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News Briefs
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NEWS BRIEFS Mar-29-2005
By Catholic News Service
U.S.
Parish ownership being tested in archdiocesan bankruptcy
PORTLAND, Ore. (CNS) -- The U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Portland took a first step in March toward addressing the question of whether Catholic parish assets in western Oregon belong to the local parish or to the Portland Archdiocese. Judge Elizabeth Perris March 14 granted the parishes and an alumni-parent group from Central Catholic High School in Portland status to participate in court proceedings related to determining assets in the archdiocese's bankruptcy case. In a separate development Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas of Tucson, Ariz., said in late March that parties in his diocese's bankruptcy case "have made significant progress negotiating a global resolution" and could reach a final agreement by the end of June. The Portland Archdiocese filed for bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Act last July and the Tucson Diocese followed suit in September. Both faced clergy sexual abuse lawsuits seeking millions of dollars in damages. The Diocese of Spokane, Wash., facing similar circumstances, made a Chapter 11 filing in December.
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Church social teaching called viable political option to right, left
MINNEAPOLIS (CNS) -- Voters whose politics are guided by Catholic social teaching and who therefore believe they cannot wholly support either of today's major political parties may have reason to take heart. People of faith can change things, the Rev. Jim Wallis and Rep. Jim Oberstar, D-Minn., told a March 11 symposium at the University of St. Thomas Law School in Minneapolis. "They can change the wind," said Rev. Wallis, a nondenominational Christian minister and founder of Sojourners, an organization whose mission is to proclaim and practice the biblical call to integrate spiritual renewal with social justice. The author of the New York Times best seller, "God's Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It," Rev. Wallis said Washington is full of politicians who lick their fingers and hold them in the air to see which way the wind is blowing. Those who espouse Catholic social teaching need to change the wind by loudly and continually demonstrating their concern for the sanctity and dignity of human life from conception to natural death, Rev. Wallis said.
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Images of faith, art from Mexico exhibited at Knights' museum
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (CNS) -- A priceless collection of religious art from Mexico is being exhibited for the first time outside the country at the Knights of Columbus Museum in New Haven. "Images of Faith & Art from Mexico," which opened March 23 and runs through Oct. 9, features paintings from the 16th through the 20th centuries, with most from Mexico's colonial era. Paintings in the bilingual exhibit depict the life of Jesus, Mary, bishops and saints including Juan Diego and Rose of Lima. Several images of Our Lady of Guadalupe reflect Mexico's fervent devotion to its national patron saint. "This is the finest collection of religious art ever to come out of Mexico," said Lawrence D. Sowinski, executive director of the museum. The 48 works of art were painted over a 500-year period and represent a blending of Old World, European art with that of local artists to produce a new style that is distinctly Mexican.
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Chicago nun documents hardships in Slovakia under communism
CHICAGO (CNS) -- For many girls in 20th-century Eastern Europe, the small sacrifices offered up daily to God gave them fortitude to withstand years of demeaning treatment and even torture. Many grew up to be religious sisters living in convents and working primarily as schoolteachers before World War II and the Soviet occupation. After the war, Soviets saw these religious communities as threats and began to make life living hell for the sisters. "I worry about children today, because it doesn't seem they learn about sacrifice anymore," said Sister John Vianney Vranak, a Sister of Ss. Cyril and Methodius who has made it her mission to document the experiences of her fellow sisters in Slovakia. "These sisters were truly grateful they were allowed to be united with the sufferings of Christ, for the redemption of the world," Sister Vranak said. Listening to their stories, she said, may make the difference in today's young generation having such strength when faced with difficult times.
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WORLD
Pope's appearances leave many wondering about his health, future
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope John Paul II's abbreviated and poignant Holy Week appearances have left many people worried about his health and wondering about his future schedule. After the pope was unable to pronounce even an Easter blessing to a crowd of 70,000 in St. Peter's Square, newspapers around the world expressed alarm and said it was clear the pope's recovery from a tracheotomy was not going well. "The Excruciating Appearance of the Pope" read the headline March 28 in the French newspaper Le Figaro. "The End of a Pontificate" said the Internet edition of the German paper, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Italian newspapers were already reporting rumors that the 84-year-old pope would be taken again to Rome's Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic, where he had the operation in late February to insert a tube in his throat after a breathing crisis. The Vatican has not issued a statement on his health since March 10, three days before he was released from the hospital.
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Theologians kick off activities to mark Archbishop Romero's murder
SAN SALVADOR (CNS) -- Two prominent liberation theologians kicked off a week of activities to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the assassination of Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar A. Romero. Dominican Father Gustavo Gutierrez, known as the father of liberation theology, spoke about God in Latin America from the perspective of social outcasts. Jesuit Father Jon Sobrino spoke of faith in Jesus, liberation and hope. Both priests spoke to some 800 people who filled the auditorium of Central American University in San Salvador March 28. The crowd, which spilled out onto the adjacent lawn, included local and foreign church leaders, parishioners, students and social justice activists. Father Gutierrez reaffirmed Archbishop Romero's call for the church to be the voice of the voiceless, but noted that "the goal is for those who have no voice to have one."
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CRS sends supplies to Indonesian island; death toll expected to rise
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Catholic Relief Services and other aid agencies sent medical and relief supplies to Indonesia's Nias island after an earthquake of magnitude 8.7 hammered a region still recovering from December's earthquake and tsunamis. At least 330 bodies had been recovered from the March 28 quake on Nias island and its neighbor, Simeulue; government and aid officials said the number could climb to more than 1,000. Among those injured was Capuchin Father Barnabas Winkler, administrator of the Sibolga Diocese, who was seriously hurt when the building he was sleeping in collapsed, said Jonathan Evans, CRS country representative for Indonesia. Unconfirmed reports said Father Winkler was evacuated off the island for medical treatment. CRS leased a 400-ton ship to carry medical supplies, food and other emergency items from Banda Aceh, Indonesia, to Nias, the agency said.
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PEOPLE
Italian newspaper publishes dual critique of papacy, Father Hans Kung
ROME (CNS) -- Pope John Paul II "is not the greatest pope of the 20th century, but the most contradictory," said Father Hans Kung, whose permission to teach as a Catholic theologian was withdrawn 30 years ago. Father Kung's full-page evaluation of the pontificate of Pope John Paul was published March 26 by a leading Italian newspaper, Il Corriere della Sera. The newspaper simultaneously published a full-page critique of Father Kung and his opinions; that critique was written by Vittorio Messori, the journalist whose questions to the pope formed the framework for the pope's 1994 book, "Crossing the Threshold of Hope." In the article, Father Kung said his negative opinion of Pope John Paul has not changed from the first anniversary of the pope's election in 1979, a fact Messori also mentioned as a demonstration of the theologian's "total impenetrability."
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Father Cruz named academic dean at Franciscan School of Theology
BERKELEY, Calif. (CNS) -- Marist Father Faustino "Tito" Cruz, a professor of practical theology and education at the Franciscan School of Theology in Berkeley since 2000, has been named academic dean of the school. He succeeds Franciscan Father Joseph Chinnici, who stepped down after nearly five years in the post. Father Cruz holds a bachelor's degree from the University of the Philippines, master's degrees from the Franciscan School of Theology and the Graduate Theological Union and a doctorate from Boston College. Before coming to the Franciscan school, he worked with migrants and refugees for nearly 20 years at parish, diocesan and national levels. He has served as catechetical consultant, educator, community organizer and pastor in the United States, Latin America and the Philippines.
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Try to remember: Jerry Orbach, prince of the city, prince among men
NEW YORK (CNS) -- To most of the world, he was the droopy-eyed, tough-talking Lennie Briscoe on television's longest-running crime series, "Law & Order." But to New Yorkers, the late Jerry Orbach was a seasoned Broadway stage actor equally at home in musicals, comedy or drama. Which is why the Great White Way's Richard Rodgers Theatre was filled to capacity March 24 to pay fervent tribute to the beloved star of "The Fantasticks," "42nd Street" and "Chicago" who died Dec. 28 at age 69. (The Bronx-born Orbach was the son of a Jewish father and a Catholic mother, and was raised Catholic.) With numerous film and video clips of his most famous roles, there were heartfelt remembrances from many of his colleagues, including Angela Lansbury, Jane Alexander (and her husband, director Ed Sherin), New York University film professor Richard Brown, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and "Law & Order" co-star Sam Waterston, who presided over the proceedings. "Hope you brought your Kleenex," he warned at the outset.
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Italian-born Mayo Clinic doctor a possible candidate for canonization
ST. PAUL, Minn. (CNS) -- A Mayo Clinic doctor who developed surgical procedures that have saved the lives of thousands of children born with heart abnormalities could someday have the title "saint." Bishop Bernard J. Harrington of Winona and Bishop Silvio C. Bonicelli of Parma, Italy, have begun the process for Dr. Giancarlo Rastelli's canonization. "I think lots of miracles happen at the Mayo all the time," said Bishop Harrington, who described Rastelli as "a man of faith, a good mentor and a good example for everybody else who's in the medical field." Bishop Harrington learned about Rastelli when Bishop Bonicelli sent him a letter requesting permission to begin the canonization process. Canon law says the process is to be initiated by the bishop of the diocese where the sainthood candidate has died. Rastelli, an Italian-born surgeon, died in Rochester in 1970 from Hodgkin's disease. He was 36.
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This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed.
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