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News Briefs
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NEWS BRIEFS Jul-22-2005
By Catholic News Service
U.S.
Catholic University of America offers summer housing for interns
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Summer in Washington means two things: humidity and an influx of interns from all around the country. While it may not be able to ease the heat wave, The Catholic University of America makes life easier for the interns by offering them housing in its residential facilities. Prices range from $32 per person per night for an apartment-style room to $23 per person per night for an air-conditioned double-occupancy room. Amelie Brogden, the university's associate director for conferences and event planning, said some parents are "unnerved" by the fact that the university, in the northeast section of the District of Columbia, is in the middle of the city. But "most students feel the excitement" of its urban setting "and are energized by it," she said in an interview with Catholic News Service.
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A la 'Matrix,' vocations recruitment poster shows priest as hero
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- "Just as Keanu Reeves fought against the powers of evil, a priest comes to help people fight against sin. There is a battle out there," explained Father Jonathan Meyer, associate director of youth and young adult ministry for the Archdiocese of Indianapolis. He made the comments in an interview with Catholic News Service about a new vocations recruitment poster being distributed by his archdiocese. The poster, which is modeled after an advertisement for the movie "The Matrix," is the brainchild of Father Meyer. It features a priest in full cassock -- and the requisite Roman collar -- holding a cross in one hand and a rosary in the other. And he is wearing sunglasses. That simple juxtaposition provides the mood Father Meyer said he was aiming for when creating the poster -- he wanted to say something about today's seminarian. "Today's seminarian," he said, "is engaged with the world but is also committed to orthodoxy, like (Pope) John Paul II."
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Groups focused on abortion quick to weigh in on Supreme Court nominee
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Organizations with a main interest in abortion law and policy were among those to quickly weigh in on Judge John G. Roberts' suitability for serving on the U.S. Supreme Court. President George W. Bush July 19 nominated Roberts, 50, to fill the vacancy on the court created by the retirement of Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. Clarke Forsythe of Americans United for Life, a public interest law firm specializing in abortion and other life issues, said Roberts is "an experienced jurist with impeccable credentials. ... Judges are not legislators. We should all appreciate the president's determination to nominate someone he is confident will interpret the law rather than make it." Forsythe said the Senate "should take care to only question Judge Roberts regarding his judicial philosophy rather than specific issues that would force him to recuse himself when those cases are brought before the court." A federal appeals court judge for the District of Columbia, Roberts is a Catholic who has represented both Bush and the Reagan administration in private practice and as a deputy U.S. solicitor general and as an aide to the attorney general and the White House counsel.
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Religious leaders voice doubts about CAFTA treaty
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- As the House of Representatives was preparing to vote on the proposed Central American Free Trade Agreement, religious voices were casting doubts about who would really benefit if the treaty were implemented. At a July 21 prayer breakfast organized by the Interfaith Working Group on Trade and Investment, clergy from both the United States and Central American nations that would be included in the treaty voiced strong reservations about the treaty and its intended effects. U.S.-born Auxiliary Bishop David A. Zywiec of Bluefields, Nicaragua, said that when Central America's bishops discussed CAFTA last November, they asked themselves, "How does this help human development? How does this help human dignity? How does this help people get time off for vacation? How does this help people help the children and their schools?" "These are some of the human values" that should be present in a treaty, but are currently lacking in CAFTA, Bishop Zywiec said.
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WORLD
Vatican says refusing vaccines must be weighed against health threats
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Vatican urged parents to use caution when deciding not to inoculate their children against infectious diseases when so-called "ethical vaccines" are not yet available. In a paper, the Vatican's Pontifical Academy for Life reaffirmed a person's right to abstain from receiving vaccines that were prepared from cells derived from aborted fetuses, but it said such a choice must be made after carefully considering whether refusing the vaccination would pose serious health risks to the child and the larger public. "We are responsible for all people, not just ourselves," Msgr. Jacques Suaudeau, a medical doctor and official at the Pontifical Academy for Life, told Catholic News Service. "If it is a question of protecting the whole population and avoiding death and malformation in others, that is more important" than abstaining from vaccines developed from abortions that might have occurred decades ago, he said. The academy's paper, "Moral Reflections on Vaccines Prepared From Cells Derived From Aborted Human Fetuses," was based on a study of the issue resulting from a request by a Largo, Fla.-based pro-life group, Children of God for Life.
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Inefficiency slowed tsunami response on Indian islands, bishop says
BALTIMORE (CNS) -- Inefficiency, laziness and corruption on the part of government officials are plaguing the recovery from last December's tsunami on India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands, an Indian bishop said. Bishop Aleixo das Neves Dias of Port Blair said the government was unprepared to respond to the islands' needs, but also lacked the "good will" necessary to accommodate the dozens of nongovernmental organizations that arrived on the islands after the disaster. The Andaman and Nicobar Islands is an Indian territory located about 120 miles from the southern tip of Banda Aceh, Indonesia, the epicenter of the Dec. 26 undersea earthquake that sent giant waves sweeping across the Indian Ocean region, killing at least 225,000 people. Bishop Dias said church officials pleaded with local government officials in the days after the disaster to allow the church to help the people, but the government was intent on controlling all aspects of the relief operation, which delayed the response to island residents.
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Long lines, short prayers await visitors to Pope John Paul II's tomb
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- In addition to the normal logjams created by security screening and checks to ensure modest dress, the lines at St. Peter's Basilica are longer than the summer norm because of visitors to Pope John Paul II's tomb. More than three months after the pope's April 2 death, the Vatican is still running a separate line just for visitors to his tomb. The line takes visitors around the outside of St. Peter's Basilica, directly into the underground grotto, past the tomb and outside again. Those who want to visit the church must then get into a short, quick line. A few visitors pause first at the tombs of Popes Paul VI and John Paul I in the grotto, and almost all of them stop before the icon above the tomb of St. Peter, but obviously the recently deceased pope's final resting place is the visitors' goal. Only a lucky, persistent few have a chance to pray before the tomb. With the long lines and, especially, pilgrimage groups wanting to see the tomb, the basilica's ushers rather brusquely keep the lines moving.
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Pre-Vatican II Latin Mass to be celebrated during World Youth Day
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Apparently for the first time in the history of World Youth Day, young Catholics dedicated to the pre-Vatican II Latin Mass and devotions will have Vatican-approved opportunities to pray with the old liturgies. Organizers of the "Juventutem" pilgrimage said they expect at least 2,000 young people from 20 countries to join their World Youth Day activities Aug. 10-15 in and around Dusseldorf, Germany, before moving to Cologne for the international gathering with Pope Benedict XVI. The movement brings together youth groups from a variety of parishes and organizations operating under the terms of "Ecclesia Dei," Pope John Paul II's 1988 norms for maintaining union with the Catholic Church while using the Tridentine Mass. "We have made it explicit to WYD authorities that we expect our liturgical identity to be recognized and indeed welcomed," said a statement published on the group's Web site, www.juventutem.com. "Inviting us to WYD without enabling us to bring the richness of our own traditions would be like inviting a violinist to a philharmonic orchestra without allowing him to play his instrument," the statement said.
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Canadian bishops say marriage bill changes nature of moral law
OTTAWA (CNS) -- The new Canadian law allowing same-sex marriages changes the nature of "moral values and principles," the Canadian bishops said. "The fundamental and universal reality of marriage remains the exclusive union of a man and a woman for life. From the perspective of the Catholic Church, the new federal statute denatures the moral values and principles," the bishops said in a July 20 statement. The statement noted that some Catholics, including politicians, promoted the redefinition of marriage. "In this regard, they are in dissent from the teaching of the church as enunciated by the Holy Father and the bishops. This is a serious and problematic matter," the bishops said. "Canadians in general have been and remain deeply divided about changing the nature of marriage and altering its basic meaning. It is clear this debate is far from over and that it will be a significant issue in the upcoming federal election," the bishops said.
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PEOPLE
Retired deacon's new joke book provides humor for clergy
CHESHIRE, Conn. (CNS) -- "Did you wake up grumpy this morning?" "No, I just let him sleep in." This is a favorite joke of a deacon who has compiled a book of jokes specifically designed for use by the clergy. But the word "grumpy" is definitely a little-used word in Deacon Don Lowe's vocabulary, unless it is included in the context of a joke. At age 91, the retired deacon from St. Bridget Parish in Cheshire, in the Hartford Archdiocese, said a sense of humor has certainly contributed to his longevity. In an interview with The Catholic Observer, newspaper of the neighboring Diocese of Springfield, Mass., the deacon said he was recovering from triple-bypass surgery when he decided to go through a boxful of jokes he collected over the years. At age 89, he bought a computer and used it to turn the collection into a book: "Deacon Jokes That a Pastor Can Tell -- Possibly Even a Bishop." It can be ordered from Amazon.com. Deacon Lowe wrote the book to give members of the clergy clean jokes and one-liners designed to raise spirits and open doors. All profits from the sales benefit the Hartford Archdiocese's diaconate program.
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Cardinal Rigali meets with president of Lebanon
PHILADELPHIA (CNS) -- Although it is "an imperfect model," Lebanon is an example of Christian and Muslim co-existence, Cardinal Justin Rigali of Philadelphia said after returning from a trip to the Middle Eastern country. Cardinal Rigali met July 8 with Lebanese President Emile Jamil Lahoud, a Maronite Catholic, while he was in Lebanon to deliver the commencement address at Notre Dame University. Lebanon's constitution requires the president to be a Maronite Catholic, the prime minister a Sunni Muslim and the speaker of the Parliament a Shiite Muslim, creating a balance of power among the three groups. "Lebanon has the largest Catholic population in the Middle East," the cardinal told The Catholic Standard & Times, his archdiocesan newspaper. "While there have been problems, it is a model for coexistence (between Christians and Muslims), although an imperfect model. The stability of Lebanon is extremely important."
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Pope confers title of knighthood on rabbi
PITTSBURGH (CNS) -- In an honor rarely conferred on people of other faiths, Pittsburgh Bishop Donald W. Wuerl invested Rabbi Walter Jacob, rabbi emeritus of Rodef Shalom Congregation, into the Order of St. Gregory the Great. The knighthood was granted through the late Pope John Paul II. The ceremony in mid-June formed part of a daylong tribute to Rabbi Jacob celebrating his 50 years of service to Rodef Shalom in Pittsburgh's Oakland neighborhood and his 75th birthday. Rabbi Jacob, who retired eight years ago, is a native of Germany and the 18th generation of his family to enter the rabbinate. In retirement, he has played a key role in restoring Reform Judaism in Germany, where he lives for part of each year and where he serves as chief rabbi of Munich. The papal honor, Bishop Wuerl said, "is an acknowledgment by the church of the personal character and honorable reputation, together with the generous use of personal talents and gifts for the good of the church, the faith and the good of the wider community of all of God's children."
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Copyright (c) 2005 Catholic News Service/USCCB. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed.
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