JMJ, yes! A Philadelphia punk band formed in 1986. Pontifical Mission Societies and launched by Pope Francis. Only we had to write JMJD, for Dominic, as ours were Dominican nuns. Chapter 1: Catholic Kids Make Great Faces Cary Cox stole a five dollar bill from his mothers purse when we were in fourth grade so that Cary could pick the name of the next pagan baby himself . "I loved Pagan Babies. I only have one question , he said . An interactive website will feature video interviews with some of the former pagan babies, now nuns, priests and catechists in their homelands. My first lessons in social justice came through saving pagan babies. Its to raise money for the school , the salesman countered . Through their action the proclamation of the Gospel also becomes an intervention on behalf ones neighbor, justice for the poorest, possibility of education in the most remote villages, medical aid in isolated places, emancipation from poverty and rehabilitation for the marginalized, overcoming ethnic divisions and respect for life in all its stages, Archbishop Vigano said. By letting civility happen, we take better care not only of others and of the world itself, but of ourselves. The church doesnt have a mission. Take a look and see why Im so excited about this app and will be promoting it every chance I get. With touching little pictures of hungry children. Pagan baby naming makes good memories but was , I guess , conditioning in deception . Pingback: A Poor Church For the Poor | Vox Nova, Pingback: Remembering a Different A-to-Z Challenge | No Facilities, This was too much fun. Here is Sister Mary Michael Archangel giving medicine to the pagans . Thanks for the interest. Those who would like to know what became of their pagan babies will get a chance to find out when Pontifical Mission Societies formally launches its Great Works Campaign in the coming months. I suspect that Patricia never named them after you , David . I believe it helped me get through this crazy life :-)) The salesman had no answer . Catholic Church. Shed be about 70 now! Prizes were given if we were successful. Ransom a Pagan Baby (late 1950s). Their adopted Pagan Babies were then given the Sacrament of Baptism. I had one certificate for I went to Christ the King in Pleasant Hill, CA. And I totally forgot about those Pagan babies and I thought no were not, then I asked her what is a pagan baby LOL Im still not quite sure either haha that was a great story. It used to be a full acronym - United Nations International Childrens Emergency Fund. Yesit must have been everywhere even Deer Lodge, Montana where I went to Catholic School. Their Pagan Babies: "Lord have mercy! When I gave my pennies to the missions, I could make a difference. You :-)) . Im glad youu got a kick out of it . When our family moved to another part of Dearborn, we transferred to St Alphonsus parish, and I traded the blue jumper for a plaid one, and the beanie for Hush Puppy shoes. Anyone else do this? J. OBrien. Fierce competition existed between some of the nuns as to whose class had the most pagan babies. When Oblate Father Andrew Small asked who remembered them at the inaugural World Mission Dinner in New York, a few hands went up, mostly belonging to people with gray hair. I liked your PT post . They spoke in thick Irish brogues . I seriously want to start a band now, just so I can name us that. He's probably still wondering, "How did I wind up with Lajoie is on the staff of Catholic New York, newspaper of the Archdiocese of New York. I suspect nowhere . I named all my pagan babies after my cousin Karen, who had died at age 2. When I attended Corpus Christi Catholic School in the 1950s and 1960s there was a program we all called Pagan Babies . Then I developed dysentery, and the very people I was there to save were taking care of me. They folded out . My Jewish neighbors always bought a packet of the Childhood Catholic Christmas seals. Lord, LordCatholic schools. Each in his or her own way has been a missionary of the Gospel of Christ. Margaret Ann is a good respectable name . Every month after the money was collected, a students name was randomlypicked out of a bag with the chosen name becoming the Pagan Baby of the Month. Certificates were horizontally displayed above the green & yellow cursive writing examples atop the blackborads. grade 6A, 6B, 6C,). A friend of mine, from back in the 80s, played guitar in a band with that name (weird thing about that is, hes Jewish). 1961 66. we collected for pagan babies, but we never got to name them, and there was no box that folded out. Steve Stahley. Don't know why they are so eagerly upholding pagan traditions. As a promotion, MISSIO is offering a chance to win a trip to Rome. FYI : My granny was raised in Sterling . If they're actually disabled, they can file the application with the city to get a handicap spot installed. I could never shake the idea that he was stealing it (but I guess that suggests more about my character than about his). And then the certificate was put up above the chalkboard. The assembly was buzzing . I did the saving bond thing , too . We gave our allowances to save those babies. we got prizes if we gave X amount, but I never got a prize. I have no idea what spurred me on this morning to do a search for Pagan Babies maybe I was trying to recall my first exposure to racism. is the gateway to life in the Spirit, and the door which gives access to the other Founded In Honolulu, Honolulu County, Hawaii, United States More than one artist goes by Pagan Babies 1. (There were a lot of Christines then for some reason it was the favorite name of a lot of the girls). She thought that it would be the greatest thing in the world for me to become a nun. Some Irish nuns were there one day to speak to the students . Cary had guts, for sure , for such a bold attempt at fraud . Pictures of Cherub-faced Indian, African, and Asian babies graced small cardboard collection boxes given to each child. UNICEF is the United Nations Childrens Fund. The students were raring and ready to go sell the candy and get the prizes . . You may be a pagan , but I think youre too late . More than one-third of millennials now say they are unaffiliated with any faith. What do we do , Sister , what do we do ? Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you. He didnt mention that 60% of the profits went to the promotion company . Enjoyed reading all of your comments about Pagan Babies. Back in the 1950s and early-1960s, and Yes , of course , a money-raising strategy that tricked all of us kids I wonder now about our parents . When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? (Matthew 25: 37-38). Never heard the term. In the 50s It used to be border line sacrilegious to question the church maybe it still is , but after seeing the movie spot light Im thinking maybe Archbishop whats his name might have bought another set of golf clubs ( or something far more sinister ) ? Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, retired Archbishop of Washington; best-selling author Mary Higgins Clark; and television commentator Larry Kudlow were each named 2012 Pontifical Ambassadors for Mission. When they reached $5, they then ransomed a child overseas, got a certificate and the right to name the child. - Sharen D. He could go home , buy his kids new bikes if he wanted to , and come back at the end of two weeks to collect the cash . Watch for these changes, Eight more pro-life activists for FACE Act violations. Use a knife, horseshoe, or other piece of iron. I dont remember the certificates , but , yeah , they came from on-high somewhere in the Archdiocese ( we believed , at least ) . I thought the amount was $10, but $5 does sound more realistic. Cover Reveal for My Road Trip Cowboy Romance! DUDE! the salesman said . Yeah , Charlie had a question . I was beginning to think I had created this whole idea of Pagan Babies myself. Saint Martins actoss the street from you back then. ( Sorry for the delay. They changed the name because it had grown beyond the initial save the war-torn orphans mission. Scotland, late 60s/early 70s, Catholic primary school (ages 5-12) we had this, only we called it something like the black baby fund, rather than pagan babies. Many students adopted several Elementary Band Name!! To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. ( to save the pagans ! own pagan baby! When Father Andrew Small, O.M.I., asked who remembered them at the inaugural World Mission Dinner May 2 at the Pierre Hotel in Manhattan, a few hands went up, mostly belonging to people with gray hair. https://www.ncregister.com/blog/where-did-all-the-pagan-babies-go. Along the way, in all the villages we passed through, there were people who were full of joy to see young people. I smell the mendacity in this room ! I went to a Catholic grade school from 1984 to 1994 and have never heard the term. by reneeqyancy | Feb 9, 2010 | Blog | 8 comments. You didnt buy one with the $5.00. baptize it and give it the name we chose." Good hunting , though . Remember what he said? "We thought that some nun in China would go out and select a baby of the proper gender, What memories. Possibly the nuns coerced the kids in those classes into giving more? We all nodded and agreed. Right, but there must be some type of guidelines that must be met for that to happen. With respect to children who have died without Baptism, the liturgy of the Church invites us to trust in Gods mercy and to pray for their salvation. (CCC 1283). (After Vatican II beanies were no longer necessary.) If theres a study done of it , I dont know . When I was in grade school prior to ~1961 in Catholic school, we collected money (our little pittances of coins) for some vague, needy group covered by the catch-all term pagan babies.* Were collecting money for the pagan babies?* As I recall, there were little paper boxes that we saved our coins in and then turned them in to someone periodically. I am not the age youre looking for, though, because I am > 50. Written right on the top of the looseleaf paper, smack dab in the middle. Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Pagan Babies at Amazon.com. They spoke for an hour and I think that every sentence they uttered had the word pagan in it . Scripture references baptism of entire households, never saying except the babies. (Acts 16:15, Acts 16:33, 1 Cor. Pagan babies may have disappeared from collection boxes but they started showing up in our families. Design by. I remember Green Stamps . Anyone have proof the Catholic Church ( the dedicated Nuns ) were able to get the pagan baby money to its intended recipients? Pagan Babies: and Other Catholic Memories. Ive been fortunate to travel to various parts of the world and to admire (our missionaries) extraordinary love of the world and of the people with whom they live, the cardinal added. What did they really think about it ? None of my non-Catholic friends ever believed my pagan baby stories, either. Or for the poor, underprivileged kids in the USA? I think there were religious pix on the stamps. And yet the fundamental mission of the Holy Childhood Associationits efforts to create in children of privilege some sense that they are responsible for and obligated to help other children in needwas not lost on me. I also remember buying 10 cent stamps that went into a book. But, in fact, the entire program was rooted in a sense of solidarity and charity in the broadest understanding of the word. 1969 From Pioneer to Poet by Isabelle Pagan, vintage Astrology book zodiac I remember those statues . Her latest books are What Would Monica Do? I ALSOvividly remember, that the certficates were five dollars each (pretty steep for thr 60s! We wonder where those name choices really went . I think it was to put on envelopes for Christmas cards? We boys , I think , had a sense of accomplishment somehow because even though he had been caught Cary still had the satisfaction of knowing that a pagan would go through life named Herman because of him . The salesman had charts and pictures and a poster for every classroom of the glorious prizes . Because we purchased Pagan Babies for five dollars a head, on a regular basis. Catholic Connection (right after the news). When the late Sixties allowed for individuality in footwear, many a girl in funky, high-heeled shoes, broke the silence clunking through classrooms and down church aisles. Once some missionary priest visited and told us how the communist Chinese forced chop sticks into the ears of missionary priests there. That summer in Guaymas, I learned that people in poverty needed more than goodwill, and that social justice was not a simple matter of collecting spare change and sending it off to the right folks. In three years, we bought sixthree boys and three girls. Through their action the proclamation of the Gospel also becomes an intervention on behalf ones neighbor, justice for the poorest, possibility of education in the most remote villages, medical aid in isolated places, emancipation from poverty and rehabilitation for the marginalized, overcoming ethnic divisions and respect for life in all its stages, Archbishop Vigano said. In A.D. 381, the early Church Fathers wrote in the Nicene Creed, "We believe in one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.". But how ? now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a clear conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ" (1 Pet. babies. Years later, as adults, my younger sister, Patricia, confessed to sneaking into my room and using a butter knife to weasel the coins out of the bottle to buy candy and, yes, pagan babies. 11 Facts About Murdered Bishop David OConnell, Cameron Bertuzzis Conversion to Catholicism, and More Great Links! If my parents would only let me go to public school, the church might have had another nun. Each time I hope to combine for them the Holy Childhoods call of responsibility with the lessons I learned in Guaymas: the difference between pity and solidarity, the complexity of the global structures that create poverty and need, and the smallness of our efforts at making a difference. I could change the world. Im thinking, maybe, that I qualify as a pagen baby. We didnt get a chance to vote on a name because he could name him himself. Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, retired archbishop of Washington; best-selling author Mary Higgins Clark; and television commentator Larry Kudlow were named 2012 pontifical ambassadors for mission. Gotta laugh about it now. Back in the 1950s and early-1960s, and possibly before that, the Catholic schools sponsored an ongoing drive to raise money for missions in foreign lands. I may have turned into a pagan . Congratulations for moving on and helping children in other countries. Here is sister Mary So-and-So in the plane about to fly off to baptize the pagans . I have my doubts that any of ours got past downtown L.A. It took $10.00 to save a baby. And yet sometimes the answer was as simple as getting down on hands and knees to join the woman scrubbing the floor, to learn her technique and listen to her story. End of March we usually plant or seed our wishes for the year. Remember Pagan Babies? Yeah! Stories ensued. 1:16). Gaming. But Father Small, national director of the Pontifical Mission Societies in the United States, wasnt apologizing for the old adoption program in which children in Catholic schools would save their pennies. Im pretty sure it was the heavy sell on Pagan Babies and the strong emphasis on the fact that God doesnt like Protestants that caused me to first question the rigid authority of the Catholic Church. While clearly titillating and voyeuristic, these presentations revealed a larger world and highlighted our own privileged place. . I was not called to be a full-time missionary. Pagan babies are certainly a uniquely Catholic childhood memory! That means that many of our grandbabies are pagan babies! Good question , though , about where all the money went . I spent all my paper boy money." *One of them may have been slightly Asian, but that was pushing things in those days. pagan babies When I attended Corpus Christi Catholic School in the 1950s and 1960s there was a program we all called Pagan Babies . Sometimes the girls in one class would be pitted against the boys : Who could collect the money to name the pagan baby first ? I still say none of that money ever got beyond the archdiocese downtown , certificate or no certificate . Learn how your comment data is processed. Renew or manage your subscription here. In the background it shows mosques, pagodas, etc, all the better to drive home the horrors wed saved him from. When did this extremely non-PC term stop being used? The teachers all smiled . But Im a bit cynical . Something good came from Corpus Cristi. A bulletin board held the certificates, pinned to the wall. Campbell, now retired from the film industry where he worked as a technician, told CNY that hed been enrolled in the Holy Childhood Association since seventh grade and that he remembered adopting babies to get them baptized into the faith. Come back 60 years ago and well ask the teacher for one ; but now , I dont know . Thank God someone sent this information to me and redeemed my sanity. Thanks for a trip down memory lane and validating my recollection. But Cary was caught . I think that the white kid had flowers in his hand and maybe a halo on his head. Maybe the program was intended , at least partially , to teach us generosity . Hey! Thanks for your input . I still suspect the money collected ( probably in actuality just chicken-feed ? ) The rise of AI will generate cultural content designed not to be original or even to say anything, but to produce, like a drug, the same experience, again and again. a Pagan Baby but lost touch. You are no doubt a stronger person for it . If you register with MISSIO by noon February 2, 2017, youll be entered for a chance to join the Pontifical Mission Societies on their pilgrimage to Rome in May 2017, and an audience with Pope Francis. In Common Good Constitutionalism, Adrian Vermeule argues with straw men and cites blog posts. "I named my Pagan Baby Patrick. The Holy Childhood Association got many of the basics right: it introduced me to global realities of poverty and need, to notions of privilege and responsibility. As a first grade student at St.Aloysius in Wilkes-Barre, PA circa 1969, pagan babies were part of our extreme Catholic instruction. Theyd say, Whats in it for me?. however, rings true today. Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? - Ann C. My most cherished reward for raising money for the missions was a Madonna-and-Child nightlight that graced my bedside table well into adolescence. Wow . Sometimes disabilities don't fall along "guidelines" and some people just need a little extra help. Somewhere in the beachhead dump of stuff I call a filing system I have an adoption certificate which states that our class rescued some poor benighted child from the toils of Satan. There were competitions between classes . Does ANYONE know where the money did go? monetization of National Catholic Register RSS feeds is strictly prohibited. maybe he rode to work on a bike . Regardless of whether pagan babies have become personal, we should still pray for and support the spread of the Catholic faith in foreign lands and in our own. 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