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News Briefs
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NEWS BRIEFS Nov-1-2005
By Catholic News Service
U.S.
Caritas point man on AIDS links fighting disease to peace, justice
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- World peace, security and justice are key elements in the battle against AIDS, said Father Robert J. Vitillo, Caritas Internationalis special adviser on HIV and AIDS. AIDS itself poses a significant threat to world security if the pandemic remains unchecked, the Geneva-based priest said in a lecture at Georgetown University. In 2000 the U.N. Security Council warned that if HIV and AIDS continued to grow unchecked, the disease "can have a uniquely devastating impact on all sectors and levels of society" and "may pose a risk to stability and security," he said. He said the Catholic Church plays a significant role in combating HIV around the world, working for its prevention, caring for those with the disease and working as an advocate on their behalf. "The Catholic Church has assumed a forceful role in advocating for a just solution to the inequities in treatment access," he said. In the Oct. 24 lecture and an Oct. 27 interview with Catholic News Service, he described signs of real progress against AIDS in some countries, such as Uganda, Thailand and Brazil. But the disease is wreaking havoc in southern Africa, he said, and its spread in the populous nations of India and China could mean serious increases in global figures in coming years.
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U.S. Iraqi Catholics say new constitution violates religious freedom
EL CAJON, Calif. (CNS) -- Iraq's Constitution contradicts its guarantee of religious freedom by requiring civil laws to conform to provisions of Islamic law, according to Iraqi Catholics in the U.S. and abroad. In an Oct. 15 referendum, the constitution was approved by a majority in 16 of Iraq's 18 provinces. The document establishes a federal parliamentary democracy, administered by executive, legislative and judicial bodies. The agreement of civil laws with Islamic law, as the constitution mandates, would be unjust for all citizens, including Muslims, said Chaldean Bishop Sarhad V. Jammo of St. Peter the Apostle Eparchy in El Cajon. For example, Muslims who convert to other faiths can be killed, according to the Quran, he said. "If that becomes civil law, where is the freedom?" The Quran does not recognize women as equal to men, Bishop Jammo told Catholic News Service. According to the Quran, schools must be segregated by gender. A husband can divorce his wife, but a woman cannot divorce her husband. And if a Christian parent becomes a Muslim, the children must also join the Muslim religion, he said.
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Religious rights, international treaty at issue in church tea case
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- As they heard oral arguments Nov. 1 in a case over a religious group's use of a federally prohibited tea in its rituals, the Supreme Court justices seemed inclined to support the Religious Freedom Restoration Act on which the church's case is premised. The Brazilian-based church, O Centro Espirita Beneficiente Uniao Do Vegetal, known as UDV, has only about 140 members in the United States. The case began in 1999 after U.S. Customs agents seized a shipment of hoasca tea, which is used by the church's followers in sacramental rituals that are derived from Amazonian spiritual traditions and Christian theology. The tea is made from plants that contain dimethyltryptamine, a hallucinogen known as DMT, which the federal government classifies as a Schedule I drug under the Controlled Substances Act. Lower federal courts ruled in favor of the church, saying that the government failed to prove a compelling interest in prohibiting its members from using a controlled substance. The small church has attracted the support of more mainstream groups including the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the American Civil Liberties Union, among others, because of the potential implications of a ruling that might allow the government to decide the importance of a religious ritual in relation to federal laws.
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University of North Carolina has new minor in Christianity, culture
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (CNS) -- In what is believed to be a first at a public university in the U.S., the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has launched an interdisciplinary academic minor in the study of Christianity and culture. "Through the minor, students should gain both a critical and appreciative overview of the beliefs, history, expressions and influences of Christianity and Christian peoples," said Christian Smith, a professor of sociology and co-director of the minor. "This will add to our related programs, including the Jewish studies minor and the Middle East studies concentration, which facilitate study of the role and history of other religions," he added. Smith said the curriculum "is designed not to influence or change students' religious faith or practice, but to enhance their knowledge of the role of Christianity over time in the context of art, classics, literature, history, philosophy, politics and sociology."
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Maryknoll, Christophers offer essay, poster contests for students
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Maryknoll and The Christophers each are sponsoring contests designed to harness the creativity of students. Maryknoll's student essay contest, open to students in grades six to 12, asks entrants to tell Pope Benedict XVI about the biggest concerns of youths around the world and how the church might help or tell him what they have learned from someone of another faith. The Christophers' 16th annual poster contest asks students in grades nine to 12 to interpret the theme "You Can Make a Difference" in an original poster, which can feature paintings, photographs, pencil sketches and computer-generated artwork. The deadline for the Maryknoll contest is Dec. 1. Entries in The Christophers' contest must be submitted by Jan. 20. Instructions and a cover sheet for the Maryknoll contest are available online at: www.maryknoll.org/essay. Complete rules and entry forms for The Christophers' contest are available online at: www.christophers.org/contests.html.
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WORLD
Hindu extremists continue attacks against Christians in India
NEW DELHI (CNS) -- Three nuns were attacked Oct. 25 in the latest violence against Christians in India's Rajasthan state. A Hindu fundamentalist spotted five nuns waiting for a bus near Kushalgarh. As the nuns were boarding, the activist and six friends from a nearby Hindu hostel pulled three of the nuns off the steps and attacked them with wooden sticks. On Oct. 16, the date for local celebrations marking the end of the Year of the Eucharist, Bishop Joseph Pathalil of Udaipur was stopped in his vehicle by Hindu extremists. Bishop Pathalil was heading to one of the celebrations in Kushalgarh, more than 130 miles from Udaipur. Police escorting the bishop chased the protesters away, but they stoned the bishop's vehicle on his return journey.
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Pope tells Christians to think of 'death without fear'
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Christians can cultivate a fearless acceptance of death, recognizing that it is a necessary juncture leading from one's journey on earth to one's final destination in heaven, said Pope Benedict XVI. Observing the Nov. 1 feast of All Saints and anticipating the Nov. 2 feast of All Souls, Pope Benedict said these days of offering prayers for departed loved ones can help Christians "think of the mystery of death without fear." "New life, received through baptism, is not subject to the corruption and power of death," he said Nov. 1 before praying his midday Angelus. For Christians, "death is a gateway from the earthly pilgrimage to the home of heaven, where the Father welcomes all his children of every nation, race, people and tongue," he said. He called on Christians to include some time during the two feast days to "think about the mystery of death without fear and cultivate that constant awareness that prepares us to face (death) with serenity."
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Poem penned by U.S. Founding Father discovered in English school
LONDON (CNS) -- A poem written by one of the U.S. Founding Fathers has been discovered in the archives of a Catholic high school in England. Charles Carroll of Carrollton, one of the signers of the 1776 Declaration of Independence, wrote the poem in Latin in 1754 when he was a student in his final year of high school in Saint-Omer, France. It was found in the archives of Stonyhurst College in Clitheroe, England, by Maurice Whitehead, a professor at the University of Wales, Swansea, who is doing research at the Jesuit-run high school. "This is a significant discovery," Jan Graffius, curator of the school's collections, announced Oct 28. "This previously unknown composition is bound to be of immense interest to American scholars." The poem was composed to be read to an unnamed visiting dignitary to the Jesuit high school in Saint-Omer, and it bears Carroll's signature. It is being translated by a group of seven 17- and 18-year-old Latin students at Stonyhurst and their classics teacher, Judith Parkinson.
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Catholic charity won't stop Ugandan aid programs despite staff murder
LONDON (CNS) -- A Catholic charity refused to suspend aid operations in northern Uganda despite mounting fears that the murder of one of its staff signaled more rebel attacks on church workers. Father Pierre Cibambo, Caritas Internationalis desk officer for Africa, said Caritas would continue its work in the region. "Pulling out of northern Uganda is not an option for Caritas; it isn't even possible," Father Cibambo told the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development, or CAFOD, the aid agency of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales. Caritas has worked in northern Uganda for more than 15 years, he said. Okot Stalin, a worker with Caritas in the northern Archdiocese of Gulu, was killed Oct. 26 as he rode his motorcycle to a monitoring program. Stalin was one of two nongovernmental organization workers killed by suspected rebels of the Lord's Resistance Army in three separate attacks Oct. 25 and 26. The murders prompted Oxfam, a British charity, to suspend its operations in two violence-ridden districts of northern Uganda.
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Oblates not vicariously liable for abuse, says Canadian high court
OTTAWA (CNS) -- The Supreme Court of Canada ruled that the Oblates of Mary Immaculate are not vicariously liable for sexual assaults by an employee of a British Columbia residential school during the 1950s and '60s. The Supreme Court's 8-1 ruling Oct. 28 said that the Oblates are not liable because the employee in question was not hired to supervise children. The Oblates still can be held negligent by a trial court. Martin Saxey, an employee at the Christie Residential School on Meares Island, lured a student to Saxey's private residence with a promise of candy, court documents said. The student was 7 years old when the abuse began in 1957 and 11 or 12 when it stopped. He did not tell anyone at the school, and none of the religious workers at the school detected anything wrong with Saxey's behavior toward any student, said a Supreme Court summary of the case. The court ruled that Saxey, who worked as the school's baker, motorboat operator and handyman, did not have direct supervision of children, nor did his work "involve any degree of intimacy."
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PEOPLE
Quarterback visits Maryland Catholic school to promote education
WESTMINSTER, Md. (CNS) -- Purple fever swept through St. John School in Westminster Oct. 25 when Baltimore Ravens' quarterback Kyle Boller visited some of his biggest and youngest fans. Addressing 500 purple-clad, cheering students in the gym, the 24-year-old California native said education is the key to their future. "To be what you want to be, education has to come first," said Boller, who graduated from the University of California at Berkeley with a degree in American studies. "Nothing is going to be easy," he said. "You have to keep working hard. You've got to listen to your teachers." Boller's visit was made possible by a 9-year-old St. John fourth-grader, Lexi Kresslein, who won a sweepstakes sponsored by the J.C. Penney Afterschool program. Boller was one of 34 National Football League players who visited schools across the country to promote education.
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Trenton parish joins Alito's mother in celebrating his nomination
TRENTON, N.J. (CNS) -- The nomination of Judge Samuel Alito Jr. to the U.S. Supreme Court Oct. 31 was big news around Our Lady of Sorrows Parish in the Trenton suburb of Hamilton, the parish where Alito grew up, received the sacraments of first Communion, confirmation and marriage, and served as a lector. If Alito is confirmed, he will become the second native son of Trenton to serve on the highest judicial bench in the land. The other is Associate Justice Antonin Scalia, who is also a Catholic. The 55-year-old Alito was baptized at Sacred Heart Parish in Trenton. Alito's mother, Rose, who will turn 91 later this year, remains an active member of the parish, now known as Our Lady of Sorrows-St. Anthony. Early Oct. 31, the atmosphere around Fenwood Avenue, where Alito and his sister, Rosemary, grew up and his mother still lives, began to hum with excitement. Rose Alito said she had learned the news earlier from her son, and found out that President George W. Bush had made the announcement when the first of countless telephone calls came in.
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Maryknoll award goes to director of U.S. Catholic mission group
TUCSON, Ariz. (CNS) -- Sister Rosanne Rustemeyer, executive director of the U.S. Catholic Mission Association for the past nine years, received Maryknoll's fourth annual James Keller Award at Mission Congress 2005 in Tucson in mid-October. The School Sister of Notre Dame was honored for being "on the forefront of mission promotion work in conjunction with the American bishops, and for her efforts to engage a growing number of young Americans in mission both here and overseas," said Maryknoll Father John Barth. In addition to her work with the mission association, Sister Rosanne served as coordinator of the Catholic Mission Forum, a coalition of groups that sponsored the congress, and as a consultant to the U.S. bishops' Committee on World Mission. The Keller award is an ongoing commemoration of the life of the Maryknoll missionary who founded The Christophers in 1945, with the belief that every individual has the power and the responsibility to change the world for the better.
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