Archbishop's web site Denver Catholic Register Parishes Catholic Pastoral Center
September 12, 2001
Letters
`Elder boom' and end-of-life issues
I'm 45 and on the cusp of the end of the baby boomer age. I agree with the Aug. 8 Register article "Aging baby boomers could mean `elder boom'" foresight in looking at an "elder boom." What is very important to look at, especially those of us between the ages of 40 to 65, are the agents, organizations, and health practitioners who support a pro-euthanasia agenda and utilitarian philosophy.
We need to seriously think of the implications between an aging baby boom population and the rise of the Hemlock Society and others. Euthanasia and assisted suicide are forms of population control. As baby boomers, we're a large percentage of the target. We are also the generational source from which the individual right of freedom of choice gained momentum.
We need to be keenly aware of and involved in all pro-life issues. We need to educate our young as critical thinkers, proclaiming and modeling the "Gospel of life." And we need to keep euthanasia and assisted suicide from gaining any ground so that we (as well as all others) may be blessed in old age, even with our weakness and suffering, rather than valued or viewed according to our usefulness.
Barbara von Behren
Respect Life coordinator
St. Louis Parish, Englewood
Ordination vs. consecration
I call to your attention a small item printed in your Aug. 29 Denver Catholic Register. Title: "Father Sam's a Bishop" — si, but he is not ordained a bishop (as the subhead "Denver priest ordained a bishop for North Dakota" says); priest, si, bishop, no, because a bishop, according to the Pontifical Manual in Latin, is not re-ordained but is consecrated bishop.
Rev. Peter Donella
(Age 87 and counting)
Longmont
Editor's note: Sister Moira Debono, director of the Office of Liturgy, says this about episcopal ordination: "According to the current Roman Pontifical (English translation), the rite is called "Ordination of a Bishop." Bishop Samuel Aquila was `ordained a bishop' by `a principal consecrator' and two other `consecrating bishops.'" The Register appreciates Rev. Donella's interest in our publication and strives to be vigilant regarding accuracy.
World Priest Day
When was the last time you told a priest how much he means to you? In Denver, we are blessed with priests who work tirelessly and selflessly to minister to us. However, if we are any indication of Denver parishioners in general, we suspect that our priests don't hear enough words of thanks or encouragement from us.
Fortunately, World Priest Day (Sunday, Sept. 16th) sponsored by Worldwide Marriage Encounter has been set aside as a day to celebrate and affirm the priests in our lives. Please join us this Sunday (and certainly after Sunday as well) in affirming the priests in your lives. You might consider sending your priest a card, asking him to your house for dinner, offering to help him in some way, or simply looking him in the eye and telling him what he means to you. You can find even more ideas for affirming priests at a web site that has been set up for this special day: http://wpd.wwme.org/.
Some of the priests who have touched our lives, and who deserve our thanks are: Father James Goggins, Father John Hilton, Father Ed Sullivan, and Father Wil Menard. Thank you! We love each of you!
Mark and Nancy Werner
Arvada
Gratitude to archdiocese
Thank you Archbishop Charles Chaput for your check of $54,326.49 representing the contribution of the Archdiocese of Denver to the 2001 Collection for the Church in Latin America. Our Committee on the Church in Latin America is most grateful for this assistance.
As you know, our purpose is to provide aid to projects that address the pastoral needs of the faithful of Latin America and the Caribbean. This year will fulfill the three-year commitment made by the body of bishops to provide special assistance to our brother bishops in the hurricane devastated areas of Central America and the Caribbean in their immediate and long-term efforts to rebuild the Church.
On behalf of the committee, I thank you for your ongoing leadership in the realization of this work and ask for your continued commitment to increase the support from this conference in the years to come. By actively promoting the annual Collection for the Church in Latin America each year, we will undoubtedly become more effective partners in advancing the New Evangelization throughout the continent.
May the Lord continue to bless our Catholic people who through their generosity and under the able guidance of their bishops are responding faithfully to the Holy Father's call for greater solidarity in this hemisphere.
Most Rev. Edmond Carmody
Bishop of Corpus Christi
Chairman, Committee on the
Church in Latin America
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