Soldiers assigned to Company B, 2nd Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, celebrated Catholic Mass at Combat Outpost Charkh here Dec. 10.

This was the first Mass offered at COP Charkh since August due to the non-availability of a Catholic chaplain.

“In the holy Mass, we receive spiritual strength from God to persevere,” said Spokane, Wash., native U.S. Army Chaplain (Maj.) James J. Peak, a chaplain assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 101st Airborne Division.

Soldiers from COP Charkh make enemy contact nearly every day. Such activity leads some Soldiers to embrace their faith more strongly.

U.S. Army Spc. Angel Diaz, a combat medic assigned to Company B, 2nd Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, celebrates Catholic Mass at Combat Outpost Charkh here, Dec. 10. Diaz, a Dallas native, said, “Mass has helped bring me closer to God, which is good in this environment.” Photo by U.S. Army Sgt. Cooper T. Cash

“This is the first Mass I have celebrated in nearly 15 years,” said Dallas native U.S. Army Spc. Angel Diaz, a combat medic assigned to Co. B. “Mass has helped bring me closer to God, which is good in this environment.”

DVIDS
By U.S. Army Sgt. Cooper T. Cash

The Republic of Georgia is among the oldest surviving Christian nations. Its conversion dates to the fifth century and the nation abounds with religious structures and ruins that date from the fifth and sixth century. Christianity arrived from the Eastern Roman Empire through Armenia, bringing with it literacy and a unique alphabet and script.

Georgian Christianity is similar to most of the other nations in the region. It is Orthodox, not aligned with the Latin Rite of Rome, and is a national church. A national church, in this context, is one that is associated with the individual nation, i.e. Greek Orthodox, Serbian Orthodox, Georgian Orthodox. It survived the Russian conquest and the Communist era.

Among the sites in Georgia that illustrate the long history of Christianity in that nation are the monastery and cathedral of Alaverdi and the monastery of Ikalto. Both sites are located in Eastern Georgia, near the town of Telavi.

Alaverdi monastery. copyright 2010 by Tamari Shermadini, all rights reserved

The province of Kakheti, where these sites are located, was once an independent kingdom. Its natives speak a dialect of Georgian. Its border to the east and south is with the nation of Azerbaijan and is disputed in many areas. It is a popular tourist destination for Georgians and its international appeal is growing.

The monastery and cathedral of Alaverdi are in the village of the same name. The monastery dates to the sixth century in parts and the cathedral to the eleventh. The cathedral is 55 meters tall, over 165 feet, and is the second tallest religious structure in Georgia after the national cathedral.

Alaverdi. copyright 2010 by Tamari Shermadini, all rights reserved

The cathedral is on the tentative list to become a World Heritage Site. It is being so considered for its architecture and design which are uniquely Georgian.

In the same region is the monastery of Ikalto. Burned by Persian invaders in 1616, it had been the site of a renowned Academy for about 500 years. There are three churches among the ruins of the Academy.

Ikalto monastery. copyright 2010 by Tamari Shermadini, all rights reserved

Ikalto monastery. copyright 2010 by Tamari Shermadini, all rights reserved

copyright 2010 by Tamari Shermadini, all rights reserved

copyright 2010 by Tamari Shermadini, all rights reserved

A high ranking Cardinal has announced that the Vatican, the seat of the Roman Catholic Church, has agreed to work with the University of Maryland’s School of Medicine Center for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine by funding research into the medical uses of adult stem cells. An Associated Press report states the Catholic Church will be making an initial donation to the project in the amount of 2 million euros or $2.7 million.

The University describes the initiative as exploring "the therapeutic potential of intestinal stem cells". Such research is believed to have potential for the treatment of bowel conditions such as celiac disease.

Stem cells exist in every adult’s body. They are cells that that can reproduce themselves throughout a life time. The cells that make up most of the human body cannot reproduce and have a limited life span, according to the University of California, San Francisco’s Science Cafe site.

In 2000, the Vatican issues a document titled "DECLARATION ON THE PRODUCTION AND THE SCIENTIFIC AND THERAPEUTIC USE OF HUMAN EMBRYONIC STEM CELLS" that recognized the potential efficacy of adult stem cells and the lack of moral and ethical barriers to research and use of these cells. A number of medical treatments currently use adult stem cells and research on those cells is routinely conducted at Catholic Universities such as Notre Dame.

Adult stem cells from bone marrow have been used in transplants for about 40 years and the University of Utah has a website describing those treatments. WSOC-TV reports on research at the Union Memorial Hospital in Baltimore, MD, that is using the patient’s own stem cells to stimulate bone repair and speed healing in orthopedic injuries. In a December, 2009 story, CNN reported on a study taking place using adult stem cells with a few days of a heart attack that seems to repair at least part of the damage to the heart. The University of Wisconsin, in August, 2009, was engaged in trials testing the use of adult stem cells to treat Type 1 diabetes.

While actual research using the Vatican money is some years away, the decision to fund such research appears to signal the Catholic Church’s desire to make morally and ethically gathered stem cell medical therapies available.

Soldiers at Contingency Operating Base Marez, Iraq celebrate a Catholic Easter vigil mass on April 3 at St. Elijah Monastery. (Photo by: Staff Sgt. Russell Lee Klika)

Soldiers at Contingency Operating Base Marez, Iraq celebrate a Catholic Easter vigil mass on April 3 at St. Elijah Monastery. (Photo by: Sgt. Shannon R. Gregory)

More than 250 service members and civilians celebrated Easter with a candlelit mass Saturday at St. Elijah Monastery, the oldest Christian monastery in Iraq.

The mass was one of three Christian services scheduled at the monastery for Easter weekend.

“This is the second time we’ve done this,” said Capt. Patrick Van Durme, the battalion chaplain with the 1-19th Field Artillery Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division and a Dansville, N.Y., native.

Van Durme said turnout for the event was large and included civilian workers from around the world and from the Mosul area, which has the largest Christian population in Iraq.

“It’s an amazing thing for them,” he said.

First Lt. Geoffrey Whitaker, the garrison chaplain at Contingency Operating Base Marez, Iraq, with the Regimental Fires Squadron, 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment, 13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary), said he was honored to be part of the services at the 1,700-year-old monastery.

“To get to celebrate Easter in the oldest Christian monastery in Iraq … it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity,” said Whitaker, a Murphy, N.C., native.

Whitaker said he expected more than 1,000 Soldiers and civilians to attend the three services.

Van Durme said the monastery has held great historical relevance throughout the ages.

Local traditional suggests the monastery was first built in the year 350 AD and the current structure was probably added 1,000 years later, he said.

In 1743, the monks and orphans at the monastery were killed by a Persian leader for refusing to convert to Islam, and Christians in the area have been persecuted since, said Van Durme.

“If you go back 50 years, you’ll find 1,000′s of Christian families in Mosul. You’ll now find maybe 100,” Van Durme said. “You have to wonder what it’s future will be.”

Whitaker said the chaplains are working with the Provincial Reconstruction Team in Mosul to preserve the monastery and repair structural damage that has occurred in the years since the U.S. came to Iraq.

“The Department of the Army has signed on to do some restoration,” said Whitaker. “The plan is still ongoing.”

DVIDS
Story by Sgt. Keith VanKlompenberg

If you read the New Testament, Jesus rarely talked about anything other than salvation and forgiveness. None of the issues that modern religion struggles with are discussed by Jesus. It is, I suspect, a gentle reminder that this world is but an instant and salvation is for eternity.

If you believe that the Catholic Church is that founded by Christ, and that he appointed the first Pope in Peter, it is a logical conclusion to state that the Pope, when speaking solely on matters of faith and morals can only speak as God wills.

When you have an institution with 100 million members worldwide, a code of law is necessary. In most of the world, Catholics cannot rely on civil authority for any sort of justice and only the laws of the Church are trustworthy.

Jesus was almost dismissive of civil authority. In truth, if salvation is our goal, we should deal with this world only as necessary. Regardless of the claims of very well paid liability attorneys, the Church’s spiritual mission is paramount.

What are the goals of those attacking the Church? As diocese after diocese is bankrupted, with most of the money going to lawyers, it appears that venial goals such as money and revenge are behind the attacks. Were this simply about truth and healing, another path would have been taken.

The stain of a pedophile priest on the fabric of the Church is dramatic. That stain serves to conceal the good work of tens of thousands of faithful priests and religious who did not sin in this way and who deserve far more respect than they are receiving.