Catholic nuns are known for their acts of charity, but Sister Adrienne Schmidt has found a way to give beyond the grave: she will donate her brain to science, reports John Biemer in The Chicago Tribune.

First, though, she participates in an annual battery of memory tests administered by Rush University researchers. Schmidt, 82, repeats numbers and stories in exercises designed to provide a history of how her brain is aging.

When the time comes, Schmidt's brain will join hundreds of others in cooling units in a laboratory at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. The study tracks cognitive decline to identify risk factors for Alzheimer's.

Schmidt, of the Congregation of St. Joseph in La Grange Park, Illinois, said some of the other sisters were a bit squeamish about donating their brains. But not her: "You know, what's my brain going to do once I'm gone anyway?" she said. "It's ceased."

The Rush researchers sought members of religious orders, hoping they would be willing to donate and would not have children or spouses interfering with that arrangement at the last minute. More than 1,100 nuns, priests and brothers across the country representing a wide range of ethnic groups take part.

The Vatican Museums and London's Victoria and Albert Museum are bringing together two “long-lost twins,” two halves of an artistic masterpiece conceived by the Renaissance master Raphael, reports Carol Glatz of Catholic News Service.

Some of Raphael's enormous tapestries for the Sistine Chapel and his preparatory paintings, called cartoons in the art world, will be united for the first time in the Sistine Chapel exhibition. Since the Renaissance, "the cartoons and the tapestries have led separate lives" and the Sept 8-Oct. 17 exhibit will bring together "the two halves of the same story," said Mark Evans, senior curator of the Victoria and Albert Museum.

Michelangelo completed the Sistine Chapel ceiling in 1512. When Pope Leo X was elected the following year, he wanted to leave his mark on the chapel, but every surface had already been painted. He decided to commission a special set of tapestries for the chapel's lower walls. Tapestries were a popular art form at the time and the church liked to use them for special liturgical ceremonies.

Because the designs would be sent off to famed tapestry artisans in Belgium, Raphael had to color them exactly like a painting so weavers would know what precise hues to use. That unique kind of detail meant the cartoons eventually became prized works of art in and of themselves.

The tapestries depicted the lives of Sts. Peter and Paul and events from the Acts of the Apostles. They also were designed to specifically correspond to the frescoed images of the lives of Moses and Jesus.

In 1623, before becoming king, Charles I of England bought seven of Raphael cartoons. They became, as they are to this day, the property of the British royal family. Coinciding with Pope Benedict's visit to England in September, the exhibit is meant to be a visible sign of the coming together of the two countries' common cultural heritage, said Arnold Nesselrath, director of the Vatican Museums' Byzantine, medieval, and modern collections.

Seeing the cartoons alongside the final product is considered to be a once-in-a-lifetime event, he said; "it was something not even Raphael ever got to see."

(photo credit: one of Raphael's tapestries hanging from a wall of the Sistine Chapel--CNS)

A former Protestant pastor who is a married father of eight was ordained a Catholic priest in the Diocese of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania this past June 15. The newly ordained Fr. Paul Shenck was raised Jewish and baptized a Christian when he was 16 years old, Catholic News Agency reports.

In 1994 Shenck left the New Covenant Tabernacle, an evangelical church he founded, and became a pastor in western New York for the Reformed Episcopal Church. He entered the Catholic Church in 2004. He and his wife Rebecca have been married for 33 years.

While Latin-rite Catholic priests are ordinarily required to be celibates, a special provision instituted in 1980 by Pope John Paul II allows the ordination of married men in certain cases.

New York City's Empire State Building said "yes" to Mariah Carey, dog shows, cancer charities, even the 60th anniversary of communist China. But the landmark skyscraper's owners have declined to illuminate the iconic skyscraper in honor of the late Mother Teresa.

Bill Donohue of the Catholic League said his advocacy group requested that the building be lit on August 26 for the centennial of the late Nobel Peace Prize winner's birth. The request was denied in an unsigned, faxed letter, Donohue said, "and they never gave an explanation."

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn told the Associated Press that she spoke with Empire State Building owner Anthony Malkin. Although the real estate mogul was "very professional" and said he "would reflect on the points I made," she said, he didn't give her a satisfactory answer.

Mother Teresa helped open a pioneering hospice for AIDS patients in Manhattan's Greenwich Village. "Her impact on the world was so much greater than one religious group," Quinn said.

Illuminating the 102-story high-rise on Fifth Avenue in different colors to mark an important date, cause, or personality is a New York tradition. The building is color-decorated for religious holidays such as Christmas and Hanukkah and other special occasions.

For Mother Teresa, the building would glow in blue and white in the New York night--the colors of her Missionaries of Charity order. Mother Teresa died in 1997, at 87, and was beatified by the Roman Catholic Church-- a step toward possible sainthood.

Requesting a lighting display involves filling out an application evaluated by the Empire State Building Co., which is privately owned and considers selection "a privilege, not an entitlement," according to the website with the application form. A decision is made "at the sole discretion of the (company's) ownership and management."

As millions of gallons of oil from the offshore rig explosion foul hundreds of square miles in the Gulf of Mexico, at least there is some news to cheer. Catholic News Service reports that well owner BP donated $1 million in emergency relief funds to the Archdiocese of New Orleans. The grant will allow local church relief agencies to provide emergency food, financial and counseling assistance to needy fishing families.

BP earmarked $750,000 to Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New Orleans for direct assistance such as gift cards to local grocery stores, case management and counseling, and $250,000 to Second Harvest Food Bank of Greater New Orleans and Acadiana for emergency food boxes.

In response to the catastrophe, Catholic Charities has opened five emergency centers at local churches to distribute the financial aid and offer counseling to fishing families. The $1 million grant will help fund outreach services for three months, and the program is likely to be extended if the impact of the oil spill grows.

Bobby Brasher tells a story of coincidence on an American Public Media radio program called The Story. It involves two of the lowest moments of her life - and a nun who appeared at just the right time, in two different hospitals, years apart. Even though Bobby hasn't seen Sr. Jane Neussendorfer in almost 20 years, to her, their interaction was unforgettable.

Bobby thinks of this odd coincidence often as she does her own work as a nurse.

Tune in to listen to the fascinating story of how a Catholic nun made a real difference--twice--in the life of a woman at the most critical moment.

Yossef Mtanes' decision to be one of the torch lighters at the April 19 opening celebration of Israel's 62 Independence Day commemorations was not an easy one, writes Judith Sudilovsky of Catholic News Service.

An 82-year-old Maronite Catholic, Mtanes was born in the northern village of Biram, which was destroyed during Israel's 1948 war of independence.

Israel wanted to honor Mtanes for his actions as a 19-year-old, when he worked in the offices in the then-British-run refinery. When a riot broke out in November, 1947, Mtanes hid his six Jewish co-workers, protecting them from injury and possible death. Since then, he also has worked to ensure ethnic Jews and Arabs live peacefully together.

Mtanes said his deep religious faith has directed his actions throughout his life. "I believe in God and I believe that it is forbidden to kill an innocent man," he said. "What else could I have done? These were innocent people who had nothing to do with the violence going on outside. I am very proud that they have remembered me after 63 years and want to (show their respect) for me."

Biram, Mtanes' native village, was destroyed by fledgling Israeli forces after the residents left voluntarily when they were promised they would be able to return within a short time.

Although the Israeli Supreme Court has ruled that the villagers were wrongfully removed from their village and many successive Israeli governments have supported the return of Biram's residents, no government has actually taken action to move the case forward

His son, Kamil Mtanes, 52, said his father is a prominent member of the Maronite community in Israel and has been very active preserving its history. "I am very proud to be the son of such a father," he said. "He has always been a guiding light for us."

William J. Huller has been attending Mass with his wife for more than a half-century. The Catonsville man drove their six children to catechism classes and celebrated as they advanced through the sacraments of the church. On Saturday, at the age of 83, Huller became a Catholic, reports The Baltimore Sun.

"It'll be a change," Huller said before the Easter Vigil Mass at his local parish, where he formally became a member of the church into which he had married and raised his family. "It's kind of a new experience for me."

Huller was one of 1,090 adults who joined the Catholic Church at Masses throughout the Archdiocese of Baltimore this Easter, establishing a new record for the archdiocese for the second straight year.

Photo: Karl Merton Ferron, Baltimore Sun

"We're on a roll, I guess,' said Baltimore Archbishop Edwin F. O'Brien. He said while he'd like to give credit for the increase to the archdiocesan staff, he said, "the rubber hits the road in the parishes. It's there where we find the real life of the church."

Many parishes have active evangelism programs run by lay members, which provide an opportunity for people to invest in the life of the church, O'Brien said. "The fact that the church is active and upfront and involved gets people's attention," he said. "We're not being ignored. We're there in every part of the process and very visible and audible, and that creates an interest in people who may have no church community."

There's an innovative version of the Stations of the Cross in Margate this weekend, reports the South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Photo: Archdiocese of Miami

The U-shaped driveway of St. Vincent Catholic Church will be the pilgrimage route for a drive-through Stations of the Cross, reports James D. Davis, Sun-Sentinel religion writer.

Drivers will see some 80 costumed members of the parish do short dramas on small sets, including a mountain and a street scene. "We have a lot of older members who find it hard to walk," said Robert Ciantelli, who will direct the presentations. "We can also show it to more people this way."

The Vatican this weekend opened six Twitter accounts, including one in English, reports John Thavis of Catholic News Service. The move comes in response to promptings from Catholic media worldwide that the Holy See get up to speed with regard to the use of "new media,"--social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook.

The Twitter presence was launched the day Pope Benedict published his letter to Irish Catholics on priestly sex abuse. As a result, the first nine Vatican tweets were on the sex abuse issue, mainly citing past papal statements. In the future, Twitter will be used by Vatican Radio and other Vatican media outlets when there's particularly important news.

Among 36 sports monitored by the N.C.A.A., men’s basketball has the lowest graduation rates, with fewer than two-thirds of players earning degrees. But at Xavier, a Jesuit university in Cincinnati, Sister Rose Ann Fleming is a perfect 77-0.

Ever since the 5-foot-4, white-haired, 77-year-old nun became the academic adviser for Xavier athletics in 1985, every men’s basketball player who has played as a senior has left with a diploma, says John Branch in “At Xavier, Nun Works Out Players’ Academic Side,” a blog post for the New York Times.

Xavier is seeded sixth in the N.C.A.A. tournament West Region with a 24-8 record. “Sometimes, she’ll schedule an appointment or an academic meeting right in the middle of practice,” said Xavier Coach Chris Mack, whose team will play Minnesota in the first round on Friday. “I’ll say, ‘Sister, we have practice at 4.’ She’ll say, ‘No, this is important.’ ”

Fleming, a member of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, has the ear of faculty members and cell phone numbers of the athletes. On occasion athletes will find her knocking on their doors or waiting outside for their return.

“She’ll wait in a blizzard if she has to,” said sophomore guard Terrell Holloway, who received a visit from Fleming when he fell behind in reading during summer school. “Whenever she wants us, she knows where to find us.”

The Roman Catholic bishops of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the only cities to have endured war-time nuclear bombings, are urging world leaders to abolish nuclear weapons, reports Ecumenical News International.

Nagasaki Archbishop Mitsuaki Takami and Hiroshima Bishop Joseph Atsumi Misue released a joint statement on February 26 ahead of a nuclear security summit scheduled for April in Washington, D.C. and a review conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in New York City in May. Last week a group of nine churches in Britain launched a similar campaign that calls on the British Government to make a commitment to achieving a world free of nuclear weapons, thereby building a safer future for all.

According to Wikipedia, the U.S. dropped a nuclear weapon on the city of Hiroshima on Monday, August 6, 1945, followed by the detonation of another one over Nagasaki on August 9. These are the only attacks with nuclear weapons in the history of warfare.

Within the first two to four months of the bombings, the acute effects killed 90,000-166,000 people in Hiroshima and 60,000-80,000 in Nagasaki, with roughly half of the deaths in each city occurring on the first day. In both cities, most of the dead were civilians.

The role of the bombings in Japan's surrender and the U.S.'s ethical justification for them is still debated. How do you feel about the use of nuclear weapons? Can they be justified in this case or in any case?

As you ponder this moral question, you may find it helpful to refer to the U.S. Catholic Bishops' Pastoral Letter on War and Peace.

Here's a story you don't come across every day: An evangelical minister converts to Catholicism and enters the seminary. But that is Gregg Bronsema's story, according to a story by ChicagoCatholicNews.com

Born in Chicago, Bronsema and his family belonged to the Christian Reformed Church before becoming Baptist and moving to Oregon. Years later, Bronsema became an evangelical minister.

Photo by Gerry Lewin for Catholic Sentinel (Portland)

It was the "last thing in the world" he imagined himself doing. "I didn't exactly come running to the Catholic Church," wrote Bronsema in an open letter to the Oregon parish he has been affiliated with since converting. "I had a lot of stereotypes and misconceptions about the church that had to be broken down. But I have found the strength of the sacraments of the church and what a difference it makes in life."

How did it happen? While working at a Portland Christian bookstore, Bronsema began reading about the Catholic Church. Bolstered by his reading, Bronsema got up the courage to walk into St. Joseph the Worker church in Portland, where he got to know the pastoral staff and members of the parish. Gradually he came to realize this was his spiritual home and he entered the RCIA program.

Bronsema's journey of converting from evangelical Christianity to Catholicism has also been detailed in the Catholic Sentinel (Portland).

How about you? Did you, or someone you know, convert to Catholicism? How would you describe the faith of converts you have met? Are you familiar with the RCIA program?

This important newsflash from Ecumenical News International—perhaps the good monks will want to give it up for Lent!

"A small band of Benedictine monks in the south of England has come under fire for producing a fortified wine that critics describe as the 'scourge of Scotland' for its high alcohol content. The tipple, officially known as 'Buckfast tonic wine' but nicknamed 'commotion motion' or 'wreck the hoose juice' by devotees in Britain's far north, is turned out at Buckfast Abbey, a monastery in the Devonshire hills of southwest England, Religion News Service reports. But 'Buckie' has become a national favorite brew in Scotland--doubtless in part because it contains about 15 percent alcohol by volume. In other words, it packs a punch, as the police report."

The Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) at Georgetown University is a nonprofit research center that conducts social scientific studies about the Catholic Church. CARA has conducted a significant amount of research on the long-term effects (throughout life) of attending a Catholic higher education institution, with some interesting results:

Catholics who attended a Catholic college or university are more likely than Catholics who attended a non-Catholic college (public or private) to:

• Attend Mass every week (34 compared to 19 percent)
• Register with a parish (75 compared to 55 percent)
• To agree that "I seriously consider the Church's statements, such as those of the Pope and U.S. Bishops on social, political and moral issues" (55 percent compared to 38 percent)
• To agree that "all human life, from conception to natural death, is sacred. For this reason, the taking of life-whether through abortion, the death penalty, or assisted suicide-is wrong" (53 percent compared to 35 percent)
• To oppose the death penalty (51 compared to 33 percent)
• To disagree that "a woman should have the right whether or not to abort an unwanted pregnancy" (44 percent compared to 24 percent)
• To oppose "making it legal for a physician to help a dying person commit suicide" (53 compared to 43 percent)
• To agree that "Catholics have a duty to close the gap between the rich and the poor" (54 percent compared to 38 percent)
• To agree that "society has a responsibility for helping poor people get out of poverty" (76 compared to 59 percent)
• To agree that "the United States has a responsibility to take the lead in global peace-building (i.e., non-violent solutions to conflict)" (73 percent compared to 60 percent)
• To agree that "It is important to me to do what I can do to help poor and needy people in countries outside of the United States" (71 percent compared to 54 percent)
• To say that, when making political choices, they draw on their Catholic faith either "very much" or "somewhat" (70 compared to 55 percent)
• Among men, those who have attended a Catholic college are more likely to say they considered becoming a priest or brother (43 compared to 23 percent)
• Among women, those who have attended Catholic college are more likely to say they considered becoming a sister or nun (39 compared to 20 percent)

"Across the board, Catholics who have attended a Catholic college or university are more likely than those who attended a non-Catholic college to respond in a manner that is more consistent with Church teachings and practice," says CARA in reporting on its research.

What is your own experience? What is your opinion of Catholic colleges and universities and their role in faith development?

Many people who feel called to a religious vocation face the task of eliminating financial debts, whether accumulated from education loans or other sources, so that they can be free of debt when entering into religious life.  One young Chicagoan has found a creative way to address that challenge.

On Sunday, Sept. 13, 2009, Alicia Torres will run the Chicago Half Marathon as part of "The Nun Run,," an idea, complete with its own website, TheNunRun.com, that she created to attract sponsors to help her eliminate her student debt. Torres hopes to become part of The Mission of Our Lady of the Angels, a Franciscan community that is forming at the former Our Lady of the Angels parish on Chicago's west side.

On TheNunRun website, Torres says, "This September 13, myself and a group of generous friends will run the Chicago Half Marathon-13.1 miles along the beautiful lakefront-with the goal of raising funds to help me remit my educational debt so I may enter Religious Life Training is in full swing, and every day I try more and more to surrender to God's mercy and grace."

Torres works for the Archdiocese of Chicago's Respect Life Office. A 2007 graduate of Loyola University Chicago, she was first attracted to Religious Life while a university student. "Men and women in my generation are looking for meaning. We desire to make a difference in the world. Religious life really is a supernatural way of living, serving our neighbor in need while acknowledging God is the center of life," Torres told HeadlineBistro.com in an interview.

"Today many men and women want to serve in this way but are hindered by their educational debt. Ironically, the cost of education that should prepare us to serve others actually hinders our ability to freely live a life of prayer and service," said Torres.

Torres is being assisted in her efforts to retire her debt by the Laboure Society, a non-profit organization that helps men and women who desire to enter religious life eliminate their debt. The Society receives donations on behalf of individuals, so that donors may receive a tax-deduction for their gift. All gifts made to The Nun Run will be channeled through the Laboure Society and are fully tax-deductible. The Laboure Society makes payments to the lenders on behalf of the men and women.

"In our world today we function so often as individuals. Really, we can't be successful without the support of others. Every person who helps me as I work toward eliminating my debt is not just assisting me in a financial need. They are enabling me to live a life of love and service. In this way, they are part of the mission of love and service I will live as a vowed religious in the Catholic Church," Torres said.

The editors of the Catholic newsweekly America suggest that during this Year for Priests church leaders be open to dialogue on the question of married clergy. Otherwise, say the editors, Catholic communities run the double risk of being only infrequent Eucharistic communities and losing the benefit of the pastoral care and public witness of priests.

"Silence and fervent prayer for vocations are no longer adequate responses to the priest shortage in the United States," say the editors. After reaffirming that "vocations can be promoted through youth rallies, the Internet and, as always, with prayer," they ask, "What about the recruitment and training of married men as priests?"

The editors point out that married priests already minister in the Catholic Church, both East and West, including former Anglican and Lutheran ministers who have entered the Catholic Church and been ordained in the Latin rite. They suggest that the wishes of the more than 16,000 permanent deacons in the United States, as well as the 25,000 priests who have been laicized, should be considered as the question is examined.

"Our plea is modest," the editors conclude in the May 4, 2009 edition of America. "The bishops of the United States should take greater leadership in openly discussing the priest shortage and its possible remedies. These should not be conversations in which we face a problem only to find every new avenue of solution closed. Rather, they should be exchanges fully open to the possibilities offered by the Spirit."

Discerners, how do you feel about this question?  

Nearly four years after Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans remains a prime destination for thousands of out-of-state volunteers willing to take a break from their own lives to help rebuild the city--never more so than during the recently concluded spring break season.

Here, at least, Katrina fatigue has not yet settled in, say managers of major church and community groups that consume millions of volunteer hours as they build and repair thousands of homes.

 "We're completely maxed out," said Paul Cook, senior project coordinator for Catholic Charities' Operation Helping Hands.

Similar reports came from other major rebuilding nonprofit groups: the St. Bernard Project, Habitat for Humanity, the United Methodist Church's Southeast Louisiana Disaster Recovery Center, the Presbyterian-affiliated Project RHINO and others.

Many Catholic colleges and universities now have "alternative spring break" programs in place, to make such opportunities available. Here's a question for college students' and recent grads--Does your school have such a program? If so, have you participated in an alternative spring break? Tell us about it!

Homeboy Industries, a nonprofit job-training program started by a Jesuit priest for ex-convicts in East Los Angeles, offers hope and a helping hand to former prisoners as they try to rehabilitate their lives and find jobs in a down economy.

For years Homeboy Industries put former felons to work at a bakery and cafe it runs in East Los Angeles. Last summer, Father Greg Boyle, S.J., who started Homeboy two decades ago, was approached by a supporter about the idea of preparing them for the green economy.

Because job-placement for ex-convicts is especially difficult in a recession, "I leapt at the opportunity," said Boyle. Homeboy Industries now has been training a group composed mostly of former gang members on parole to install solar panels so they can improve their skill set and market themselves for the new green economy.

Homeboy has joined forces with the East Los Angeles Skills Center, a public vocational school that offers a hands-on program to teach the design, construction, and installation of solar panels. The course is one of only a few such programs in California and commands a months-long waiting list.

The center created an intensive course for Homeboy. "I loved the idea of doing something for these guys," said Brian Hurd, the senior instructor who designed it. "My best student ever was a Homeboy referral" in a construction course "who needed a second chance."

Read more in an "A New Gang Comes to Los Angeles: Solar Panel Installers" by Miriam Jordan for the Wall Street Journal.

They Killed Sister Dorothy, a new film about the life and death of Dorothy Stang, S.N.D.deN., who was murdered in the Brazilian rain forest in 2005, recently won both the Grand Jury and Audience awards for best documentary feature at the South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin, Texas.

Stang was a native of Dayton and belonged to the Ohio Province of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, who created a Tribute Page on their website to honor her.  At the time of her death, she was working with the Project for Sustainable Development, a government initiative created through Brazil's National Institute for Agrarian Reform which helps landless families benefit from sustainable farming systems.

The land was granted to the peasant farmers by the government, but is highly coveted by powerful ranchers. Stang, 73 at the time of her death, stood with farmers as they defended themselves against the ranchers and loggers who were evicting them from their land.

The area where Sister Dorothy was murdered, called "Esperança," (Hope) has since been reserved as a project of sustainable development. Stang, known as the "Angel of the Amazon," spent more than three decades working in the rainforest to ensure that farmers could claim and work their land.

Filmmaker Daniel Junge traveled to Brazil to investigate Stang's murder. Junge quickly realized that the trials of Sister Dorothy's suspected murderers, which included powerful loggers and ranchers, could "hold the fate of the Brazilian rainforest itself."

The movie was produced by Just Media of Denver, Colorado. It should be available for purchase on DVD when it completes its run at film festivals. For more information, see a movie review by Sarah Masters, Hartley Film Foundation, in Plainviews, an e-newsletter of The HealthCare Chaplaincy, and an article on Sister Dorothy in the 2006 Vision Vocation Guide.

People carry the coffin of Sister Dorothy Stang at a cemetery in Para, Brazil on February 15, 2005. Her casket is draped in a Brazilian flag.

When it comes to sex, students at Catholic colleges apparently aren’t making choices that are much different from students at secular institutions, according to a new study. A large percentage of college students see no connection between their sexual behavior and their religious faith, says Boston University religion professor Donna Freitas in Sex and the Soul, published recently by Oxford University Press.

Despite the seemingly casual exterior, however, when given the chance to talk about their feelings many of students involved in the “hook-up culture” report feeling “awkward, used, dirty, regretful, empty, alone, miserable, disgusted, ashamed, duped,” Freitas said at a recent symposium. “They wanted to change the culture.”

Students at Catholic institutions, much like their counterparts at secular schools, seem to divorce their sexual practices from their spiritual life because they believe religious teachings on sex are outdated, potentially even laughable, said Freitas, a Catholic theologian and assistant professor of religion at BostonUniversity.

According to an article in the National Catholic Reporter (NCR), Freitas’ research grew out of a class she taught on dating at St. Michael’s College in Burlington, Vermont, in which students opened up with her and with each other about their dissatisfaction with the predominant “hookup culture” on campus. It eventually led her and five research assistants to survey 2,500 students online, read 500 journals, and individually interview 111 students.

“With the exception of evangelicals, American college students see almost no connection between their religious beliefs and their sexual behavior,” says Freitas. “This radical separation of religion and sex tells us important things not only about the power of the college hookup culture but also about the weakness of religious traditions in the face of it.”