From the beginning of time, violence has invaded humanity. “The Big Question,” the latest film by Paulist Productions, uses examples of violence – the shooting at the Amish school house, the Oklahoma City bombing, Apartheid and others – with commentary by contemporary spiritual leaders to help answer the questions: Could we forgive? Should we forgive?
“In this time, when the world teeters on disaster in Iraq, the Middle East and Africa, the question is more important than ever,” said Emmy-award winner and Academy Award nominee Vince DiPersio, who directed the film. “The choice is crystal clear. To forgive, as so many spiritual leaders implore us to, or heed the angry voices urging us to take revenge.”
The goal of the film, visioned by Paulist Father Frank Desiderio and lauded at the D.C. International Film Festival held at George Washington University March 9, was to exemplify forgiveness as witnessed through different religions, cultures, science, biology and historical events.
The collective wisdom of Sister Helen Prejean, author of “Dead Man Walking”; Desmond Tutu, Nobel Peace Prize recipient; Deepak Chopra, MD, an expert in mind body medicine and prolific author; Thich Nhat Hanh, Vietnamese political and peace activist; Ravi Shankar, renowned humanitarian; Civil Rights leader Joseph Lowry; and Hopi elders give testament to the power of forgiveness and compassion.
“To have the opportunity to sit with people who have thought this through, or even more incredibly dealt with it after experiencing horrendous trauma in their life, was a chance no curious person could pass up,” said Mr. DiPersio.
The film utilizes cutting edge scientific research and expert psychologists to explore forgiveness on many levels.
“My job as I see it is to lay the issue out there in a clean, clear way that lets people wrestle with it in their own way,” Mr. DiPersio said. “People have the answers; they don’t need me to provide them”
“Forgive or not is the question of our times,” he said.

Get more information on the film, view the trailer and find out how to host a screening at www.bigquestionthemovie.com.

Stefani Manowski
202-269-2521
smanowski@paulist.org

17 March 2008 | Media releases | No Comments

It definitely was not your ordinary Sunday Mass.
As bright January sunlight illuminated the Manhattan skyline and crisp winds blew through the streets of the Upper West Side, a different kind of glow was radiating from the Church of St. Paul the Apostle as the cause for canonization in the Roman Catholic Church was formally opened for Paulist Fathers founder Father Isaac Thomas Hecker.
More than 1,000 Paulists, Paulist Associates, St. Paul’s parishioners and Paulist friends filled the majestic 150-year-old church Jan. 27 to witness Cardinal Edward M. Egan of New York formally open Father Hecker’s cause during the 10 a.m. Mass and celebrate the parish’s sesquicentennial anniversary.
“I am delighted to be a part of the opening of the cause of Father Isaac Hecker and to celebrate the 150th anniversary of this wonderful community of faith,” Cardinal Egan said in his remarks at the beginning of the liturgy. “May we very soon have the pleasure of the canonization of Servant of God Father Isaac Hecker. It is not only a joy but a privilege to be here today.”
The Spirit-filled Mass and ceremony began at Father Hecker’s tomb, located in the back of the church. The St. Paul’s Choir filled the air with song, followed by Cardinal Egan leading a prayer before the tomb and sprinkling it with holy water before processing with the approximately 40 Paulists gathered up the church main aisle to the altar.
During the homily spoken in English and Spanish, Cardinal Egan recalled that the first ordination he performed was at St. Paul’s.
“I won’t forget the glorious church of Isaac Hecker, St. Paul the Apostle,” he said. “We are not only blessed to have this church and this great community of faith, but to have the example of Isaac Hecker, a hero of our faith”
“Father Hecker is truly a saint for our day,” Cardinal Egan continued. “We think of saints of people who went through life without challenges and without hurt. That changes with Isaac Hecker. … He is a saint like us: a saint who has suffered, a saint who made his way through life bearing crosses with a tremendous faith.”
Speaking of the need for vocations in the church, the cardinal said he hoped the opening of Father Hecker’s cause would “cause more people to examine the life of Isaac Hecker, a priestly life, a religious life.”
After the conclusion of the Mass, the congregation was treated to an experience not usually made public – the ceremony formally opening Father Hecker’s cause.
“This usually done in a diocesan office, so it is wonderful that it will be performed here in the context of a Mass,” Cardinal Egan said.
St. Paul’s pastor Father Gilbert Martinez, C.S.P., began the ceremony with introductory remarks, followed by a reading of the formal petition to open Father Hecker’s cause by Father Paul G. Robichaud, C.S.P., postulator of the cause. Cardinal Egan accepted the petition and began the oaths of office for those working for the cause by first taking his own.
“I, Cardinal Edward M. Egan of New York, swear to fulfill faithfully my duties regarding the diocesan inquiry in regard to the life and virtues of Servant of God Isaac Thomas Hecker and to maintain the secrecy prescribed. So help me God,” he said.
Father John Foley, C.S.P., took a similar oath as notary for the cause; Father Robichaud as postulator; and Father Ronald A. Franco, C.S.P., as vice postulator.
At the end of the ceremony, Paulist President Father John F. Duffy remarked that a Catholic America was the dream and passion of Father Hecker.
“It was through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and with the example of St. Paul that he wanted to meet the needs of the church in the modern age,” he said. “We hope one of the immediate effects of the opening of the cause will be to inspire others to the spiritual nourishment we receive through the example of this great man.”
“May we thank God for the vision of Isaac Hecker, and may we be ever committed to carry on the legacy of this servant of God,” he said.
After the Mass, the congregation was treated to a reception in the back of the church, and people could be heard remarking: “Wow! We have a Servant of God!” … “This is incredible!” and “What a glorious day!”
Father Duffy described the feeling as a “mood of euphoria.”
“The inspiration of this man, the lives he is touching right now and the lives he will come to touch in the future as the Paulist ministry continues is astounding,” he said. “The Paulist ministry is as alive and relevant now as it was in 1858.”
At the end of his remarks, Cardinal Egan prayed that Father Hecker would be “raised to the holy altar as an example to each and every one of us.”
“The sky is blue, the sun is shining and all is well at St. Paul the Apostle,” he said. “Isaac Hecker, pray for us.”

Want to know Father Hecker better? Click here to read his biography.

The Paulist 150th anniversary year formally began with the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul the Apostle, log on to www.paulist.org for news and updates on national celebrations, including the 150th Anniversary Convocation in Washington, D.C., and celebrations at Paulist foundations throughout North America.

Contact:
Stefani Manowski
media@paulist.org
202-269-2521

28 January 2008 | Media releases | No Comments

Chicago Cardinal Francis George will preside at a Mass celebrating the 175th anniversary of the Paulist-run Old St. Mary’s Church Feb. 16. The Mass will be followed by a dinner dance at the Union League Club of Chicago. The Mass and gala will also celebrate the Paulist Fathers 150th anniversary.
Old St. Mary’s is the first Catholic parish established in Chicago, and has been served by the Paulists since 1903. The parish is a growing, dynamic community adding 20 new households per month. The parish school was established in 2003 to meet the needs of the expanding parish, and currently has students in preschool through Grade 2. A new class will be added every year through the eighth grade.
For Mass and gala information, contact the parish at 312-922-3444.

28 January 2008 | Media releases | No Comments

In keeping with the Paulist commitment to ecumenism, Old Saint Mary’s parish in San Francisco hosted an ecumenical prayer service Jan. 20 to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. Rev. James DeLange, retired pastor of St. Francis Lutheran Church in San Francisco, preached. Other clergy participants were: Rev. Maggi Henderson of Old First Presbyterian Church; Rev. David Mote of the Presbyterian Church of Chinatown; and Father Charles Kullmann, C.S.P., pastor of Old Saint Mary’s.
During the reception that followed in the Old St. Mary’s sacristy, Father Kullmann, pointed out that the sacristy was constructed in the 1920’s with a painted cathedral ceiling, stained glass windows, parquet floor and ornate woodwork so that it could be set up as a wedding chapel. Prior to Vatican Council II, if a Catholic wished to marry a non-Catholic, they were not allowed to get married in church, but the sacristy could be set up as a very pretty wedding chapel but it was not “in the church.” So it seemed appropriate to now use this space for ecumenical gatherings, according to Father Kullmann.
Old Saint Mary’s has been staffed by the Paulists since 1894. To find out more about Old St. Mary’s or the Paulist commitment to ecumenical and interfaith relations, log on to www.paulist.org

24 January 2008 | Media releases | No Comments

Cardinal Edward M. Egan of New York will formally open the cause for canonization of Father Isaac T. Hecker, founder of the Missionary Society of St. Paul the Apostle, the Paulist Fathers, Jan. 27 at 10 a.m. at the Church of St. Paul the Apostle, 60th Street and Columbus Avenue in New York City. The opening of the cause is the first step on the road to sainthood in the Roman Catholic Church, and Father Hecker will be declared a “Servant of God” during the ceremony and a formal canonical inquiry will follow to examine his holiness of life.

“It would be a great gift for the church universal but also, and especially, for the Archdiocese of New York to have Father Hecker raised to the altars,” Cardinal Egan said in announcing he would open the cause.

The opening of Father Hecker’s cause marks a grand beginning to the opening of the Paulist Fathers’ 150th Anniversary year in 2008. A national celebration is scheduled for June 19-21, 2008 at Catholic University in Washington, D.C

“Father Hecker was a man of faith and vision, and today’s Paulists continue his mission throughout North America,” said Father John F. Duffy, president of the Paulist Fathers. “The preliminary work to open the saintly cause for Father Hecker will bolster the Paulist community as we look forward to our next 150 years of service.”

Who was Father Hecker?
Isaac Thomas Hecker was born in New York City on December 18, 1819, the third son and youngest child of John and Caroline (Freund) Hecker. Ordained a Redemptorist priest in 1849, he founded the Missionary Society of St. Paul the Apostle in New York on July 7, 1858. The society was established to evangelize both believers and non-believers in order to convert North America to the Roman Catholic Church. Father Hecker sought to evangelize Americans using the popular means of his day, primarily preaching, the public lecture circuit and the printing press. He founded the monthly publication, “The Catholic World,” in 1865.

Father Hecker’s spirituality centered on the action of the Holy Spirit upon the soul and the need to remain attentive to the prompting of the Spirit in the great and small moments of life. Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, Father Hecker labored to establish a dialogue between faith and culture, which he believed would lead to an American Catholicism whose vitality and optimism would transform the world.

In the latter years of his life, Father Hecker suffered with dark nights of the soul that varied in intensity; this was combined with the physical problems of a weak heart and leukemia. While emotionally and physically overcome at moments, Father Hecker remained faithful through his sure belief in the Holy Spirit.

On December 22, 1888, as the Paulist community gathered around his bed in prayer, Father Hecker raised his hand, making the Sign of the Cross in blessing, and died.

Contact
Stefani Manowski
202-269-2521
smanowski@paulist.org

16 January 2008 | Media releases | No Comments