes it’s time for church-based marriage preparation programs to address pornography addiction and to urge assistance for addicted individuals before proceeding with marriage.

“Given the severe harm caused by pornography in marriage, pre-marriage programs have to address this issue,” said Kleponis during a talk in the Miami Archdiocese. He recently spoke to Catholics gathered at St. Gregory the Great Church in Fort Lauderdale.

Typically, young couples in marriage preparation programs will hear about the dangers of drug and alcohol addictions in marriages, but little about pornography.

“We need to talk about this in marriage prep programs because a lot of guys are going into marriage addicted to this stuff,” he said. “If a man is unwilling to address

and resolve this conflict, a woman should really reconsider marrying him.

“We wouldn’t want a woman marrying an active alcoholic or drug active, why would we want her marrying an active sex addict? We have to take this seriously,” he added.

The messages embedded in

pornography include a plethora of false messages that pollute the user’s perspective of the opposite sex, according to Kleponis, who noted the absurdity of some couples thinking that viewing pornography could help spice up their

romantic life.“This is not about healthy relationships;

the damage is an involvement in a fantasy world that undermines your ability to communicate and relate to women in a healthy manner, it interferes with the development of a healthy personality because it fosters selfishness, and it harms your ability to understand and want to make a loving commitment in marriage,” said Kleponis, who is from the Philadelphia area.

Studies show that young adults who are regular consumers of pornography don’t want to get married, and it fosters the “‘hook up’ culture in which porn consumers use other people for your sexual pleasure,” he said.

“Pornography does not make you a man, if anything it takes away your manhood,” Kleponis said, noting that the effect of pornography on women is equally damaging and hurtful to a woman’s self-image.

He noted alarming statistics showing that today’s young adult women increasingly admit to being regular consumers of pornographic imagery, whereas older women have favored using online tools and social media for anonymous, often dangerous relationships.

Time for marriage prep to address porn addiction, says speaker

“Given the severe harm caused by pornography in marriage, pre-marriage programs have to address this issue.” — Peter Kleponis

23

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