The 35th National Wanderer Forum In ReviewBy CINDY PASLAWSKI "As Catholics we should rejoice in the knowledge of who God is. He is our loving Creator, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. He is infinitely good, just and merciful; He desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth,…To know Him, to love Him and to serve Him is the most important thing that each one of us can do. Since millions of men do not know Him, love Him and serve Him, it is our duty to bear witness to the truth and to try, each in his or her own way, to bring the Good News of Salvation to as many people as we can." With those words, Fr. Kenneth Baker, S. J., opened the 35th National Wanderer Forum on Friday, November 1 and set the tone for the three-day event, which had as its theme, "The Know, Love, and Serve Him." The Forum was again held at the Holiday Inn Washington-Dulles in Sterling, Va., with participants from as far away as Canada, California and Texas as well as from the surrounding east coast regions. The nine speakers covered both spiritual and practical topics in all venues, including the Church in China and using the internet for evangelization. Friday’s Keynote speaker, the very popular Wanderer columnist and retreat master Fr. Joseph Wilson from New York took the concept of knowing God even further when he commented that most people are not relating to Jesus as alive. It is far easier to relate to Him as a dead person. "What do people hear us speak of when we speak of our faith? Not, I fear, about Christ. We talk about Church stuff. We talk Church politics, or about one cause or another. Catholics are far better at talking about the pastor than about Jesus." But "our faith is a relationship," he said, "into which we have been invited by our best and wisest Friend." Fr. Wilson’s talk is reprinted in its entirety in this issue of the Forum Focus. The next morning, following the All Souls Day Mass celebrated in Latin by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf to the accompaniment of Gregorian Chant by singers from Christendom College, the Forum talks subtly shifted from knowing God to acting on that knowledge with love and service. Sister Mary Elizabeth of the Sisters of Life explained how living the Gospel of Life means seeing through the "layers of sin" to the goodness in a person, reaching "out in solidarity to those in need, like Christ, to reach out to the weak." She told of the order’s work with unwed mothers, the homeless, abused, immigrants, all "victims of our culture of death." Since the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, "a darkness has enveloped the land," she said, which can only be dispelled by fasting and prayer, particularly eucharistic adoration and the Rosary. Joseph Kung told of another darkness on the other side of the world, that of persecution of Catholics in China. He spoke of the destruction of churches an shrines, arrest, jailing, and torturing of bishops, priests, seminarians and lay catechists for their fidelity to the Church of Rome. "China has two churches that call themselves Catholic," Kung said, the Patriotic Association which is loyal to the Communist government and the underground Roman Catholic Church. He went on to describe the life of his uncle, Ignatius Cardinal Kung who spent several years in Chinese prison camps for not denying the Faith. In fact, in the court, when he was to confess his "crimes," instead he shouted "Long life Christ the King! Long live the Pope!" It is this example of Faith in the face of persecution which put serving God in a new light for Forum participants. Throughout history, the Church has evangelized through whatever means available, print, radio, film, even the stained glass windows taught the faith "in glittering color," according to Fr. John T. Zuhlsdorf. Today’s new threshold is the internet he stated in his talk, "Using the ’Net to Cast into the Deep." The pope urges us to cross the threshold into cyberspace to bring the word of Christ, he said, quoting the 2002 World Communications Day message: "I dare to summon the whole Church bravely to cross this new threshold, to put out into the deep of the ’Net, so that now as in the past, the great engagement of the Gospel and culture may show to the world ‘the glory of God on the face of Christ’ (II Cor. 4:6). "A tool is just a tool," Fr. Zuhlsdorf went on, to be used for good or evil. The internet is home to "an incredible explosion of depravity," he acknowledged. Our mission is to use it as we do the other tools of social communication. "We must use these [tools] to make Christ known and loved." The question of women’s role in serving the Church was addressed by Donna Steichen in her talk, "Women in the Church: Service or Disservice?" Many times she has heard if women had been ordained, the sex abuse scandals would not have occurred. But 80% of those working in the Church are women and in fact, the Catholic feminists do not oppose the sexual revolution. "Such permissiveness is an inextricable part of today’s sexual abuse catastrophe….What religious feminism seeks has no more to do with protecting children than with preserving the Faith." It is more a part of modernism, attacking truths of the Faith, and promoting the attiutde "we are autonomous beings, subject to no high law. We are gods," who are turning now to false gods and goddesses such asWicca. "In the long run, we’re assured that God will bring good out of evil" but "the only reform I see" now "is rising from the bottom up" through converts and new schooling efforts. That swell of reform from the pews can turn society around, can restore the Church to her past moral authority, James Bemis noted in his talk, "Can the Church Regain Her Moral Status in Society" (printed in this issue of the Forum Focus). Vividly describing the power of the church in the middle of the 20th century, when Church approval mean success or failure of movies and books, Bemis contrasted the vision of the heroic man in the movies of the ’40s and ’50s with today’s anti-heroes. It’s a golden age versus a leaden one he said and the movies mirror the culture. "We must offer a Catholic vision to the world," he stated, working within one’s own group, giving Catholic gifts, promoting adoration, getting on church and civic committees. Eventually the small changes lead to big ones. A chance comment by a colleague about Pius XII favoring Nazis launched Dr. Ronald Rychlak, a law professor from the University of Mississippi into a worldwide controversy. Dr. Rychlak investigated the charges against Pius XII, much as a trial lawyer examines evidence, and ended up becoming the foremost defender of the Pope over the last decade upon the publication of his book, Hitler, the War and the Pope. In his talk, "The Papacy: Forever a Sign of Contradiction," Dr. Rychlak outlined the controversy and pointed out that "the real target in all these books is John Paul II," whose efforts at centralizing power in the Church is similar to the work of Pius XII and threatening to those with liberalizing ideas. Rychlak offered critiques of the several books lined up against Pius XII, including Cornwell’s Hitler’s Pope and Goldhagen’s A Moral Reckoning. During an effective and spellbinding slide presentation, Rychlak cited intentional mistranslations and altering the look of pictures to achieve a negative impact. He went on to note the "massive rescue operation" the Vatican ran in Italy and the praise Jewish leaders gave to Pius XII when he died in 1958. The concluding address of the Forum, "Living Your Life for God," was given by Fr. Thomas Euteneuer, president of Human Life International, who showed that following the call to know, love and serve God applies to all of us, wherever we are and in whatever we do. He recounted two episodes at abortion clinics he was at – one in Africa and one here in the U.S. – which proved "sometimes you just have to be there" to change hearts. "We have to bring our own culture to conversion" by changing the weeds into wheat, Fr. Euteneuer said. Prayer is essential. His words echoed his homily at Mass earlier in which he mentioned the sex abuse scandals and said, "Every priest has to go through a spiritual warfare, so they need your prayers, especially the bad ones [priests]….But you need the priests," for even the bad ones bring the sacraments to God’s people. "God has constructed His Church so that we all need each other, for good or bad." * * * Fr. Wilson’s address, "To Know, Love, and Serve Him" and James Bemis’ "Can the
Church Recover Her Moral Status in Society" are available in the Fall, 2002 issue of the Forum Focus.
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Ronald Rychlak refutes negative commentary on Pius XII. |
Sister Grace and Sister Elizabeth from Sisters of Life. |
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Former Congressman Robert Dornan and Dr. Rychlak. |
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Fr. Euteneuer of HLI pauses in prayer. |
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Fr. Euteneuer offered Sunday Mass. The altar boys are from Annunciation Academy in nearby Reston, Virginia. |
Singers from Christendom College's Sacred Music Program provided accompaniment for the Forum's masses. |
