Heidi Schlumpf's blog

At the risk of making this blog a obituary column, I'll share the death of Ralph McInerny, best known as the author of the Father Dowling mysteries that were made into a television series in the late 1980s and early '90s.

McInerny died Jan. 29 at the age of 80, reported the Zenit news agency.

Those familiar with his popular books (he also wrote under several pen names, including "Monica Quill") might not have known he was the co-founder with Michael Novak of the conservative Catholic journal Crisis magazine (now online as Inside Catholic).

He had retired last year as a professor of philosophy and Medieval Studies at the University of Notre Dame, where he had been director of the Jacques Maritain Center from 1979 to 2006. He also was outspoken in opposing President Barack Obama's appearance at last year's Notre Dame commencement.

If you haven't already seen it, check out Jim Wallis, editor of Sojourners magazine and author of the new book, Rediscovering Values, as interviewed last week by Jon Stewart on "The Daily Show" here.

Wallis suggests to Stewart that bank executives send their massive bonuses to Haiti. In the book, he argues that the solution to the economic crisis is for Americans to regain their moral compass, especially around issues of consumption and consumerism.

He's a strong moral voice worth listening to--and reading.

As an alum and former writer for the student newspaper, I'm embarrassed to report that the Notre Dame Observer recently published an anti-gay cartoon, for which the editors have since apologized.

The Jan. 13 cartoon, "Mobile Party," depicted a conversation between two figures, in which the first one asks, "What's the easiest way to turn a fruit into a vegetable?" The second responds, "No idea." The punchline, in the third panel, is "A baseball bat."

According to the cartoonists' blog (since removed), the newspaper's editors changed the original punchline, which said "AIDS."

The cartoon evoked a strong reaction from the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), alumni and some students. Two days later, the editors issued an apology and dropped the cartoon, and the managing editor resigned. Some are calling for the cartoonists and editors to be expelled.

Among the tens of thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands, who lost their lives in the Haiti earthquake were two Americans at a Catholic orphanage for disabled children operated by Nuestros Pequenos Hermanos (NPH).

Molly Hightower, 22, of Port Orchard, Washington, and Ryan Kloos, 24, of Phoenix, Arizona, were found in the rubble of a collapsed seven-story buildling, MSNBC reported.

Hightower, a graduate of the University of Portland, was volunteering for a year with the organization, doing physical therapy with disabled children. She had hoped to go into the field of international adoption.

Kloos was visiting his sister, Erin, who was volunteering with the organization. Erin and another former volunteer who was visiting Molly survived the quake.

Hightower's uncle is a Jesuit priest serving as director of campus ministry at Gonzaga University in Washington. Her blog about her experience, 525,000 Minutes, is being flooded with condolences to her family.

A new piece of artwork that portrays former Milwaukee Archbishop Rembert Weakland is causing a stir in Milwaukee. The bronze relief pedestal to the Mary statue at the Cathedral of St. John depicts Weakland with Mary, St. John and other figures, including children.

Among those criticizing the artwork is SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. Weakland resigned in 2002 after revelations that he had had a relationship with an adult seminarian whom he paid to keep quiet about the affair. He also has admitted to moving around pedophile priests.

Conservative Catholics also have blasted the pedestal as well as the fact that Weakland was on the altar at new Archbishop Jerome Listecki's installation last week.

Presbyterian pastor Michael Jinkins, professor and dean at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Austin, Texas, questions the beatification of Pope Pius XII, especially the Vatican's explanation that it's OK to separate one's private faith from public actions--in this case, anyway.

In a post on the Duke Divinity "Call & Response" blog, Jinkins took particular offense with the almost Orwellian defense by Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi that the Vatican wasn't evaluating "the historical impact of all his operative decisions."

Jinkins quotes Thomas Merton: "If you want to have a spiritual life you must unify your life. A life is either all spiritual or not spiritual at all. No one can serve two masters."

This reported today in Chicago: A newly ordained priest of the Joliet, Illinois Diocese, who had been raised in an orphanage in Bolivia, attempted suicide Wednesday by jumping from a church balcony after being accused on Sunday of sexually abusing a 13-year-old boy. The 37-year-old priest suffered serious head trauma and is in intensive care. He had been placed on administrative leave while the allegations were investigated. No charges had been filed yet.

Some humorous commentary from Jon Stewart and "The Daily Show" news team about Fox News analyst Brit Hume's suggestion that Tiger Woods convert to Christianity for redemption and forgiveness. Hume has refused to apologize for the remarks, which many saw as intolerant of other religions, specifically Buddhism.

A simple email message from Rick Warren, pastor of the evangelical Saddleback mega-church in Southern California, garnered $2.4 million in donations in 48 hours, reports the Los Angeles Times. Warren had said the church needed $900,000 to continue with its ministries in the new year.

Granted, the church has some 22,000 congregants who attend weekly services at its five locations. But in these economic times, this kind of fund-raising is, well, almost miraculous.

Warren is the author of the best-selling "The Purpose-Driven Life," in which he counsels people to discover and follow God's master plan for their lives. He also was criticized--from both the religious right and secular left--when President Obama asked him to give the invocation at his inauguration.

You got to give him this: He trusts God--and his church members--to come through.

Elizabeth Gilbert, guru to millions through her best-selling 2006 memoir, "Eat, Pray, Love" about her spiritual and geographical journey after her divorce, has a new book out on marriage.

"Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace with Marriage" is about her government-forced marriage to her Brazilian boyfriend. I haven't read it yet, but enjoyed this discussion between Gilbert and Catholic author Ann Patchett in today's "Wall Street Journal."

Though she hardly has a sacramental view of marriage, Gilbert does ultimately believe the institution of marriage will endure:

Move over, bingo. Poker is the new way to raise money for your parish. At least that's what Father Andrew Trapp, vicar of St. Michael's Parish in Garden City, N.J., is betting.

The recently ordained Trapp admits to enjoying a friendly game of Texas Hold'em poker with friends and family. So when he heard about Fox TV's "PokerStars.net Million Dollar Challenge," he got his bishop's permission to try to compete and raise money for the parish's building fund.

Not only did Trapp qualify for the show, he won $100,000 and qualified for the final show--to air December 27--and compete for $1 million. Although that show has already been taped, Trapp is mum about the outcome.

On his personal website (which also contains reflections such as "Christianity is like the Batmobile" and "Is Ronald McDonald Catholic?") he shares his story and answers FAQs about his appearance, including Catholic teaching on games of chance.

I'm all for keeping holy the Sabbath, but when your car breaks down on, say, the Saturday afternoon of Thanksgiving weekend in the middle of Indiana, it'd be nice to have a mechanic within 100 miles who could look at it before Monday morning.

Just saying.

FYI: Indiana's blue laws prohibit the sales of cars, as well as liquor--except restaurants and bars--on Sundays.

That said, the people of Indiana couldn't have been nicer while we spent our two days here. Maybe because they collectively value the importance of a day away from work for family and God.

Before I settle in to watch tonight's "Colbert Report," I wanted to share Stephen's commentary, "Skeletons in the closet," from last night's episode.

Colbert defended the Catholic Church's threat to cut charitable work in Washington D.C. if a same-sex marriage amendment passes. "They have no choice," he said. "After all, Jesus said, 'If you wish to be perfect, go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor. Unless a couple of dudes go and register at Pottery Barn, in which case, f*&^ the poor.'"

Just as some are arguing for civil unions instead of marriage, Colbert proposes that churches start refusing funerals for gays and lesbians, leaving them to have "civil end-of-life ceremonies."

"We shouldn't have to watch these people flaunt their alternative death-styles," he said.

Watch the whole, sarcastic clip here.

I actually agree with former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin on something. Newsweek's choice of a cover photo of her in running shorts for an serious article about her political aspirations is sexist and inappropriate (though the headline, "How do you solve a problem like Sarah?" is pretty clever). She blasted the choice on her Facebook page. I have to agree with her on this. A similar photo of a male politician would be unheard of to accompany such an article.

Stories like these don't help the cause of U.S. women religious currently under investigation by the Vatican for allegedly supporting radical liberal causes:

Sister Donna Quinn, a long-time feminist and social justice activist, has been reprimanded by her order, the Wisconsin-based Sinsinawa Domincans, for escorting patients into a Hinsdale, Illinois clinic that provides abortions, The Chicago Tribune reports.

Online news site ChicagoCatholicNews speculates that the three bishops involved--Cardinal Francis George of Chicago, where Quinn lives; Bishop J. Peter Sartain of Joliet, where the clinic is located; and Bishop Robert Morlino of Madison, Wisconsin, where the order is based--are "monitoring the situation" and expect to talk soon.

If early reviews (including one in NCR) and the questions at last night's public lecture by Catholic novelist Mary Gordon are any indication, Catholics still prefer to leave biblical interpretation to the experts.

Gordon read from her new nonfiction book, "Reading Jesus: A Writer's Encounter with the Gospels," at Loyola University's 34th Annual Edward Surtz Lecture. The book contains Gordon's reflections after reading all four gospels--from a literary perspective.

"Most people have their family Bible from the attic. They don't have [scripture scholar] Raymond Brown," Gordon said. "They base decisions not on context, but on text. People don't live their lives based on scholarship. They live their lives based on words. So I asked, 'What do these words say to a common reader?'"

As has become the custom, the two bishops from the cities competing in the World Series have entered a friendly wager on the games.

If the Phillies win, Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York will ship a dozen bagels to the City of Brotherly Love; if the Yankees prevail, Cardinal Justin Rigali of Philadelphia will send a case of Tastykakes to the Big Apple, according to a press release from the Philadelphia Archdiocese.

If you don't know what Tastykakes are, you're not missing much. Kind of like Twinkies or Ho Hos. Still, I root for the Phillies, being married to a native Philadelphian and all.

Trying not to be cynical, but wondering if these little human interest stories are specifically designed to make the hierarchy seem, well, more human.

Stephen Colbert gave his take on the pope's invitation to Anglicans last night. Lots of funny one-liners: calling the Archbishop of Canterbury "the diet pope" and Fox news analyst Father Jonathan Morris "Father Cute Priest."

Morris called the pope's controversial offer a sign of Christian unity. To which Colbert responded, "Nothing brings Christians together like excluding gays and women."

Guest Episcopalian Rev. Randall Balmer publicly declined the invitation to join the Catholic Church, saying, "Holy water's fine. Let's not drink the Kool-Aid."

Watch the clip (commercial first) to see why Colbert compares the Catholic Church to the National League and the Anglicans to the American League.

How's that for Catholic news? The Irish are now 10-9 in the so-called "Holy War" (or "Vatican Bowl") between the two Catholic universities, after breaking the Eagles' six-game winning streak on Saturday--barely.

Don't talk to me about USC.

A white Louisiana justice of the peace refused to issue a marriage license to an interracial couple, saying, "I just don't believe in mixing the races that way." Justice Keith Bardwell insists he is not a racist. "I have piles and piles of black friends," he told the Associated Press.

This happened last week. In 2009. No joke. To those who think racism is a thing of the past, think again.

Maybe refusing to marry gays and lesbians will look as ridiculous in a few decades.

After a popular teacher was abruptly pulled from the classroom, students at Chicago's Brother Rice High School organized a sit-in. But when that '60s-era protest method was scuttled by school officials, the students turned to Facebook.

Christian Brother Patrick B. Martin, a popular math teacher at Brother Rice, was transferred in late September, according Brother Rice president Brother Karl Walczak. "Nothing illegal has taken place," he told the Southtown Star.

Calling the reassignment a personnel matter, the school has remained close-lipped. But that hasn't stopped students from talking--primarily on the Internet.

Facebook groups like "Bring Back Bro. Martin" (almost 700 members) and "We want Bro. Martin" (450 members) are filled with posts by current students and alumni from all over the country praising the inspirational teacher and speculating about why he left, including rumors of possible health problems.

Proving once again that social media give a voice to people that those in power would rather keep quiet.

I recently wrote about Catholic bloggers in NCR, highlighting the popular Philadelphia blogger Rocco Palmo, who writes the gossipy Whispers in the Loggia, which these days is covering the African Synod, Cardinal Francis George's new book and the Phillies playoffs.

Palmo tries to distance himself from other Catholic bloggers because too many of them are used primarily to point fingers and rant, usually at fellow Catholics. I wrote, "While it’s nice and democratic that the Internet gives everyone a soapbox (or at least everyone with Internet access), some might want to use that soap to wash out their mouths. Call me biased, but I think the majority of these mudslinging sites are by traditionalist Catholics -- perhaps because it seems more Catholic blogs slant to the right than to the left."

I could claim that I haven't written this blog post for five days because I am so devastated that my city, Chicago, did not win the bid for the 2016 Olympics, but it wouldn't be true. Actually, I was busy entertaining my in-laws, who were visiting from Philadelphia.

Still, I am pretty bummed about the Olympics. Despite its reputation as the "Second City," Chicago is pretty big on civic pride. We love our sports teams (even when they lose for decades); we flock to our parks and lakefront (even when it's 20 below zero); and we are proud of our skyline (even if the Sears Tower is no longer the world's tallest building--or no longer called the Sears Tower). It was a rather humiliating to come in dead last.

A good number of Chicagoans cheered the loss. Many, if not most, of my friends opposed the city's Olympic bid, knowing it would mean higher taxes down the line. Few trust Mayor Richard Daley, whose most recent debacle involved selling the city's parking meter rights, which meant an immediate rate hike from 25 cents an hour to $1.

I stumbled across a couple of Catholic stories at Duke University's Leadership Education website. Jason Byassee, a former editor at Christian Century magazine and now executive director at Leadership Education, interviews Notre Dame Assistant Professor Margaret Pfeil, who lives in a Catholic Worker house in South Bend.

"We try to welcome people as they are, without necessarily giving them a spiel about who Dorothy Day was. We try to live in a way that makes guests feel comfortable and welcomed," she told Byassee. "We want them to understand that we intend to be a house of hospitality (I’m sure we do this imperfectly, by the way). Hopefully after awhile people begin to feel comfortable and will start asking questions, 'What is this all about? Why are you doing this? Who is this Dorothy Day?'"

America magazine, the venerable Jesuit periodical, has fewer SJs on its masthead. In its August 31 issue, Editor in Chief Drew Christiansen announced that five Jesuit editors are moving on to new assignments, while two new lay editors are joining the staff.

For years, the only lay editor was its part-time literary editor. Now the magazine seems to be making an effort to increase lay input, including adding three new lay members of the board of directors.

Kevin Clarke, formerly of U.S. Catholic magazine (where he and I were colleagues), has moved back to his native New York to become an associate editor at America. In his 20 years at Claretian Publications, Kevin worked on Salt of the Earth (as both a print and online publication), U.S. Catholic and as online editor. His expertise in social justice and international reporting will be an asset to America.

A second lay America editor is expected to be announced soon, according to Christiansen.

For anyone who's noticed that I've been absent from this blog for a few weeks, don't worry. I'm still here--just in the middle of a move.

Yes, we're among the few lucky Americans to have sold our house (a condo)--and rather quickly, I might add. I guess if the price is right...

And we were doubly lucky in that we found a nice house, a small Chicago bungalow, at a very reasonable price. Unfortunately the closing dates require us to be "homeless" for two weeks, so we've been bouncing from relative to friend to relative.

I forgot how hard moving is, and now I'm witnessing how the disorientation affects a 2-year-old. There's the packing, then the sadness at seeing your empty home--our first home as a married couple, the place we brought our son home to.

And when the movers arrive--four recent immigrants who worked harder that morning than I have all year--there is the guilt over having SO MUCH STUFF. Having to pack everything you own really highlights how much you own. At the end, when we were tossing the last miscellaneous junk into unlabeled boxes, I had a strong urge to give up all my possessions and move to a monastery.

An estimated 1 million Latinos live in the Archdiocese of Chicago, but the archdiocese's human service arm, Catholic Charities, is failing them, according to a report from the Chicago NPR station.

Critics, including immigrant advocates, a state senator and at least one Chicago priest, say Catholic Charities should be doing more to help impoverished Latino families.

The back-to-school displays are out, leaves are starting to drop from trees, and "Mad Men," the Emmy-award winning AMC series about a fictional New York ad agency, is back. Ah, fall.

Much was made about last season's Catholic storyline involving a priest (played by Tom Hanks' son) who counsels an advertising copywriter who had abandoned a baby who was the result of a one-night stand with a coworker. The season premier on Sunday night didn't do much with that angle, but it did set the stage for another season of what I call "mid-century modern sinning" in my review of the series for NCR here.

Other Catholic fans of the series include Father Jim Martin, S.J. at America, Deacon Greg Kandra at The Deacon's Bench and Thomas Hibbs at Inside Catholic.

During the "Obama drama" surrounding the University of Notre Dame's commencement last spring, a number of friends remarked to me that they couldn't even remember who their college graduation speaker was.

I can -- even though it was 20 years ago.

The main speaker was civil rights leader Andrew Young, who gave a rousing, inspirational sermon befitting a former preacher. The second speaker was Eunice Kennedy Shriver, who received the Laetare Medal that year. She was equally inspiring, and I remember feeling lucky to have had two amazing speakers help mark the end of my college career. (I also was excited that Covenant House founder Father Bruce Ritter received an honorary degree, but we all know what happened to him.)

In a news story that contained, not one, but two groan-inducing puns, the Hollywood Reporter announced last week that screenwriter and director Joe Eszterhas is planning a movie on Our Lady of Guadalupe."He may have sanded his jagged edge, but Joe Eszterhas still, apparently, has the basic instinct," the story joked, in reference to two of Eszterhas' movies, "Jagged Edge" and "Basic Instinct."

Like I said, groan.

The Hungarian-born Eszterhas abandoned the sex, drugs and greed of Hollywood for a quiet family life in Ohio and a return to his Catholic faith after a bout with throat cancer a few years ago. He describes his former life in his first memoir, Hollywood Animal, and his conversion in his second, Crossbearer.