The Philadelphia Inquirer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • Page B06

B6 South Jersey www.philly.com THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER Monday, October 31, 2005 Kigali apologizes for the sin of abuse At a church where Catholics vented anger last week, the cardinal said the abuse "deeply offended God." the parish is very divided," Ervin said. "He said we need to pray and basically that was it. I said, 'That's fine, but it's not Judy Gambino, a former special-education teacher, said she asked the cardinal what he planned to do with the "en-ablers" who allowed the abuse to occur. "He said, in effect, there are none, that we shouldn't judge people," Gambino said. "I am not satisfied with his response whatsoever." Two of the sexually abusive priests identified in the report had held assignments in the parish.

At last week's forum, many parishioners said they were angry that church leaders, including their pastor, Msgr. Samuel Shoemaker, had not protected children. While chancellor for Cardinals John Krol and Anthony J. Bevilacqua in the mid-1980s, Shoemaker had supervised priests. The grand jury report said that although Shoemaker had expressed concern that the church was not dealing forcefully enough with molesters, he appointed a known abuser as asso ciate director of the CCD youth program in 1984.

At last week's meeting, Shoemaker apologized to parishioners for his actions and inactions. Some members of St. Ignatius have characterized Shoemaker as an "enabler" who allowed the abuse to occur and they said he should resign. Msgr. Francis J.

Statkus, another former chancellor under Krol, was criticized by the grand jury for sitting on information about abusers. Now semiretired, Statkus lives at St. Ignatius and assists with services. After yesterday's Mass, parishioners lined up to speak pri vately with Rigali during a reception in the church basement. Margaret Mary Phinney, who has belonged to St.

Ignatius for 23 years, said she told the cardinal she supports him. "We appreciate that he came to our parish," she said. "His homily was wonderful. He addressed the issue. He talked about the victims, and he talked about the priests." Tricia Ervin attended an earlier Mass but later returned to speak to Rigali.

"I have just been so upset by this whole thing. I can't even put into words the outrage and disgust I feel," she said. "I told Archbishop Rigali that repeated and called for healing and forgiveness. A spokesman for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia said the cardinal's trip to St. Ignatius had been planned long ago and was not scheduled in response to the unusual forum held in the church auditorium Wednesday.

The sexual abuse scandal and cover-up by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia detailed in the Philadelphia grand jury report released Sept. 20 has shaken the five-county archdiocese. But it has rocked St. Ignatius. China's clout echoes in language classes the word on global needs, more schools are starting to teach Hill By Martha Woodall INQUIRER STAFF WRITER Yesterday, four days after many parishioners at St.

Ignatius of Antioch in Yardley voiced outrage at a forum over the clergy abuse scandal, Cardinal Justin Rigali celebrated Mass at the Bucks church. Rigali told worshipers filling the church pews that the sins involving the abuse of children "have deeply offended God." The cardinal apologized for the pain caused by the abuse, said mistakes should never be By Susan Snyder INQUIRER STAFF WRITER In a push to prepare students for the ever-changing global marketplace, the Philadelphia School District is expanding classes in Mandarin Chinese the most prevalent language in the world, yet largely neglected by the nation's schools until the last few years. More than 1,700 students are taking Chinese this year at six district high schools and three elementary schools up from 900 two years ago. Now Paul Vallas, the school district's chief executive officer, wants to double that number. Vallas justified the new priority because China is becoming the world's most powerful economic competitor and its language is spoken by about 1.3 billion people.

Learning to communicate better with China is vital to national security and prosperity, he said. "Of all the nations in the world, China will have the most profound impact on this nation's economy. So, from an academic standpoint, it's very sound," he said. Benjamin Franklin High, a largely black school, added Mandarin this year as part of a new international-studies academy. The school has drawn 40 students from nearby Chinatown with the new focus.

Some non-Asian students dropped the language after a few weeks Mandarin is recognized as one of the most difficult to master but most have stayed and say they are enjoying the challenge. "If you just keep trying, keep paying attention, you'll get it," said sophomore Robert Denson III, 16, whose class learned how to sing "Happy Birthday" in Mandarin. "At home, he's studying. He's really enthused," said his father, Robert Denson who applauded the new program. Spreading Contact staff writer Martha Woodall at 21 5-854-2789 or martha.woodallphillynews.com.

Mandarin. CHARLES FOX Inquirer Staff Photographer Benjamin Franklin High School. dents, is welcomed by local economic and Asian groups. City resident Kenneth Wong, who serves on the President's Advisory Commission of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, said it would help Asians connect better with their historical and cultural identity, while giving others a leg up on a language key to the economy. "Chinese are learning English big time, so why shouldn't we learn Mandarin?" asked Joanna Savvides, president of the World Trade Center of Greater Philadelphia.

At Ben Franklin High, Asian students who already have some grasp of Mandarin are in one class, while African American students who are learning from scratch are in another. The 200-student international academy also teaches Asian history. Principal Chris Johnson said he hoped to add Russian and other languages and draw students from those racial groups to the school, too. "We want the school to represent the neighborhood," said Johnson, whose school last year was 93 percent black and only a half-percent Asian, even though it serves Chinatown. The effort has been supported by the Home and School Association and others.

Christina Trawick, 17, a senior, said she liked that she had been able to help Asian students with English and that they had aided her with Mandarin. "When I go into whatever field I want to go into," she said, "I know this is what the real world is going to be like. It isn't going to be all African Americans." Contact staff writer Susan Snyder at 21 5-854-4693 or ssnyderphillynews.com. Instructor Yan Li enjoys a lighter moment with Mandarin Chinese students (from left) Robert Denson Solis-Cohen Elementary in the Northeast also added Chinese this year, and McCall, a school of 500 kindergartners through eighth graders in Society Hill, expanded instruction to all grades. Vallas said he plans to open a new high school in Chinatown, where residents have wanted their own school.

The school would require four years in Chinese and function as a dual-language program, with Chinese students becoming stronger in English and English-speaking students learning Mandarin. Vallas also will mandate that Alex Xander and Darnell Gates at Conestoga High in the Tredyf-frinEasttown district, which also has an exchange program with a school in Shanghai, and the newly opened Folk Arts and Cultural Treasures Charter School in Philadelphia's Chinatown section. The charter teaches Mandarin to its 271 students in kindergarten through fifth grade. Other school districts are considering it. "It is a priority as we look ahead for our world-language program," said Susan Bastnagel of the Cherry Hill School District.

Philadelphia's effort, targeted at Asian and non-Asian stu- Yan Li teaches her class to sing "Happy Birthday" in Mandarin. Benjamin Franklin High added the language this year. Foreign Languages Offered in Philadelphia School District Spanish: 15,000 students in 51 schools. French: 2,300 students in 20 schools. Chinese: 1,710 students in 9 schools.

Other languages in order of enrollment are Italian, Latin, German, Russian, Japanese and Hebrew. SOURCE: Philadelphia School District the five new high schools opening in the city in 2006 offer Chinese along with Spanish. Northeast, the city's largest high school, will add the course next year, too. And the district will cultivate programs in their feeder schools. The move comes as lawmakers and national groups are calling for more instruction in Chinese.

The Portland, school district has received program funding from the Defense Department, a nod to the language's national security importance because it's a major world language. Other districts, including Chicago, Houston, Boston and Charlotte, N.C., have started or bolstered offerings in recent years. Proposals have arisen in Congress to upgrade Chinese education, including one calling for more than $1 billion in funding. And the College Board next year will begin offering an Advanced Placement course in Chinese. Nearly 2,400 schools told the New York-based group in a survey last year that they were interested in offering it.

"That's so much more than we've ever seen demonstrate an interest in a language," said Trevor Packer, executive director of the AP program, comparing the numbers with the few hundred schools expressing interest in new Japanese and Russian AP courses. The number of students enrolled in Chinese courses nationally has increased dramatically, said Marty Abbott, director of education for the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages in Virginia. Roughly, 5,000 students took it in 2000, compared with 24,000 in 2002 the latest figures available, she said. Still, Chinese is far behind the nation's most popular foreign language Spanish which enrolls more than four million, as well as French and German. The biggest challenge for schools is finding qualified Chinese instructors.

Philadelphia has had to hire some who are fluent in Chinese but do not have degrees in language instruction. They are enrolled in teacher-education programs as they work. The College Board is offering help nationally to get teachers trained and develop lower-level Chinese courses that will prepare students for the rigor of AP, Packer said. Several other local public schools offer Chinese, including Erma Wiggins writes down Chinese characters. Ben Franklin High has drawn 40 students from nearby Chinatown with the new focus..