Tag: organ

On
By Dick Jones, For the Catholic Herald

New organ will highlight this year’s Festival of Lessons & Carols

diocesan choir gorman
At the Advent/Christmas party sponsored by the Apostolate for Persons with Disabilities are, from left: Katie Gorman, one of the newest members of the Madison Diocesan Choir; her father, Dr. Patrick Gorman, director of the choir for over 25 years; and Pat Paska, a member of the choir since its beginning nearly 45 years ago. (Catholic Herald photo/Kevin Wondrash)

MADISON — Much as O Come All Ye Faithful is a favorite known by all since childhood, the opening hymn of Lessons & Carols will become a glorious new sound Sunday, Dec. 17.

That’s when Dr. Patrick Gorman directs the Madison Diocesan Choir and all present, accompanied by a classic pipe organ described as magical, restored, and installed in the Holy Name Heights chapel.

Seeking an organ

“I have literally been working on this since I arrived in Madison,” said Gorman, now in his 26th year as director. “We put together so many different proposals, and it’s always been, ‘We can’t afford it! We can’t afford it.’

“New pipe organs are extraordinarily expensive. Then we started to look at organs that have come out of churches.”

With the help of Bruce Case of Case Pipe Organ Company in Verona, an exceptional pipe organ was found in Kenosha at the First Congregational Church that closed in 2013.

Though silent for years, the organ was in surprisingly good condition. The new owners, an evangelical congregation, had no use for it and agreed to sell it.

Rolls Royce of organs

Thanks to a generous gift from the estate of the late Msgr. Delbert Schmelzer, the Diocese of Madison was able to buy and restore the pipe organ, built by the Aeolian-Skinner Organ Company in Boston nearly 70 years ago.

According to Case, it rivals the commanding Klais organ in the Madison Overture Center, and in some respects is superior.

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Fr. Tad Pacholczyk

Human organs from pigs: Is it kosher?

Human beings can have a visceral reaction to the thought of growing human kidneys or livers inside the bodies of pigs or cows.

A participant in a recent online forum on human/animal chimeras described it this way: “Unbelievable!!! . . . If there was anything that was more anti-God it is the genetic formation of chimeras which is nothing more than Frankenstein monster creation.”

Evaluating the practice

Although the idea of a chimeric animal is indeed unusual, several factors need to be considered in evaluating the practice of growing human organs within animals.

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Rick Lofgren

Become an organ donor to save lives

To the editor:

The Children’s Organ Transplant Association (COTA) was founded in 1986 when residents of Bloomington, Ind., rallied around a toddler who needed a life-saving liver transplant. In less than eight weeks, the community raised $100,000 to place the boy on the organ waiting list.

But the child died before an organ became available. Those community volunteers, along with his parents, turned tragedy into triumph by using the funds they raised to help other transplant families. That was the beginning of COTA.

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