Home | Join/Donate | Current Voices | Liturgical Calendar | What's New | Affirmation | James Hitchcock's Column | Church Documents | Search

---

Voices Online Edition
Christmastide 2003 - Epiphany 2004
Vol. XVIII No. 4


Cover photo - New Year at Snowmass - by Hilary Hitchcock 2003

Table of Contents:

D e p a r t m e n t s:

2 .... Inside Voices - by Helen Hull Hitchcock

4 .... Letters - Voices Vocations Issue -- Novenas -- Respecting All Life -- "Gender" Is Political -- This Post-Modern World -- "Growing in Love" -- Devotions: Indulgences -- Appreciating Voices --WFF Resource -- What Does Voices Cost? -- WFF Materials Sent to Iraq

27.... Update on Non-Heart-Beating Organ Donation - Bioethics Watch - by Nancy Valko, RN
On May 23, 2003, the St. Louis Review, the newspaper of the Archdiocese of St. Louis, published an editorial stating that "the NHBD (non-heart-beating organ donation) protocol is cruel and dangerous and does not meet standards of respect for human life" and called for an immediate moratorium on the practice at all St. Louis hospitals "until such time as clearer, objective moral standards of determination of death are enacted"

36... Donors and Memorials [not published online]

39... Affirmation for Catholic Women

F e a t u r e s:

7.... USCCB - Reports on November Meeting

• Document on Marriage - "Marriage is a gift to be cherished and protected", proclaims the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) in a statement issued at their November 2003 meeting on the sanctity of marriage, "Between Man and Woman: Questions and Answers about Marriage and Same-sex Unions".
  
• Catechetics - A startling report on the deficiencies the committee found with high school textbooks. The discussion was led by Archbishop Alfred Hughes of New Orleans, after the subject was introduced by Archbishop Daniel Buechlein of Indianapolis, chairman of the Committee on Catechesis.
  
• Marriage and Contraception - The bishops considered a proposal to produce a booklet as an "educational tool" on Catholic teaching on contraception and natural family planning, introduced by Denver Archbishop Charles Chaput, acting chairman of the Committee on Pro-Life Activities.

18... Virginity: A Positive Approach to Celibacy - by Father Raniero Cantalamessa, OFM Cap
"One cannot speak about virginity and celibacy without continually comparing it with marriage... in fact in some aspects comparing the two is the best way to discover the nature and goodness of the charism proper to each", writes Father Raniero Cantalamessa, OFM Cap, a priest of Ascoli, Italy, who has been preacher to the Papal Household since 1980.

19... Come, Thou Redeemer of the Earth - Hymn, St. Ambrose of Milan

20... World, Work and Family - An address given October 19, 2003 by Denver Archbishop Charles Chaput to the Catholic Daughters of the Americas Endowed Chair at the Catholic University of America.

25... Our Forgotten Heroines - by Joanna Bogle
It is fashionable today to talk about the role of women in the Church. The American Bishops' Conference has just commissioned yet another document on the subject, following "Strengthening the Bonds of Peace" (1994) "Called and Gifted for the Third Millennium" (1995) and "From Words to Deeds" (1998). Almost certainly the new document, like those that have gone before, will be subjected to enormous pressure from the feminist lobby.

26... To Mom on Her 60th Birthday - Poem, Donald DeMarco

30... Sons and Mothers - by Rita Joseph
"Our Father in Heaven, I give my sons to you -- into your keeping -- knowing that that You love them even more than I do, trusting that You will keep them close to You and never let them be parted from You. Jesus, Lord, You know about human love better than anyone..."

32... Looking Forward - by Sheila Gribben Liaugminas
No matter how bleak current affairs are in the world, our culture, the government, the courts, the schools, the Christian faith and the Catholic Church -- and we do seem to be about one tick away from midnight on that doomsday clock -- how we see the overall picture of our condition in this civilization at this time depends on where we are looking. Or more specifically, on who is presenting the picture, what they're showing you, and how they are interpreting it for you.

38... Let Us Draw Near the Stable - by Evelyn French A Meditation on the Season

Back cover (not online)- Bethlehem of Noblest Cities - hymn by A. Prudentius.

---

**Women for Faith & Family operates solely on your generous donations!

WFF is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Donations are tax deductible.