Worship Times

GUARDIAN ANGEL

The Vatican's new and improved web site is up and running since Easter Sunday. Powered by three computers named Gabriel, Michael, and Raphael, ML was hoping for a little more winged speed in communicating the holy net. ML admits to not having the latest equipment available for web browsing, but folks around here are expecting to see the approval of the new lectionary before the Vatican home page finishes loading. For those of you with more powerful equipment, you might want to browse through some of the 12,000 church documents online at http://www.vatican.va.

DON'T QUOTE ME

Perhaps the most unquoted post-Vatican II document is the new CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. "Publishers are shying away from using substantial quotes from the book," reports ROBERT MCCLORY in the March 21 issue of the NATIONAL CATHOLIC REPORTER. The reason is that if a publisher quotes 500 words or more, they have to submit the publication to an official U.S. bishops' review process. Unlike other copyright permission procedures -- including permission to quote Scripture, canon law, or the documents from the Second Vatican Council -- the catechism process involves not only checking the accuracy of the quotation, but also to what degree the publication "conforms" to the catechism. In order to avoid lengthy and expensive publishing delays, most publishers (including Resource Publications, Inc.) invoke the "499 rule." That is, publishers make sure that they quote 499 words or fewer from the catechism.

LAETARE MEDAL AWARDED

Mexican-American theologian VIRGIL ELIZONDO has been selected as the next recipient of the University of Notre Dame's Laetare Medal. "Virgil Elizondo's scholarship and ministry celebrate Mexican- American culture as an invaluable gift to the whole church," said University president EDWARD A. MALLOY, CSC. "In honoring him, we mean to honor as well our Hispanic brothers and sisters, who soon will constitute the majority of the Catholic Church in America."

Elizondo is the pastor of San Fernando Cathedral in San Antonio and is the author of nine books and several essays.

SENT PACKING

ML thought it was in a tight housing market until it read of the plight of COMMONWEAL. In a Feb. 14 editorial the magazineþs editors announced they were being evicted from their 10 year home in lower Manhattan near the World Trade Center. Their top floor offices had been leased out from under them for the next 99 years to a corporation that plans to turn the building into residences.