Inside
NCR
With this issue, we begin to dip
ever so slightly into the discussion about the next generation of Catholics.
This is a brawling topic that quickly spreads over the Catholic landscape, over
age groups ranging from teens to late 40s, and a growing number of cultures and
backgrounds.
We will be getting to a lot of the issues and significant players
in the coming months. Look for the “Passing it on” logo of this
issue’s cover on future stories. We’ll be bringing you profiles of
new Catholic thinkers and writers, essays from younger Catholics as well as
coverage of issues significant to family life in today’s parish.
Amid the hubbub about
Catholicism’s relationship to other world religions, allow me to propose a
place where such matters might be considered in a calm and thoughtful way and
in an approach accessible even to the amateur. The place is the Web site of New
Earth Ministries, an experimental project sponsored by the Sisters of Saint
Anne of Marlborough, Mass.
The project is the brainchild of Sr. Rita Larivee, NCR
associate publisher. Larivee, a mathematician/computer scientist by way of her
undergraduate studies and first master’s degree, is a wizard when it comes
to systems, human and electronic.
She also is a trained ethicist, a graduate of Weston Jesuit School
of Theology with a doctorate in ethics from Loyola University of Chicago. So
she not only intimately understands the systems that most of us comprehend
merely as images that inexplicably show up on our computer screens, but she can
also ask the most penetrating questions about why we (NCR, the wider
church, the wider culture and on and on) do what we do.
Larivee brings her considerable intellectual heft to three courses
she is offering over the Internet: Buddhism -- a primer for Christians;
Homelessness -- it can happen to anyone; and Nonviolence -- its meaning and its
challenge.
The courses fit the mission statement of the experiment to
“raise the level of awareness and education on issues concerning global
community and religious dialogue, and to foster a commitment to creating a
better world.”
For more on the courses, which begin on Oct. 13, go to
http://sistersofsaintanne.org/nem and work through the series of
self-explanatory buttons. Larivee’s e-mail address is
rlarivee@sistersofsaintanne.org
From John Allen in Rome come the
following suggestions: Catholics who might be passing through the Eternal City
this fall might want to check out “Sundays at Caravita” at the Jesuit
Church of St. Francis Xavier del Caravita (Via Del Caravita, 7 -- near Piazza
St. Ignazio and the Pantheon). Every Sunday at 11 a.m. there will be a Mass in
English followed by an informal gathering with an aperitivo, a very Roman way
of building instant community. The Masses will be offered on a rotating basis
by five American priests based in Rome. The hope is both to welcome visitors
whose hotels are in the area, and also to reach out to sectors of the Catholic
population that sometimes feel alienated or distant from the church. Visitors
can also take in the regular Sunday liturgies at Santa Susanna, the American
parish in Rome.
Some weeks ago, I invited questions
for candidates Bush and Gore. We have not been exactly flooded with entries,
but the ones that have arrived are more interesting than most I’ve heard
asked on the campaign trail. We’ll try a couple here.
From F.T. Murray of Menomonee Falls, Wis.: “What is your
position with regard to curbing the indiscriminate proliferation of small arms
and light weapons that are wreaking extensive destruction in even the poorest
countries?
“Will you work to make the U.N. treaty on the Illicit Trade
in Small Arms and Light Weapons, currently being developed, a strong and
comprehensive mechanism?”
More to come in the few weeks left. What would you ask if you had
the chance?
-- Tom Roberts
My e-mail address is troberts@natcath.org
National Catholic Reporter, October 6,
2000
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