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The Southern Cross, Page 2 Hemdlim® Hopscotch Thursday, January 11, 2001 Day after end of jubilee, POPE BAPTIZES 18 BABIES Vatican City (CNS) ess than 24 hours after closing Holy Year 2000, Pope John Paul II was back at his busy regular ministry, baptizing 18 babies during a lengthy liturgy at the Vatican, greeting pilgrims from his apartment window and paying an annual visit to Rome garbage collectors. The pope cele brated the baptism Mass in the Sistine Chapel January 7, the day after he formally ended the jubilee and its demanding series of liturgies, meet ings and pilgrimages. “What this extraordinary event passes on to each Christian is the task of confirming the faith in the ordinary context of daily life,” the pope said. He poured water over the heads of each of the babies as their parents brought them to the altar. Sixteen were Italian, one from Portugal and one from France. Chief Justice Rehnquist honored by Catholic group Washington (CNS) hief Justice William Rehnquist was honored January 7 by the John Carroll Society, a lay Catholic organization in Washington, for his sup port of the group’s annual Red Mass devoted to invoking God’s blessings on the country's lawmak ers. The chief justice, a Lutheran who frequently attends the Red Mass, was given the John Carroll Society Medal, an honor that also has been given to Supreme Court Associate Justices Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy and Clarence Thomas and former Chief Justice Warren Burger for their example of faith and leadership. Archbishop Theodore E. McCarrick, the newly installed arch bishop of Washington, was in attendance and praised the chief justice for serving the country well, “especially this past year, when you’ve been challenged as few Supreme Court justices have.” Bishops’ conference to take new name July 1 Washington (CNS) s of July 1 the U.S. bishops’ two national con ferences will be combined, reorganized and given a new name: the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. As with many similar names, the “United States” portion will often be shortened to “U.S.,” and the entire name will often be abbrevi ated as USCCB. The name change comes when new statutes reorganizing the bishops national structures take effect. The bishops have been working at the reorganization for nearly a decade and received word in January that the Vatican has approved the last necessary element of the reorgan ization, the new statutes.” t—> Document (Continued from page I) “This unity is concretely embodied in the Catholic Church, despite the human limitations of her members, and is at work in varying degrees in all the elements of holiness and truth to be found in the other churches and ecclesial communities,” he said. The document defended the jubi lee’s running theme of individual and collective repentance, saying that the church’s examination of conscience and admission of historical faults had humbled Christians and “strength ened our steps for the journey toward the future.” Under the heading, “Stake every thing on charity,” it closely examined the link between individual faith and social justice. The church’s social teachings are an essential part of Christian witness, it said, and “we must reject the temptation to offer a privatized and individualistic spiritu ality which ill accords with the demands of charity.” The church as a whole has a simi lar responsibility. Citing Christ’s injunction to feed the hungry and clothe the naked, it said, “By these words, no less than by the orthodoxy of her doctrine, the church measures her fidelity as the bride of Christ.” The document drew a stark picture of the modem economic reality, say ing immense possibilities are offered to a fortunate few while millions are left in degrading conditions. It called for a “new creativity in charity,” to find ways that get close to those who suffer and ensure that aid is not seen as a “humiliating handout.” The pope said he wanted to leave a concrete sign of the church’s com mitment, designating excess jubilee funds for a permanent charity pro gram. Vatican officials said the money would finance a new house for disabled pilgrims in Rome. The pope said the church should not apologize for trying to implement its moral teachings in society. The defense of human life from concep tion to natural death is not a case of “imposing” Catholic teachings on nonbelievers, but of protecting val ues rooted in human dignity, he said. In defending the Christian view of marriage and the family, he said, the church “cannot yield to cultural pres sures, no matter how widespread and even militant they may be.” The pope called on local churches to come up with pastoral plans that capture the spiritual energy of the jubilee. He acknowledged, however, that programs and structures are no guarantee of reaching people in their hearts and stimulating holiness. “Can holiness ever be ‘planned’?” he asked. Instead, he encouraged pastors to challenge Christians and urge them not to settle for ethical mediocrity and “shallow religiosity.” He said the number of new saints declared during the jubilee, including lay people from various walks of life, underscored that “the time has come to repropose wholeheartedly to everyone this high standard of ordi nary Christian living.” The pope asked pastors to lead Ca tholics back to the sacrament of pe nance, exhorting them not to “give in to passing crises.” He said the drama tic need for new priests in the coming years should prompt an extensive global plan of vocational promotion. In discussing the need for com munion within the church, he said more attention should be given to local councils of priests and parish members. Although these structures are not governed by the rules of par liamentary democracy, pastors should keep dialogue open with their faithful, the pope said. “We need to make our own the ancient pastoral wisdom which, with out prejudice to their authority, encouraged pastors to listen more widely to the entire people of God,” he said. Citing personal Holy Year high lights, the pope said his pilgrimage to the Holy Land was “one of the most beautiful gifts” of the jubilee— although he regretted that he was unable to begin it at the birthplace of Abraham in modem Iraq because of continuing political and military con flict there. He said World Youth Day celebra tions had left him with unforgettable images, including that of happy young people “swarming through the city” on their way to prayer and other encounters. He said his meet ing with prisoners in a Rome jail was one of the more moving moments of the jubilee. Addressing foreign debt, the pope said he was gratified that recently some creditor nations had approved a substantial forgiveness of bilateral debt of the poorest nations. Those decisions now need to be implement ed, and more work needs to be done on relieving the massive multilateral debt that poor countries have con tracted with international lending organizations, he said. Address To Subscribe I Send this in to your parish, I together with your check for $15, made out to the parish. For more information call The Southern Cross (912)238-2320 Name I Phone (. ■ Parish _ I J The Southern Cross (USPS 505 680) Deadline: All material for publication on Thursday Publisher: must be received at the latest by noon Most Rev. J. Kevin Boland, D.D. on the previous Friday. Director of Communications: POSTMASTER: Z' q-"\ Mrs. Barbara D. King Send Change of Address to circulation office: l(cpa)s Chalker Publishing anL/V Editor: Southern Cross Subscription Department n> Rev Douglas K. Clark, S.T.L. 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