In Brief...

The Holy Father’s Intentions

Pope John Paul II has announced the following general and missionary intentions for December 1999 and January 2000:

December

That in the Year 2000, the proclamation of the Good News: "A Savior has been born to us; He is Christ the Lord," may ring out with renewed strength.

That diocesan priests welcome the ever-insistent call to Fidei donum missionary service.

January

Communion and reciprocal respect among Christians. Growing communion and reciprocal respect among Christians worldwide.

The spread of the peace of Christmas to the hearts of all. Discovering in Christmas the true source of peace during this International Year of the Culture of Peace.

Y2K Preparations

Lay Witness has learned that many companies no longer feel a need for network or software applications support. The goal is to remove all computers from the desktop by December 31, 1999. Instead, everyone will be provided with an Etch-A-Sketch. There are many sound reasons for doing this:

1. No Y2K problems.

2. No technical glitches keeping work from getting done.

3. No more wasted time reading and writing emails.

Frequently Asked Questions for Etch-A-Sketch Tech:

Q: My Etch-A-Sketch has all of these funny little lines all over the screen.

A: Pick it up and shake it.

Q: How do I turn my Etch-A-Sketch off?

A: Pick it up and shake it.

Q: What’s the shortcut for Undo?

A: Pick it up and shake it.

Q: How do I create a New Document window?

A: Pick it up and shake it.

Q: How do I set the background and foreground to the same color?

A: Pick it up and shake it.

Q: What is the proper procedure for rebooting my Etch-A-Sketch?

A: Pick it up and shake it.

Q: How do I delete a document on my Etch-A-Sketch?

A: Pick it up and shake it.

Q: How do I save my Etch-A-Sketch document?

A: Don’t shake it.

Hitler’s Pope Panned

Seen by some as a desperate attempt to derail the beautification and canonization of Pope Pius XII, John Cornwell’s Hitler’s Pope has been dismissed as "bogus scholarship" by journalists and Church officials who have investigated the pontiff’s relationship with the Nazis and the Jewish people before and during World War II:

Tipped off in June by Catholic journalists and apostolates like Catholics United for the Faith (CUF) that Hitler’s Pope would debut in October, the Vatican and the Church in general were ready to respond to Cornwell’s egregious errors. In fact, in an interview with The Sunday Times of London, Cornwell singled out CUF for its pre-publication protests to Viking Press. (Unfortunately, the publisher declined our offer of evidence that rebutted Cornwell’s thesis.)

The book frequently misrepresents, gets wrong, or blatantly ignores many historical facts about Pius XII’s life as a Vatican diplomat in Germany, Vatican Secretary of State, and Pope. Cornwell alleges that Pius XII was an anti-Semite who said and did little to help the Jews.

Regarding Pius XII’s record as papal ambassador to Germany and Vatican Secretary of State (1017-39), consider the written words (Pius XII Was Not Silent, 1968) of Jeno Levai, a respected Jewish historian who testified at various trials regarding Nazi war criminals: "In these capacities he obviously played a decisive part in the dispatch of the 60 notes in which the Vatican protested to Hitler against the persecution of the Jews up to the outbreak of war—quite apart from the papal encyclical of 1937 beginning with the words ‘Mit Brennender Sorge’" (With Burning Anxiety), an encyclical which compares Hitler and his associates with the devil.

In addition to its Christmas editorials of 1941-42, The New York Times—not known for being a Vatican organ—recognized that Pius XII had no trouble defending the Jews when he became Pope: "It is Germany that stands condemned above any country or any movement in this encyclical [Summi Pontificatus], the Germany of Hitler and National Socialism" (front page, October 28, 1939); "Pope Is Emphatic About Just Peace" (headline); "Jews’ Rights Defended" (subhead, March 14, 1940); and "Vichy Seizes Jews; Pope Pius Ignored" (August 27, 1942), the last an event just after Pius XII’s actions regarding the Dutch Jews, which Time seriously distorts.

The Vatican announced at press time that a panel of three Catholic and three Jewish scholars to study the "Acts and related documents of the Holy See in the Second World War." The panel was formed because of Jewish leaders’ requests for greater access to the Church’s archives after the Vatican released its document on the Holocaust in March 1998. The Vatican strongly defended Pius XII in the 1998 document.

Fr. Peter Gumpel, S.J., who is overseeing the cause of Pope Pius XII’s beatification and canonization, firmly stated that present controversies would not succeed in impeding the pontiff’s cause.

For more information to share with friends and local media, call us toll-free at (800) 693-2484 for our Faith Fact on Pope Pius XII (available online) and additional information and resources. A review of Cornwell’s Hitler’s Pope will appear in an upcoming issue of Lay Witness.

—Thomas J. Nash

Our Lady of Guadalupe

Are you feeling hopeless? Turn to . . . Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mother of Hope! She’ll melt your heart in this touching story.

A new Dan Lynch video production.

A full-length, 70-minute presentation filmed in Mexico and the United States.

• The Aztec Culture of Death.

• The Conquest of Cortes.

• Apparitions, Miracles, Conversions, and the End of Human Sacrifice.

• The Missionary Image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Signs, Wonders, Conversions, and the End of Abortion.

• The Culture of Life with Testimonies of Mothers Healed from Abortion.

• The Pope and the Mother of Hope.

For more information, call (800) 958-4499 or visit The Missionary Image website at www.ourladyofguadalupe.org.

St. Joseph Foundation Celebrates 15th Birthday

The realization that Catholics have rights in their Church led to the formation of the St. Joseph Foundation in 1984. Some of the rights we have in the Church, including the right of assembly, the right of petition, the right of free association, the right to privacy and reputation, and the right to due process, correspond to our civil rights. Other rights, especially the right to know the truth about God and His Church, the right to the spiritual goods of the Church, and the right to worship according to the norms established by lawful authority, have no counterparts in civil law.

The St. Joseph Foundation serves Catholics who seek to learn more about their rights in the Church and Church’s legal system. Whenever individuals or groups believe their rights are threatened or have been violated, the foundation assists them in using the constructive means established by the Church to obtain the appropriate remedy.

Catholics United for the Faith congratulates executive director Charles M. Wilson and all the foundation’s staff on 15 years of vital service to the Church. To request the foundation’s fine newsletter or more information, write St. Joseph Foundation, 11107 Wurzbach Rd. #601B, San Antonio, TX 78230-2570.

Daily Readings

How would you like to have quick, easy access to the daily Mass readings? If you have access to the Internet, now you can. This useful and popular service is provided on the U.S. Bishops’ website at www.nccbuscc.org.

Why not make each day’s readings part of your new year’s/new millennium resolutions?

Welcome, Archbishop Rigali!

Catholics United for the Faith is pleased to announce that Most Rev. Justin F. Rigali, Archbishop of St. Louis since 1994, has joined CUF’s episcopal advisory council.

Archbishop Rigali was ordained to the sacred priesthood in 1961 and subsequently served as a priest assistant during the first two sessions of Vatican II (1962-65).

More recently, he served as a delegate to the Special Assembly for America of the Synod of Bishops in 1997, and earlier this year he was privileged to host our Holy Father during his visit to the United States. He currently serves on several committees of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, and his memberships include the Papal Foundation, the Board of Trustees of the Catholic University of America, and the Vatican Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.

Archbishop Rigali joins Archbishops Charles J. Chaput (Denver, CO) and James P. Keleher (Kansas City, KS), and Bishops Fabian W. Bruskewitz (Lincoln, NE), Robert J. Carlson (Sioux Falls, SD), Thomas G. Doran (Rockford, IL), John J. Myers (Peoria, IL), Daniel E. Sheehan (Omaha, NE, retired), Edward Slattery (Tulsa, OK), James S. Sullivan (Fargo, ND), and Thomas J. Tobin (Youngstown, OH) on CUF’s episcopal advisory council.

Jubilee and the Eucharist

Most Rev. William Weigand of Sacramento, CA, recently issued an outstanding pastoral letter on the Jubilee and the Eucharist. Here is a brief excerpt:

"Jesus has left us His abiding presence in the Blessed Sacrament to assist us. How privileged we are to be able to make visits to the Blessed Sacrament during the week in order to keep ourselves alive in the Eucharistic mystery of God’s presence, love, and grace! How blessed we are that the Church provides us with Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, holy hours, solemn Eucharistic devotions, and multiple opportunities for adoration and peaceful communing with our Savior, who has made Himself our brother and intimate friend!

"As you know, our diocese is named for the Blessed Sacrament. I cannot tell you how pleased I am by how well the Eucharist is celebrated in our parishes and by how people are increasingly availing themselves of opportunities for Eucharistic adoration. I give thanks that God seems to be drawing many young people to the Blessed Sacrament in our parishes and that vocations to the priesthood and the religious life are being discovered in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament.

"My dear young people, don’t be afraid to draw close to Jesus in the Eucharist while you are still young. Jesus continues to say, "Let the children come to me" (Mk. 10:14). No one can love you and satisfy you like your divine friend, Jesus. No one knows your true goodness and potential for holiness and greatness like this brother. No one can put you in touch with the real and precious you like Jesus can. So, open wide the doors to Christ.

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