Deacon Dan Wright

The Vatican and Darwin

As an educator I enjoyed finding the article I'm including on today's post, though I know that this is the sort of thing that's bound to bring out negative feelings--especially where Catholic-Evangelical relations are concerned.

I recently heard of an educator who had regretfully decided not to return to her job next year because the state was going to "make her teach evolution" (Texas recently changed it's ruling on evolution--at least for the time being).

Interestingly, it was only a couple weeks ago that I had a conversation with an evangelical friend who works in the public schools.  We were talking about dinosaur extinctions and I mentioned that the age of the dinosaurs, the Mesozoic era, ran from 250 million to 65 million years ago.  She told me that was interesting theory but couldn't be true since the planet is only 6 to 10 thousand years old.

Needless to say, literal interpreters of the Bible are going to have problems with the Vatican's conference on Darwin.

The Vatican is hosting a conference to mark the sesquicentennial of Darwin's book, On the Origin of the Species, and taking a fresh look at Darwin's evolution theory. The Vatican is implying that Darwin's ideas are compatible with Christianity. The Vatican's upcoming conference will discuss intelligent design as a "cultural," not scientific issue.

A century and a half after Charles Darwin published his revolutionary study of nature, On the Origin of the Species, one of his most ardent foes is taking a fresh look at his theories.

Although the Roman Catholic Church never formally condemned Darwin or his theories (thus demonstrating some significant progress from Galileo's time), there is no question that for decades, it was openly hostile to Darwin's theory because of its apparent conflict with the teachings of the church.

Next month, however, the Vatican will host a conference to mark the sesquicentennial of Darwin's book. The gathering will be held March 3-6 at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, Italy.

Not only have church officials declared that the naturalist's views are "compatible with Christian faith," they have even argued that Darwin's ideas can be traced to great theologians like St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas. Both observed, for instance, that various forms of life on Earth have changed over time.

According to Archbishop Gianfranco Ravasi, head of the Pontifical Council for Culture, the teachings of the Church and Darwin can be reconciled: "In fact, what we mean by evolution is the world as created by God," the archbishop said recently.

The upcoming conference is the culmination of more than a half century of slowly easing tensions between the Catholic Church and the chief proponent of evolution. In 1950, Pope Pius XII declared that evolution was "a valid scientific approach." Just a decade ago, Pope John Paul II went further and said that evolution was "more than a hypothesis."

....the organizers did not invite supporters of creationism or intelligent design because it was "not feasible" to include ideas "that cannot be critically defined as being science, or philosophy or theology."

Source

Here I am Lord

As I sat down last night to compose what was to be a short blog post for today there were several things that were on my mind.  Certainly I was feeling appreciative to have another day off this weekend, and I considered that too often I take days off for granted. 

Many years ago, before I was married, and before I was a deacon and a teacher, the kinds of jobs I had typically involved physical labor of one kind or another.  It seems that having an extra day to rest had more value then, though don't get me wrong I still value it greatly.  It's just now that it has a different character--this day off gives more of an opportunity to reflect.

Also as I was thinking about today's post I was considering the readings from Sunday.  Perhaps it's the sign of having heard a successful homily when the readings have the power to impress something on us that we can carry through the week.  Undoubtedly I heard a good homily, but the readings by themselves also have the power to do this all on their own when we listen and when we learn to allow what we hear become part of who we are.

As I listened to the priest talk about the importance of hearing the call--and not just for vocations to the priesthood or religious life alone, though that is an important part of it--I thought about the person that Americans and others throughout the world celebrate today.  That is, I thought about Martin Luther King Jr. and the call he heard to address the great injustices of his world.  It's something that we as Catholics should relate to well because our social justice teachings demand that we too stand up for the causes of justice and take the side of those who are least powerful in this world. Surely Martin Luther King Jr. heard such a call, and he acted with determination in its regard.

It becomes more and more apparent with each passing day that the times we live in demand strong action on our part.  Many of the things that Martin Luther King Jr. struggled against still make their presence felt in our world.  In addition we live in times that demand both action and prayer if humanity is to survive, and ironically it is humanity that poses the greatest threat to its own existence.

Hearing the call of the Lord, and answering "Here I am," means that we must put all of our intellect and resources together to effectively address the complex issues we face.  I believe wholeheartedly that the Christian faith still possesses the ability to continue to be a force that shapes the world.  Our faith can still satisfy the souls of the spiritually hungry as well as those who hunger physically.  We still possess the ability to show the love of God to the world.  By no means is our respect for the sacred nature of God's creation and the human person ineffectual, rather it is a necessity.

Indeed we stand on the brink of a new era, which on the eve of President Obama's inauguration we may see more clearly than at other times.  While the Obama presidency symbolizes the fulfillment, at least in part, of King's dream that humanity would stand together without regard to race, this new era is yet to be an era of great challenge, not only in terms of how we regard others but to what lengths we are willing to go to in order to preserve humanity and our world. Indeed the times demand a spirit of cooperation, but for us as Christians they demand that our evangelization must express and precipitate the sheer power of the God who is love to reach into the world and to transform it utterly into something new and full of goodness.

As I take the day off from my work as a teacher I reflect on the call--no simple matter really--and how I might answer it better.  In reflecting on how in my own life I can say "Here I am Lord," I am reflecting also on how I can join with you to bring about a kingdom of peace where we will no longer destroy the handiwork of God.

Christianity American Style

I had almost decided to let Friday pass without a new blog post--I found the religion news and news in general not to be all that new (with the notable exception of the story of US Airways Flight 1549, which I took to be connected spiritually to a prayer for travelers that was recently in the Liturgy of the Hours--for this one I decided not to blog but just to whisper a thank you).

However, I found the following article and thought it might go well here today.  I've always been interested in what George Barna has to say.

American individualism has made its imprint on Christianity.

A sizable majority of the country's faithful no longer hew closely to orthodox teachings, and look more to themselves than to churches or denominations to define their religious convictions, according to two recent surveys. More than half of all Christians also believe that some non-Christians can get into heaven.

"Growing numbers of people now serve as their own theologian-in-residence," said George Barna, president of Barna Group, on releasing findings of one of the polls on Jan. 12.

Continue reading 

It's more than a little interesting to me that he says greater numbers of people are serving as their own theologians.  I can recall musing long years past over the same thing.  Though then it was more an observation--partly from listening to what Protestant church people had to say when they spoke about topics such as biblical interpretation--than it was based on data.

This story--especially it's first sentence--reminded me, somewhat at least, of something that Pope Leo XIII had to say in his encyclical Testem Benevolentiae Nostrae, "...there are among you some who conceive and would have the Church in America to be different from what it is in the rest of the world."

Undoubtedly he must have sensed what the future would hold.

Richard John Neuhaus, 1936-2009

From Richard John Neuhaus' Death on a Friday Afternoon:

To prodigal children lost in a distant land, to disciples who forsook him and fled, to a thief who believed or maybe took pity and pretended to believe, to those who did not know that what they did they did to God, to the whole bedraggled company of humankind he had abandoned heaven to join, he says: "Come. Everything is ready now. In your fears and in your laughter, in your friendships and farewells, in your loves and losses, in what you have been able to do and in what you know you will never get done, come, follow me. We are going home to the waiting Father."

May he rest in peace.

Church Retrogressed Since Vatican II

I found this article, with some interesting numbers, in the Wall Street Journal:

Regarding Father Edward T. Oakes's review of Father John W. O'Malley's book on the Second Vatican Council ("Chronicle of a Council," Dec. 26): It is not a stretch to assert that the Catholic Church, particularly in the U.S., has suffered greatly since the council took place.

Kenneth C. Jones compiled an "Index of Leading Catholic Indicators: The Church Since Vatican II," published in 2003. Among his findings: While the number of priests in the U.S. more than doubled to 58,000 between 1930 and 1965, that number has fallen to 45,000, and by 2020 there will be only 31,000. In 1965, there were 180,000 Catholic nuns, but by 2002 that number had fallen to 75,000; Catholic marriages have fallen in number by one third since 1965, while the annual number of annulments rose from 338 in 1968 to 50,000 in 2002. (Regarding the annulment process, it is said that, for better or worse, psychological factors have been taken into consideration much more so post-Vatican II.) And, of course, we have the clergy sex abuse scandal that culminated in 2002 and continues to this day.

Source

The author of the article names the cause of the downfall to be spirit of the times and morally corrupt churchmen.  I'm glad that he didn't say that Vatican II itself had something to do with it--I have little patience for that type of conjecture.  I have always felt that the downfall in the number of priests and nuns had more to do with the times we live in than anything else (historically morally corrupt churchmen are nothing new, so I don't agree here).  The Vietnam and post-Vietnam era brought a questioning of traditional values and pushed it to the limits.  In many ways we are still seeing that push in effect.

As the parent of two teenagers--and as a high school teacher--I know well how the values of the past are still being seriously questioned, though this doesn't surprise me since, in many ways, my generation questioned traditional values even more.  Spirit of the times? Yes, but it's nothing new. Speaking from a couple thousand years past, 1 John 4:3 tells us that the spirit of antichrist is in the world already.

For us as Christians the times offer a challenge.  Especially as Catholics we may sense an even greater challenge as numbers wane (though in my geographical area the Church is growing).  The perceived loss of past values gives rise in our times to a greater and deeper seeking.  My own parish causes a minor traffic jam each Sunday, as does the Evangelical mega-church not a quarter mile from my house.

Rather than despairing or spreading doom and gloom, we should take whatever challenges come and be confident in a positive outcome.  These times are ours, so what shall we make of them?

Forgive? Perhaps Not...

I prefer to reserve much of my own comment on the article below, from the Austin American Statesman, to which a friend alerted me, and simply give you the story to muse over and perhaps comment on.  It's a good article, which moves me away from the controversy of politics to yet another kind of controversy--the theologically controversial position of demanding an answer, an apology, from God.

A few minutes into our conversation about how efforts to make peace between Jews and Muslims help honor his slain son, Judea Pearl stopped me in my tracks by announcing that he believed God owed him a personal apology.

Let me back up. I had called Pearl, father of murdered Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, to discuss Sunday's Abraham Walk at the Dell Jewish Community Campus. Pearl will speak at the annual interfaith event that brings together Jews, Christians and Muslims to retrace the journey made by their common ancestor, Abraham.

Our phone interview came hours before the sunset ushered in Yom Kippur, when Jews around the world gathered in synagogues to stand before God and atone for their sins. A local Jewish scholar had suggested I raise the question of how Pearl deals with his son's murder by a militant Muslim group in Pakistan almost seven years ago when Daniel Pearl was on assignment there. What better time than Yom Kippur to talk about forgiveness?

Pearl's answer was swift and raw.

"I am Jewish. I don't buy the Christian notion of forgiveness. I don't think there's any inherent mystical power in the act of forgiving. You forgive when the person who did a certain crime acknowledges regret and change of behavior. Until that happens, in the Jewish tradition, forgiveness doesn't catch."

Then Pearl said evenly, "God owes me a personal apology, not only to me but to all decent people in the world for betraying their expectation of what good and evil is in this world."

He includes most Muslims in that aggrieved group, but there's no denying that Pearl is at war with radical Muslims, the ones who beheaded his son. It seems to me that interfaith dialogue becomes harder and harder as the world's religious conflicts intensify.

Yes, Jews, Christians and Muslims share a common ancestor in Abraham, but can they call each other brother and sister at a time when radicalism and resentment build globally? When government and faith are perceived as interwoven, making Christians and Jews afraid of Iranian Muslims and Muslims angry at Israeli Jews and American Christians?

People such as Pearl, a computer scientist who runs the Daniel Pearl Foundation, and Tom Spencer, CEO of the Austin Area Interreligious Ministries, live and work with the hope that it's possible to overcome those challenges.

Pearl's way of doing this is by rejecting what he calls the "nicey-nicey" atmosphere of many interfaith meetings in favor of encouraging people to lay bare their fears, assumptions and darkest thoughts.

He does it by example. Pearl works with a Muslim friend, Akbar Ahmed, the former high commissioner of Pakistan to Great Britain. The two, Pearl said, have managed to reach beyond the "professional interfaithers" by confronting hot topics in public discussions with Jews, Muslims and others. No issue is taboo.

"The trouble with interfaith meetings ... is that people enjoy the music and they enjoy the cookies, but they hate to spoil the party by discussing the hard issues," Pearl said. "And we went the other way around. We come with the expectation that their pains will be discussed, will be expressed honestly and faithfully and will be treated and responded to with respect."

He doesn't shy away from the fact that many Muslims are angry at the Israeli government, and many Jews are upset that Muslims use anti-Israel rhetoric that sometimes comes across as anti-Semitic.

But he also sees the value of celebrations of unity through events such as the Abraham Walk where he believes his son's spirit shines through.

It seems fitting, Spencer said, that the Jewish Community Association of Austin would host the walk, which re-creates on a small scale the journey the prophet Abraham made through the desert, and that the international event coincides with the festival of Sukkot, when Jews build a sukkah, or booth, similar to the shelters their spiritual ancestors used while wandering the desert. During the festival, Jews eat and sometimes sleep in their sukkah.

Also inspiring to Spencer is the idea that this year's event would be driven by the youths who will perform skits depicting three Abrahamic virtues. Christians will demonstrate unity, Muslims faith and Jews hospitality. The Jewish booth will be an actual sukkah.

In addition, Pearl's talk will be bookmarked by musical performances as part of World Music Days, another project created to preserve Daniel Pearl's legacy as an avid musician.

"You think about these three traditions and their long, tangled and often bloody history together," Spencer said. "These are the world traditions that are most in need of healing. This is one of the most critical issues of the 21st century: How can we resolve the painful histories of these three faith traditions?"

For years, we have seen interfaith leaders attempt these conversations and events in Austin. Spencer acknowledges that sometimes, conversation leads nowhere. Sometimes, the breakthrough happens when people from the city's various faiths don't talk at all but take up hammers and paint brushes and repair the home of a poor elderly woman in East Austin.

The descendants of Abraham have not had an easy time sharing space. Pearl says his job is to make his small contribution with the hope it will benefit future generations.

And that is how a man who rejects the idea of forgiveness for its own sake, a father who feels betrayed by God, can find the possibility of redemption. Through these small contributions he's made with his brothers and sisters in Abraham, Pearl says he might have heard God whisper that apology, not to him personally but to all of humanity.

"Perhaps he already made this step in the form of World Music Days, in the form of this kind of gathering of people of all denominations recognizing their oneness, in the form of the legacy of Daniel Pearl," he said. "On a collective basis, perhaps God has made this step here that can be viewed as a positive step toward peace. So many people now have a face to relate to. Peace means Daniel Pearl. ... Perhaps this was God's way of advancing peace on the collective level."

Being at Peace

I wasn't exactly sure where I wanted to go with the blog this evening before I turn out the lights and call it a day.  Indeed, a busier than usual day was still weighing heavy on me--it was one of those days when we ask, "Why do I choose to do this?"  The answer to that question, of course, is never too far away from the dedicated heart.  We need only look as deep as our hearts.

I believe there is a truth in saying that a day's work bears a similarity to a life's work--especially when the struggle is such that we can feel it pressing in: when we can literally sense age being added.  There has to be a place to turn where we find perfect peace.

The Psalmist says, "In God alone is my soul at rest; my help comes from him."  Of course, as Christians we certainly believe that being in Christ is the only source of rest for our souls--this I would never deny, but I think that often our being at rest--that is, our being at peace--finds expressions in the things that point us to an intrinsic peace in the world and a rest that becomes clearly visible with only a little uncovering.

Earlier this summer I was fortunate to have acquired a guitar.  I have always loved the sound of classical guitar pieces--for me, music has the power to go beyond the ordinary world where often meanings conflict if they are to be found at all.  This morning in the Morning Prayer, the Canticle from Isaiah read, "we shall sing to stringed instruments in the house of the Lord all the days of our life."  It came as a little affirmation to me.

I have never really tried to learn to play an instrument with any seriousness, but now as I am only a year away from turning 50 I have decided to dedicate a good portion of my spare time to finding oneness through the vibrations of nylon strings--not to sound too far-fetched.  After all, I'm not attempting to make a doctrinal statement of any kind, nor am I commenting on one.  I'm just commenting on something I see after looking deeply.

Many years ago as a university student I studied the philosophy of art.  When we came to Picasso's El Viejo Guitarrista the prof didn't say anything, which was surprising for a fellow who was in the first place a knowledgeable musicologist.  Some things just go beyond words and still manage to express all the meaning in the world.  A work of art is like that, whether the medium is oil or nylon.

Recently, I told my guitar teacher that my goal for age 90 is to resemble Picasso's guitarist.  What I see in it is an expression of peace, harmony, and oneness with everything.  If something like satori can really be achieved, I think it has to do with frequently returning to the idea that life--complete with it's struggles and hardships, with it's no easy answer days--always has something to give and something to say, though meaning expressed in words may or may not be part of it.

Catholic Charities Caught Procuring Abortion

Just when I thought that I had heard it all, and just when I had decided that I might leave the news and opinions to someone else and concentrate on spirituality instead at my blog, the news breaks that Commonwealth Catholic Charities (Virginia) has allegedly helped a 16-year-old illegal immigrant to procure an abortion.  You can get the story here; however, since it's on AP I won't bother to copy and paste anything.  Hopefully they won't mind the link too much.

Not only has Commonwealth Catholic Charities gotten itself into a predicament, according to the story it also has involved the USCCB overall, which reportedly receives 7.6 million a year to place unaccompanied illegal immigrant children in foster care. Furthermore, federal law prevents the use of its funding for abortions except in cases of incest and rape or when the life of the mother is in danger should the pregnancy continue.  Evidently none of these were part of the case involved.

Still, we don't expect to hear of this from any organization that has "Catholic" as a part of it name--especially not from Catholic Charities, which over the years I have personally grown to respect a great deal.  Needless to say, the story is a great disappointment.

Indeed the only way I can describe learning of this news is say that I am completely shocked, but somehow not too surprised.  For me it's an indication of a mindset that I have frequently encountered in social services (even in Catholic circles) that leans toward replacing traditional values with those of the current relativistic world view.  Sadly, you can find it just about anywhere that you care to look deep enough.

If there's a lesson it has to do with those things we have been taught to value as a part of our tradition.  Get tough, dig your heels in, and say *no* (explicative optional) to the attitude that says everything is okay with our world (and its values) and that we just need to have a positive outlook.  Quite the contrary, our world is in need of the gospel message more now than any time in history--the battle rages all around.  It may be the Irish in me, but I'm feeling a little scrappy.

Fewer Baptists Being Baptized

Here's a story that I find interesting, and it's also one that I anticipated in many ways.  It does not surprise me that fewer Baptists are being baptized. 

I'm coming at the story from the perspective of a convert--one who was, in fact, baptized at a Baptist congregation years ago.  It's an event that I remember well, having been a 12-year-old at the time, and it's an event that I refer to frequently--at least in a personal interior way--and it's something I find as a source of spiritual wealth.  My baptism was for me an individual choice that I made.  It marked a true milestone in my life in that my parents had entirely left it up to me to decide when and where I chose to be baptized.

It only matters a little to me that my own baptism occurred outside the Catholic Church--the right elements were there.  The Trinitarian formula and water came together with the knowledge that my sins were being forgiven.  Sure, if I had approached the Catholic Church for baptism I know that I certainly would have been catechized better to understand what truly takes place in baptism, and this also is the source of my not being surprised too much that Baptist baptisms are down.

As I was growing up, baptisms and being Baptist went hand in hand--as did baptism and being Pentecostal, perhaps a good topic for a future post, given my move to pentecostalism in my latter teenage years.  However, a trend I've noticed among my evangelical neighbors is to downplay the importance of baptism.  For them baptism is not necessary for salvation, and certainly not a sacrament, in fact sacraments and sacramentality are outright denied by evangelicals.  For years now I have been aware that baptism, for Baptists, like marriage, is considered to be merely an "ordinance" rather than a sacrament.

In recent years I have noticed that large Baptist congregations are dropping the word "Baptist" from their name.  I believe that the practice is intended to attract members who desire non-denominational, bible church, or evangelical Christianity that is not aligned explicitly with an organization or denomination.  I recall seeing a story--unfortunately no longer available--in the local newspaper where a whole congregation had members who were unaware that they were actually Baptists.  Some left upon making the discovery and for others it didn't make a difference.

While the differences are sometimes unclear--I once asked an evangelical minister what the difference was between them and Baptists and I was told "Well, I'm not exactly sure there is a difference"--a difference that I do know of has to do with the importance of new Christians being baptized.  When I was 12 I was told that since I had decided to accept Jesus I needed to be baptized, and not much more of an explanation was given.  What I see on the web pages of many evangelical, non-denominational, or bible churches, is that baptism is not necessary.

What a pity that those who desire salvation are denied the means to it.  I also have to wonder whether evangelicals would take the same position if the Catholic teaching (in an alternate universe of course) was that baptism was not necessary.  Sometimes when discussing issues of doctrine with opponents to Catholicism I feel like I'm trying to get a donkey to move out of the road.  Here, I sense, doctrine is precisely the issue, and perhaps that Baptist identity is giving way to a more general identification with simply being "evangelical."

INDIANAPOLIS (Reuters) - Baptisms in the Southern Baptist Convention have fallen to a 20-year low, a trend that is setting off alarm bells in America's largest evangelical denomination.

The number of people baptized in Southern Baptist churches and ceremonies, an important indicator of conversions and denominational growth, fell in 2007 for the third year in a row by 5 percent to 345,941.

That was the lowest number since 1987, a trend on the minds of many of the 7,000 delegates known as "messengers" attending the SBC's annual meeting in Indianapolis.

This year's theme is called "Fulfilling the Mission" and the logo pointedly depicts a picture of a baptism in progress.

For Southern Baptists, a decline in baptisms is a worry because a major tenet of their faith is to spread it. Many believe the "unchurched" are doomed to an eternity in hell.

"We should always be concerned when baptisms dip. It's about salvation. ... We are commanded to go and preach the gospel to every person," said Tommy French, a 77-year-old pastor from Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Several delegates interviewed by Reuters expressed their concern in such terms: fewer baptisms meant fewer saved souls. For Southern Baptists, a public baptism in water is a key rite of the conversion experience.

The trend of falling baptisms also has broader cultural and political implications as the 16-million member SBC is a big part of the Republican Party's conservative Christian base.

 Twenty-five percent of U.S. adults now count themselves as "born-again" or evangelical Christians, making the movement one of the fastest growing and most influential in America. A slowdown in its growth could have a ripple effect on politics and other areas of American life.

Several Southern Baptists interviewed took it as an unhealthy sign of "weakness" or misguided attempts to find accommodation with the broader secular culture that some regard as corrupting and even satanic.

"We are using corporate-style marketing and worship services. It's a performance orientation that lacks authenticity," said J.D. Perry, also from Baton Rouge.

For SBC evangelist Jim McNiel of St. Louis, the drop in baptism numbers was a sign that the biblical "end times" described in the Book of Revelation were drawing near.

"I see two factions. You have one for believers but you also have a faction from Satan and there is a strong battle looming," he said.

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Catholic Parish Bans Autistic Child

After a month-long break from blogging to finish up school year work and prepare for my summer break, I anticipated that would return with something on a more uplifting note.  As I read the story posted below, my emotions ranged from deep sadness to outrage.  The words of Jesus from Sunday's gospel echoed in soul, "Not all who say to me 'Lord, Lord' will enter the kingdom of heaven."

Among the many things to find truly appalling in the story, the fact that the child's mom was issued a citation on Mother's Day for taking him to Mass stands out.  Tears should pour from heaven.

BERTHA, Minn. -- Carol Race thinks it's important for her 13-year-old son to be in church on Sundays for Catholic Mass.

Leaders of the Church of St. Joseph once felt the same way, but not anymore. They say Race's autistic son Adam is disruptive and his erratic behavior threatens the safety of other parishioners.

The northern Minnesota church has obtained a restraining order to keep Adam away, an action that has been deeply hurtful to the Race family and has brought them support from parents of other autistic children.

"My son is not dangerous," Carol Race said. The church's action is "about a certain community's fears of him. Fears of danger versus actual danger," she said.

In court papers, church leaders say the danger is real. The Rev. Daniel Walz wrote in his petition for the restraining order that Adam--who already is more than 6 feet tall and weighs more than 225 pounds--has hit a child, has nearly knocked over elderly parishioners while bolting from his pew, has spit at people and has urinated in the church.

"His behavior at Mass is extremely disruptive and dangerous," wrote Walz. "Adam is 13 and growing, so his behaviors grow increasingly difficult for his parents to manage."

Carol Race said Walz's claims are exaggerated.

"He's never actually injured anyone," she said. "He's never knocked down anyone. He's never urinated on anyone or spit on anyone."

Carol Race was cited for attending church May 11 in violation of the restraining order, and faces a hearing Monday. She says she can't afford a lawyer and will defend herself in court. A lay mediator is scheduled to meet with her and church board members on Wednesday.

Autism is a developmental disorder that affects a person's ability to communicate and interact with others. It is more severe in some people than others. Adam has limited verbal skills.

Walz did not return calls seeking comment, but Jane Marrin, who works for the Diocese of St. Cloud and is acting as a spokeswoman for the parish, said the church board tried working with the Races to find "reasonable accommodations." That included offering a video feed of Mass that could be watched in the church basement.

The family refused all suggestions, she said.

"It's a difficult issue," Marrin said. "There are no easy answers."

Carol Race dismissed the church's suggestion that Adam watch a video feed in the church basement, saying that "does not have the same status as attending Mass. Otherwise we could all just sit home and watch it on TV and not bother to come in."

"It's considered a sin in the Catholic church not to attend Mass on Sundays and every holy day of obligation," she said. "And that's what this is about. I'm just trying to fulfill my obligations."

Adam is one of five children. The family's home in nearby Eagle Bend has separate study rooms so the other children can read books and use crayons that Adam could otherwise destroy.

Carol said Adam has two favorite spots in the house, the prayer room and the kitchen table. "He likes to eat," she said, laughing.

Adam is prone to anxiety attacks. Carol said some of those outbursts force members of the family to sit on him to calm him down, or restrain his hands and feet with a strip of felt.

In his court petition, Walz said that after one service Adam got into another family's car, started it and revved up the engine while there were people in front of the vehicle.

"Adam's continued presence on parish grounds not only endangers the parishioners, it is disruptive to the devout celebration of the Eucharist," Walz wrote. "I have repeatedly asked John and Carol to keep Adam from church; they have refused to do so.

"In fact, Carol told our parish council that she would have to be dragged from church in handcuffs if I tried to keep Adam from attending Mass," he wrote.

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There is a lot more that can be done in the way of offering support than forcing a kid to watch Mass on a video from the basement.  Forcing someone to sit in the basement is not a reasonable accommodation by any stretch of the imagination--It's discrimination.

As someone who works daily with autistic teenagers, and as the parent of an autistic child, I have several questions.  Has the diocese, consulted an autism expert, or has anyone done as little as having contacted the school to discuss what support they use in the classroom?  Did they consider paying a trained person to sit with him (there are people who do this--I know several)?  Has anything been done to educate parishioners about autism?

As my wife was leaving for work this morning I could sense her sadness over having learned about the story.  I told her, "Look at it like this, it's another diocese--not us."  She was quick to correct me, "No, it is us.  This hurts the whole Church."  Indeed, when this kind of thing happens it not only hurts the family who must suffer through the ordeal of not being understood--not loved--and not accepted.  It also hurts their parish, their diocese, and when it makes the news it hurts us all.  On a spiritual level it hurts us regardless of whether it is news or not.  It is a situation that cries out for justice.

I think it is interesting to juxtapose this story with the fact that in 1941 young Joseph Ratzinger had a 14-year-old cousin--a few months younger than he was--who had Down Syndrome.  The cousin was taken away by Nazi authorities and presumably killed under Hitler's euthanasia program for the disabled. I know what John Paul II had to say about people with cognitive disabilities.  In light of the incident with his cousin, I'd like to see Pope Benedict also say something.

In the past, at the masses where I do not serve at the altar, my wife and I have chosen to sit in the back of the church with our children, including our autistic son--I think from now on we'll sit in the front.