BENEDICT XVI: NEWS, PAPAL TEXTS, PHOTOS AND COMMENTARY

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

ST. KATHARINE DREXEL (USA, 1858-1955)
Missionary, Abbess, Founder of the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament (for Indians and Colored Peoples)
Born to a Main Line Philadelphia family, the first 30 years of her life could have been straight out of the movie
'High Society'. But a vacation out West began her interest in the plight of American Indians. On a trip to Rome
in the mid-1880s, she met Pope Leo XIII, whom she asked to send missionaries to a bishop friend of hers in
Wyoming. The Pope challenged her, "Why don't you become a missionary yourself?" Back in the US, she visited
the Dakotas, met with Sioux leaders, and decided to take on the religious life. She announced on the Feast
of St. Joseph in 1889 that she intended to devote the rest of her life "to help American Indians and colored
people". The headlines screamed "Heiress gives up $7 million", her part of the family fortune which she donated
totally to her cause. With some friends she set up the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament (she would later consult
St. Frances Cabrini about the rules for the order), and eventually set up 50 mission for Indians in 16 states.
She also founded Xavier University in New Orleans, the first Catholic University for Afro-Americans. At 77,
a heart attack forced her to retire. She spent the rest of her life as an anchoress, recording her meditations
on slips of paper. She died in 1955 at age 96. She was beatified in 1988 and canonized in 2000, also named
the patron saint of racial justice and of philanthropists. She was the second American-born American woman
saint, after Elizabeth Seton.
Readings for today's Mass: www.usccb.org/nab/readings/030310.shtml


OR today.

No papal story in this issue but a papal photo, showing Benedict XVI when he paid a brief visit to Australian Sister Rosemary Goldie in Sydney in 2008. Goldie, who was the first woman to occupy an important position in the Roman Curia (under-secretary of the Congregation for the Laity from 1967-1976), died on February 27 at the age of 94. Page 1 stories: The UN considers how to deal with catastrophes like the Haiti and Chile earthquakes in the age of globalization; disorder and looting complicate the situation in Chile; Obama plans a 'spectacular' reduction in the US nuclear arms stockpile; the International Monetary Fund projects global economic growth of 3.9% this year and 4.3% in 2011; the decline of the British pound below the exchange rate of $1.50 to the US dollar raises uncertainty about the British economy, with the nation one month away from an expected change of government after the parliamentary elections. In the inside pages, an essay on the Church teaching on evolution which deserves translation.


THE POPE'S DAY

General Audience today - The Holy Father spoke about St. Bonaventure of Bagnoregio, one of
his theological 'masters'. To the Polish pilgrims, he paid tribute to Frederic Chopin, born 200 years
ago today, as Poland marks a Chopin Year.