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News Briefs
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NEWS BRIEFS Apr-21-2005
By Catholic News Service
U.S.
As cardinal Pope Benedict visited United States several times
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI visited the United States on several occasions when he was still Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, a German theologian at the Vatican long regarded as Pope John Paul II's closest collaborator. On those visits and in other dealings with U.S. church leaders, he expressed his views on a wide range of issues, from theological dissent to seminary formation, from Scripture study to the cultural challenges to faith. On one such visit he said the only power the papacy has "is power of conscience." Head of the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith for nearly 24 years before his election to the papacy April 19, Pope Benedict came to Dallas and St. Paul-Minneapolis in 1984, New York in 1988, Philadelphia and Washington in 1990, Dallas in 1991 and San Francisco in 1999.
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Former review board members say pope will help solve sex abuse crisis
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- As then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, Pope Benedict XVI expressed more interest in solving the U.S. clergy sex abuse crisis than many U.S. bishops and cardinals, said two former members of the U.S. bishops' National Review Board. They met the future pope in 2004 when he was head of the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. "Unlike many U.S. bishops and cardinals in the U.S. -- some who treated us with disdain -- he wanted to hear what was going on in the United States," said Illinois Appellate Court Justice Anne M. Burke. She was interim president of the review board when she and two other members visited with Cardinal Ratzinger at his Vatican office on Jan. 25, 2004. William R. Burleigh, another board member, said that the cardinal expressed a deep awareness and concern about the sex abuse problem.
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U.S. bishops recall warm personal memories of future Pope Benedict
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- U.S. bishops across the country recalled warm personal encounters with then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger following his April 19 election as Pope Benedict XVI. But none was as close as that of Auxiliary Bishop Ignatius A. Catanello of Brooklyn, N.Y., who remembered literally banging into a "priest" in a black cassock while walking through the streets of Rome a few years ago with Bishop Gerald M. Barbarito of Palm Beach, Fla., then also a Brooklyn auxiliary bishop. When Bishop Catanello saw the shock of white hair he realized he had run into the German cardinal who headed the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. "He couldn't have been nicer," Bishop Catanello said in an April 19 interview with The Tablet, Brooklyn diocesan newspaper. "He asked us where we were from. He was very humble, just like the man we saw on the Vatican balcony today -- a simple servant."
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Benedict marks return of choosing curial official for papacy
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- With the election of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger as Pope Benedict XVI, the College of Cardinals returned to choosing a seasoned Vatican curial official to head the church after two elections in which the cardinals opted for residential bishops known for their pastoral work. The new pope's two immediate predecessors -- Popes John Paul I and John Paul II -- had no curial experience and headed major archdioceses in Italy and Poland, respectively, at the time of their elections. The April 19 election signifies different concerns by the cardinals in 2005 than in 1978 when the two previous popes were elected, said Frank Coppa, history professor at St. John's University in New York and author of several books on the papacy. Now the focus is more on the papacy and centralized church authority, he told Catholic News Service in a telephone interview, and Pope Benedict represents continuity.
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Bishop: Abuse trial offers chance to renew commitment to child safety
OAKLAND, Calif. (CNS) -- Oakland Bishop Allen H. Vigneron, responding to a jury awarding $1.9 million to two victims in a sex abuse case against the Oakland Diocese, said the trial and its outcome "give us one more occasion to renew our commitment" to ensure the safety of children. "That is our commitment," he said, "and we will not draw back from it." An Alameda County Superior Court jury awarded damages to Robert and Tom Thatcher, who had charged that they were molested by Father Robert Ponciroli when he was pastor of St. Ignatius Parish in Antioch two decades ago. The jury delivered its verdict April 13 after several hours of deliberation. Bishop Vigneron, who testified at the trial, said in a statement that the sex abuse scandal has been "one of the most difficult issues I have had to face since coming to serve as the bishop of Oakland." He has headed the diocese since January 2003.
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Milwaukee archbishop to hold off on new programs to monitor priests
MILWAUKEE (CNS) -- After the priests of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee received information about two new programs intended to support and monitor clergy involved in misconduct or those who suffer from addictions, Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan said he has suspended the programs indefinitely because of negative reaction from his priests. The Clerical Support Initiative, known as CSI, spelled out monitoring protocols for priests or deacons involved in sexual misconduct with an adult or clerics who have been arrested for disorderly conduct, lewd and lascivious behavior or who suffer from drug, alcohol, gambling or sexual addictions. The Clergy Advocacy and Monitoring Program, called CAMP, is for priests or deacons facing substantiated complaints of, or ongoing investigations into, sexual misconduct with minors. The intent of both programs, according to Deacon David Zimprich, a retired Milwaukee Police lieutenant who was to oversee them, is not only to monitor offending priests, but to offer them a support system.
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Seminary museum contains cardinals' memorabilia from three conclaves
CHICAGO (CNS) -- When Pius XII became pope on March 2, 1939, Chicago's Cardinal George Mundelein was among the cardinal-electors in the Sistine Chapel. Though the cardinals are sworn to secrecy about details of the voting, Cardinal Mundelein stuffed his pockets with cards, trinkets and other souvenirs from the papal election before returning to Chicago. They are now preserved in a small museum in the library of the seminary and town that bear his name, the University of St. Mary of the Lake-Mundelein Seminary in Mundelein. "Cardinal Mundelein had a propensity for collecting memorabilia," Father Thomas Baima, university provost, told The Catholic New World, newspaper of the Chicago Archdiocese. "He brought back several interesting pieces that afford us a glimpse of the 1939 conclave." The museum also has a similar collection of souvenirs that Cardinal John Cody brought back from the 1978 conclave in which Pope John Paul I was elected. After the pope's death 34 days later, Cardinal Cody returned to Rome for the conclave that elected Pope John Paul II.
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WORLD
From hardliner to humble shepherd: Pope looks to transform perception
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- For more than 23 years, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger's public image was that of a brilliant but strict guardian of Catholic orthodoxy, a man who did not hesitate to crack down on errant theologians or risk offending other religions if doctrinal clarity was at stake. Until recently, most people in Rome discounted the idea that he could ever be elected pope. He was simply too controversial and might divide the church, according to the prevailing wisdom. So when the 78-year-old German emerged from the conclave April 19 as Pope Benedict XVI -- after just four ballots -- it represented a turnaround of sorts. From the comments of several cardinals afterward, it became clear that a significant change in perception had occurred among some of the voters, and that this helped propel Cardinal Ratzinger past the two-thirds majority needed for election.
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Opus Dei head calls election of Pope Benedict 'moment of great joy'
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The election of the new pope was "a moment of great joy for the entire church," said the head of Opus Dei, who added, "I assure Benedict XVI of our fullest union both with him and with his teachings." In a press statement, Bishop Javier Echevarria Rodriguez of Opus Dei pledged the group's support for the new pontiff. The pope "knows he can count on the cheerful efforts of the priests and lay people who form part of" Opus Dei, Bishop Echevarria said. Saying he was struck by "the church's marvelous continuity," the Opus Dei prelate also referred to the enormous worldwide outpouring of emotion and "marvelous manifestation of faith on the part of millions of persons" that followed the death of Pope John Paul II.
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U.S. cardinals say pope will support U.S. norms on clergy sex abuse
ROME (CNS) -- U.S. Cardinal Francis E. George of Chicago said he believes Pope Benedict XVI will help work to renew special norms in place in the United States for dealing with clergy sex abuse. The "Essential Norms" laid out a strict policy on clerical sex abuse, providing for removal from ministry or laicization of priests or deacons who have sexually abused minors. The Vatican approved the norms on an experimental basis for a two-year period beginning in March 2003. This March, it extended the current norms until the bishops adopt revisions and the Vatican approves them. Cardinal George, who is part of a mixed commission of U.S. bishops and Vatican officials, talked to reporters April 20 at Rome's North American College the day after the College of Cardinals elected the new pope. When a reporter asked the cardinal if he thought Pope Benedict would renew the norms, Cardinal George said: "There is reason to believe so. I believe he will."
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Pope again delights pilgrims with visit to his old apartment
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI delighted pilgrims and passers-by for the second day in a row as he went outside the Vatican walls to visit his old apartment. A crowd of several hundred people thronged the apartment entrance April 21 after the new pope arrived in a car and went inside, apparently to rearrange his belongings for the move into the Vatican's Apostolic Palace. The evening before, the pope kissed two French children on his way out of the apartment. "I'm really very touched," Pope Benedict said, smiling, as he waved to the crowd. The pope also took time to drop in on some of his neighbors in the building, which stands just across the street from Vatican City and houses several cardinals. "It was like a good neighbor saying goodbye," Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos, who lives in the building, said after the pope stopped by.
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We Are Church hopes Pope Benedict seeks consensus, promotes peace
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- An international movement pushing for changes in the church said it hoped Pope Benedict XVI would be a peacemaker, rather than a rigid disciplinarian, an image he gained during 24 years as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. "We Are Church earnestly hopes that Pope Benedict XVI will be encouraged and strengthened by all the people of God to regain his earlier theological courage and creativity and place this at the service of the church," the We Are Church movement said in a press release. "I'm cautiously optimistic," Australian church historian Paul Collins told Catholic News Service after the election. Collins, who resigned from the priesthood in 2002, four years after the doctrinal congregation launched an investigation into a book he had written, was in Rome for a series of We Are Church press briefings about the challenges the new pope faces.
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Missionaries say pope must continue dialogue with other religions
ROME (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI must help lead the church to continue its dialogue with other religions, two members of the Society of African Missions told Catholic News Service. "Interreligious dialogue is an unavoidable question in the world today," said Father Justo Lacunza Balda, director of the Pontifical Institute for Islamic and Arabic Studies, based in Rome. Father Kieran O'Reilly, superior general of the Society of African Missions, agreed that the new pope must "emphasize interreligious dialogue," especially since it is an issue that "won't go away." However, Father Lacunza expressed concern that the past 24 years Pope Benedict spent as a top official in the Roman Curia would hinder his ability to relate to the challenges present elsewhere in the world today.
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Orthodox leaders predict improved relations with Pope Benedict
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Orthodox leaders are predicting improved relations with the Catholic Church under Pope Benedict XVI. "The new pope, an excellent theologian, will value our church's wealth of theology and spirituality and wish to cooperate with it and support theological dialogue," said Ecumenical Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, spiritual leader of the world's 250 million Orthodox Christians. In an April 20 statement, the patriarch said he welcomed "with satisfaction and hope" the election of former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, adding that the German background of the pope offered "hope and certainty that he will be able to express the significance of unity or at least of peaceful cooperation." Russian Orthodox Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow said he also counted on improved Catholic-Orthodox relations. "I sincerely hope Your Holiness's pontificate will be marked by the development of good relations between our churches and fruitful Orthodox-Catholic dialogue," Patriarch Alexy said in a congratulatory message.
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PEOPLE
Pope Benedict likes verbal sparring, thinks God has sense of humor
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The cardinals who elected Pope Benedict XVI and the priests who worked with him at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith had a common message about the new pope: Do not believe everything reporters have told you. While the 78-year-old German theologian spent 24 years defending Catholic doctrine and moral teaching, there was always a deeply spiritual, quiet, kind pastor behind the pronouncements, they said. The then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger's conclusions about specific theologians and their teaching, about trends in theology and about moral questions have been described either as clear or as sharp. Some may debate whether as prefect of the congregation he always had to act when he did or if advancement in theology requires time and room for debate and correction by colleagues; but when Cardinal Ratzinger put on his scholar's hat and engaged in public debates with other scholars, there was no denying the twinkle in his eyes and the smile on his lips. He enjoyed the sparring.
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Pope renames Cardinal Sodano as secretary of state
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI made his first appointment to the Roman Curia by nominating Italian Cardinal Angelo Sodano to remain as secretary of state. An April 21 Vatican statement said the pope also confirmed for the time being all heads of curial departments and the president of the office governing Vatican City State, U.S. Cardinal Edmund C. Szoka. Pope John Paul II first named Cardinal Sodano to his post at the Secretariat of State in 1991. Curial appointments generally last for five years, with the possibility of renewal. Regarding the other curial heads, the statement used the Latin term "donec aliter provideatur" -- meaning "until otherwise provided" -- signifying that the new pope might make changes once he has settled in.
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Singer-songwriter reaches teens, adults with Christian message
NORWALK, Conn. (CNS) -- "I've never seen anybody capture the hearts of teenagers like Sean Forrest does," said Maria Aguirre, youth minister at St. James Church in Stratford. Singer-songwriter Forrest is a thirtysomething whose true-to-life messages and upbeat music seem to reach teens and their families in remarkable ways. As founder of Movin' With the Spirit ministry, Forrest brings his music and message to more than 30,000 teens and 10,000 adults yearly through his concerts and the more than 100 Confirmation retreats he leads. His basic message, said Forrest, is that "God is real. He loves you. And he's calling you. Are you listening? You can't be a Catholic and do nothing."
END
Copyright (c) 2005 Catholic News Service/USCCB. All rights reserved.
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