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KARL KEATING'S E-LETTER
TOPICS:
REPORT ON THE CRUISE
AL KRESTA RETURNS
IMMIGRANTS AND THEIR RELIGION
A GOOD EGG
Dear Friend of Catholic Answers:
As promised last week, I am refraining--at least for a few weeks--from writing about purported apparitions, but I do want to thank those many readers who sent in comments regarding my comments on Bayside and Garabandal.
Although I don't encourage replies to my E-Letter (because I just don't have time to respond to them), at least I have had time to read all of the replies that have come in. I appreciate readers sending in their opinions, including even those few cases in which their opinions may not be, ah, well founded.
HAD A GREAT TIME. WISH YOU HAD BEEN THERE.
Last year, on the first annual Catholic Answers apologetics cruise, we went to the Caribbean, and this year it was Alaska. I liked the former but preferred the latter. Maybe it was because this time I was able to go on shore excursions that really were challenging.
One was a 22-mile mountain bike ride over fairly steep terrain. This was at Sitka, a town that originally was a Russian settlement. At the furthest-away point we stopped for lunch at a salmon hatchery. No, we didn't eat the salmon. We observed them as we ate sandwiches. I hadn't been on a bike in a long time but now am tempted to get one.
With me on that trip were Maureen North of the Catholic Answers staff (she coordinated the cruise for us) and Jerry Usher, host of "Catholic Answers Live." Maureen bikes regularly with her husband, and I was gratified to see that even she had difficulty on the not-insubstantial hills. We all huffed and puffed.
The only disappointment to me was that we didn't come across any bears. We came close to running over a couple of squirrels, but that's a distant second. (Question: Why do squirrels always wait until you're just upon them before dashing across the road or trail? Is it their equivalent of playing chicken?)
Even better than the bike ride was the glacier trek. Jerry didn't go on that excursion, but Maureen and Jim Burnham, head of San Juan Catholic Seminars, joined me in the helicopter ride from Juneau to Mendenhall Glacier. Before taking off we were issued parkas, plastic boots, harnesses, and helmets. Once on the glacier (after swooping up and down side canyons: spectacular!) we were given crampons and ice axes.
The young guides led eight of us up and down ridges and even had us climbing 45-degree slopes, once with the aid of a belay. We kept clear of crevasses but did get a good look at a couple of moulins (sink holes). Slip into one of those and it's The End. The clouds were low, as was the thermometer. Halfway through the trek came persistent rain. We had a blast.
I have uploaded some photos of the two excursions to my Webshots page:
http://community.webshots.com/user/karlkeating
Oh, yeah. We did have an apologetics component to the cruise: talks and panel discussions by Archbishop John P. Foley, Fr. Hans Brouwers, Steve Ray, Jim Burnham, Jimmy Akin, Rosalind Moss, and me. Lots of info, lots of laughter, lots of new friends.
Next year's cruise? We'll have one, but we don't know where yet.
WELCOME BACK, AL!
Yesterday I got a call from Al Kresta, who returned to the airwaves this week. In February Al nearly lost his life to an insidious infection; he did end up losing a leg, which the surgeons had to amputate if there was to be any hope of saving his life. Al squeaked by. He's a man of strong faith, and he told me that he's sure that he pulled through only because so many were praying for him.
I'm pleased to say that he sounded great, and I know that his many fans are pleased that this pioneer of Catholic radio is back on the air. He isn't completely healed yet, and he's in the early stages of getting used to a prosthesis, but the worst parts are done. Now it's back to converting the world!
WHAT DO IMMIGRANTS BELIEVE?
Catholics are about 23 percent of the national population, but they comprise 42 percent of immigrants who have permanent residency status. Eastern Orthodox are 4 percent, and Protestants are 19 percent. The next largest religious group: Muslims, at 8 percent. People claiming no religion total 15 percent.
These figures are for "legal" immigrants. Most of the "illegals" are from Mexico or countries in Central America, so the overall Catholic percentage of immigrants, both legal and illegal, must be much higher than 42 percent.
The big loser? Protestantism, which must be followed by much less than 19 percent when legals and illegals are counted together, since almost no immigrant Hispanics are Protestant. Over the long haul, this implies that the Catholic Church will carry more weight within American Christianity.
Naturally, this does not address the important question: How Catholic are these immigrant Catholics, and how Catholic will the new mix of Catholics be? Still, better a high percentage of Catholics among the immigrants than a low percentage.
A SOUVENIR FOR YOU, A SOUVENIR FOR ME
My wife was a good sport about it. Before the Catholic Answers cruise, she instructed me to bring home a T-shirt as a souvenir for her. She was specific in her requirements: white, a small design on the left side of the front, no design on the back.
It was hard finding such a shirt. White shirts were few, and most of them had large, garish designs. But I found one in Sitka; it has the image of a howling wolf. He looks a bit like our dog, so good enough.
Then I made the mistake of visiting a shop that specializes in Russian art imports. I came out with a hand-painted wooden egg. I couldn't pass it up.
The image is not in the Russian style. It is a copy of a 1502 Italian masterpiece. The Russian artist reproduced the painting exquisitely, using sable brushes with as few as three hairs. Parts of the image (such as the haloes and the border) are done in gold leaf. I used a magnifying glass to look at the fine details and can't understand how someone can have so steady a hand.
My souvenir was a bit more expensive than the T-shirt (one must give an expansive definition to "a bit"), but my wife didn't complain. It had been a long time since I purchased any sort of artwork. Besides, it's religious! The egg now sits on the desk in my office. I'll show it off to you when you visit Catholic Answers.
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