Theology

Illinois state Sen. Barack Obama "When we send our young men and women into harm's way, we have a solemn obligation not to ... shade the truth about why they're going. Sen. Tom Daschle on Kerry "He risked his life to save the life of others, and he led his small band of brothers to safety." Ron Reagan on stem cell research "It does not follow that the theology of a few should be allowed to forestall the health and well-being of the many." Sen. Edward M. Kennedy "The administration has alienated longtime allies.

The Rev. John Joseph Canfield, S.S., a retired priest whose work served the Roman Catholic priesthood in Baltimore for about three decades, died Tuesday of heart failure at St. Martin's Home for the Aged in Catonsville. He was 77.Father Canfield served and taught his fellow priests for 28 years at St. Mary's Seminary in Baltimore before retiring as its vice president in 1986. During those years, his work included teaching dogmatic theology, editing the seminary's alumni magazine, and serving as vice rector.

The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is putting the issue of human sexuality to rest -- at least for another year.More than 90 percent of the nearly 600 commissioners to the church's 203rd General Assembly voted here yesterday to kill a controversial report that endorsed sex between unmarried people and homosexuals.Instead, they passed the issue to the church's more traditional Theology and Worship Ministry Unit, which will bring the matter of sex before next year's assembly.After a week of unaccustomed national publicity brought on by the sex issue, the commissioners eventually accepted the recommendation of the church's human sexuality committee.

The Rev. Frederick A. Homann, a Jesuit priest and educator who had been chairman of the mathematics department at what is now Loyola University Maryland, died Aug. 24 of a heart attack at St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia. He was 82. Father Homann was born and raised in Philadelphia, was a graduate of St. Joseph Preparatory School and attended Villanova University for a year before entering the Society of Jesus in 1947. He earned a bachelor's degree in philosophy in 1951 from St. Louis University, which was followed in 1954 by a licentiate in philosophy.

It was no blinding flash that brought Jim Mendello to St. Mary's Seminary and University to study for the priesthood, but "the dawning realization of something I felt called to do."The 31-year-old Paterson, N.J., native, said he could have found no better place than the landmark institution in Roland Park, which today celebrates its bicentenary as the first American seminary of any denomination, "America's Mother Seminary."Today's festivities will include a symposium by 40 to 50 bishops and a lecture at St. Mary's; a special bicentenary Mass at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen and a banquet this evening at the Hyatt Hotel at the Inner Harbor.

Baudolino, by Umberto Eco. Harcourt. 528 pages. $27. More than 20 years ago, Umberto Eco, an Italian professor of semiotics, had an unlikely best seller with The Name of the Rose, a detective novel set in a medieval monastery and loaded with information about philosophy and theology. Now, after two more novels buoyed with high-culture trivia, Eco returns to the Middle Ages with Baudolino. The playful erudition and vast intellectual range are back, but the spirit has changed from mystery to comedy.

Thomas' theology distorts Good Book I will refrain from commenting on Cal Thomas' politics. But his biblical interpretation and theology leave something to be desired ("Clinton rewrites the Good Book," Opinion * Commentary, July 11). Mr. Thomas erroneously claims that one of Sen. Hillary Clinton's ministers from her youth, whose theology focused more on social responsibility than personal salvation, was guilty of something called "works salvation" in theological circles. He calls this "the notion that one can do enough good deeds to earn God's approval and enter heaven."

Archbishop Edward T. O'Meara, who had been president and chairman of the Baltimore-based Roman Catholic agency assisting war and disaster victims worldwide, died in Indianapolis Friday after a long illness. He was 70.The prelate, who also headed the Indianapolis archdiocese, was diagnosed last summer with pulmonary fibrosis, a lung disease.He died at home, where he had been bedridden since Jan. 5, when he asked to be discharged from Indiana University Hospital, the Rev. David Coats said.The illness caused him to resign in September as head of Catholic Relief Services, which has its headquarters in Baltimore.

SAVAGE UNITED Methodist Church has a new pastor. Galen Menne has been appointed to the position by Bishop Felton May.Menne has been a Methodist pastor for 35 years, having served in Prince George's County for the last 18.Former Pastor Cliff Webner has been assigned to found a new congregation in Kings Contrivance.Since April, when the decision was made to appoint him, Menne has been getting acquainted with his congregation.He's seen our town at its liveliest, having spent the entire day at last month's Savage Fest and Strawberry Festival -- which just about everyone in Savage attends.

It's the stuff of science fiction. Scottish scientists announced that they have successfully cloned a sheep - making it the first mammal ever born without the union of egg and sperm.On our local television newscast Sunday night, a reporter said, "This leaves us with one question: What about ethics?" The anchor replied, "Ethics? What about theology?"I can't remember the last time I heard a television anchor use the "T-word." He was right. Cloning is an ethical issue - concerning moral questions of human-animal interaction - but it pushes into the realm of theology, raising questions regarding the nature of God and creation.