No Place

 for Prayer? 

THE HEIGHTS, May 1 — The spiritual life at Boston College and its “distinctive personality” as a Catholic institution could suffer as a result of a master plan that does not call for sufficient space for spiritual activities, including outdoor areas such as grottos.

That’s the opinion, offered in the campus’s independent newspaper, by Jesuit Father James Fleming of BC’s Office of Mission and Ministry.

In a reference to the college’s emphasis on sports and to quarterback Doug Flutie’s famous “Hail Mary” touchdown pass of more than a decade ago, Father Fleming concluded that “there will always be room for the pass [at BC]; however, there may not be any place for a Hail Mary.”

Focus on Vocations

CHRISTIAN WIRE SERVICE, April 27 — The Fellowship of Catholic University Students (Focus) has helped foster the vocations of at least 67 seminarians and 25 sisters, reported the wire service.

“Focus gave me an outlet … to be around others who cared about their faith,” said Benjamin Barron, now a second-year student at St. Thomas Aquinas Seminary in Minneapolis.

“I seriously doubt that I would have been able to perceive or discern my call to become a priest” without the aid of a small Focus Bible study at the University of Northern Colorado, said Deacon Peter Musset, who will be ordained this month.

Genie Out on Choice

THE NEW YORK POST, May 3 — “The school-choice genie is out of the bottle — and it’s working,” observes Rep. Vito Fossella, R-N.Y., in an op-ed that promotes federal tuition-tax credit for K-12 parochial and private school education.

Under a bill sponsored by Fosella, families would be permitted to take a dollar-for-dollar reduction in their tax liability for non-public school tuition expenses. For example, taxes of $10,000 could be reduced to $5,500, thanks to a tax credit of $4,500.

In contrast to a voucher program, he pointed out that tuition tax credits do not call for direct funding to private institutions, only a reduction in taxes for individual citizens.

‘Selling Children’

USA TODAY, May 1 — In a story headlined “Egg-donor business booms on campus,” the newspaper reports that new technologies tied to the Internet have created a global bazaar of egg merchants.

“We are selling children,” said the Harvard Business School’s Debora Spar, who wants a national debate on bringing order and safety to an industry in which spending has mushroomed to an estimated $3 billion a year.

As other nations curtail the practice — Canada did so in 2004 — the United States is becoming the industry’s last bastion.

Vying for Video Victory

THE CHRISTOPHERS, April 25 — Entries are due by June 9 for the organization’s 19th annual video contest for college students, which awards more than $6,000 in cash prizes.

Short films of five minutes or less that interpret the theme “One Person Can Make a Difference” will be considered.

For the first time, DVD entries will be accepted, as well as standard VHS tapes.

More information is available at: christophers.org/contests.html or by calling (212) 759-4050.