Newspaper Page Text
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The
Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta
Vol. 28 No. 20
Thursday, May 17,1990
$15.00 Per Year
Mexican Catholics
Pope Woos Lapsed
BY AGOST1NO BONO
MEXICO CITY (CNS) — Much of Pope John Paul II’s
May trip to Mexico was an effort to reconvert the growing
number of Catholics lost to Protestant fundamentalism and
sects.
“Nothing would make the heart of the pope happier, dur-
Archbishop's Rx:
Exercise, Rest
Exercise and rest are among the prescriptions Arch
bishop Eugene Marino, SSJ, is having to follow, according
to his colleagues who have spoken briefly with him on the
telephone.
Marianne MacNeill, one of his secretaries, said the arch
bishop telephoned her May 11 to work out a business matter
and told her he was getting ready to go running. “He said
we were all in his thoughts and prayers and that he missed
everyone,” she said. Gerard O’Connor, his assistant,
assured him that he was getting a stack of cards and well-
wishes at his office.
Several secretaries are responding to the many people
who have sent letters and notes to the archbishop’s office
since he was announced as suffering from exhaustion and in
danger of cardiac stress.
(Continued on page 7)
ing this pastoral visit, than the return to the breast of the
church of those who have wandered astray,” the pope said
near the end of his eight-day trip.
The antidote offered by the pope was Catholic popular
religiosity, especially the strong Marian devotion of Mex
icans, principally through Our Lady of Guadalupe,
patroness of the country and the Americas.
He also told bishops and priests to end their “timidness
and indifference” in combating sects.
“Their methods, their economic resources and the in
sistence of their proselytizing work have an impact, above
all on those who migrate from rural areas to the city,” the
pope said.
The importance of popular religion is seen in the fact that
millions of Mexicans annually make pilgrimages to the
shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City, many
doing part of the pilgrimage on their knees.
Mexico also has five other regionally important Marian
shrines where local devotion is equally fervent, especially
among poor Indians and mestizos — people of mixed
Spanish and Indian heritage — vulnerable to conversion by
Protestant groups and sects.
The pope visited one shrine at San Juan de los Lagos,
where tradition says that in 1623 a 20-inch-high Marian
statue brought back to life a dead child. A year after, a
shrine was built to the statue.
The statue symbolizes the humble, indigenous faith of the
Indians who believe in its power. It is made out of corn
husks and grain.
Throughout the trip, the pope stressed the importance of
Marian devotion to counter fundamentalist evangelization
(Continued on page 11)
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IT’S ‘THUMBS UP’ — Megan Durden and Jamie Quick approve of
the Thursday evenings they spend with members of St. Joseph’s Youth
Group, like Catherine Shertenlieb, right, one of the teens who helps
with child care for Cobb County’s Project Self Sufficiency.
St. Joe's Youth Have A
'Good Name' In Cobb Co.
BY PAULA DAY
They are a group of teens with a reputa
tion, but, in this case, it’s a good one.
The high school youth group at St.
Joseph’s parish in Mariettta has been
recognized for “outstanding volun-
teerism.”
Under the guidance of youth ministers
Molly and Kevin McCarthy, the group has
become well known to Cobb County social
service agencies for its work with the poor
and homeless. The teens have a reputation
for being “on call” when needed, even in
emergencies.
In February St. Joseph’s high school
Youth Group received Cobb United Way’s
“Heart-In-Hand Award” for its volunteer
efforts. The work cited included rounding
up clothing and a baby basket complete
with pillow and linens for a newborn,
clearing years of undergrowth from an
elderly woman’s yard, and cooking eve
ning meals in a winter night shelter. Par
ticularly unusual is the group’s 18-month
involvement with Cobb Emergency Aid’s
Project Self Sufficiency for single parents
trying to better their lives.
“I’m crazy about these kids,” exclaimed
Tammy Skinner, social worker for Cobb
Emergency Aid. “It’s wonderful to be able
to rely on them and to know they’re there
and dependable.”
Every other Thursday, while Mrs. Skin
ner helps the group of single mothers im
prove their job skills, the teens take care of
their children. This care is fine-tuned to
meet the needs of each age level, whether
it be helping a preschooler with language
skills, or a fourth grader with his reading,
or an older girl with a school report.
“We are able to have our meeting in
peace, knowing (the children) are in good
hands,” said Garnie Quick, whose eight-
year-old son, Jamie, looks forward to the
Thursday evening sessions.
Originally the meetings were held in a
county building that offered no room for
the children to be separated according to
activity. One of the teens initiated an ef
fort to move the meetings to St. Joseph’s
parish center, where there is enough space
to provide an enjoyable and appropriate
experience for each age level, Molly Mc
Carthy said.
The relationship between the teens and
the children is close. One youth helps a
previously withdrawn child open up.
Another recognizes and nurtures the ar
tistic talents of an eight-year-old. Another
listens carefully as a fourth grader with a
reading difficulty reads aloud. Molly Mc
Carthy says simply, “They have become
family.”
(Continued on page 6)