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News Briefs
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NEWS BRIEFS Mar-27-2006
By Catholic News Service
U.S.
Church's credibility with minorities called important in AIDS work
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The credibility of the church among minorities makes it an important institution in HIV/AIDS prevention and education programs at the local level, said Catholic officials involved in African-American and Hispanic ministry. This credibility helps break down the taboos, stigmas and misconceptions associated with the disease, said Beverly Carroll, executive director of the U.S. bishops' Secretariat for African-American Catholics, and Ronaldo Cruz, executive director of the bishops' Secretariat for Hispanic Affairs. In both minority groups, the percentage of people infected with the AIDS virus is much higher than their percentages in the overall U.S. population. In the African-American community people are afraid they will be identified "as someone who is promiscuous, who has had sex outside of marriage or who is a drug abuser," said Carroll. The result is that people are afraid to get tested, she said. Cruz said the Hispanic value system opposes homosexuality and "there is a cultural norm which seems to say that if you have AIDS you're gay." A lack of knowledge means that people do not understand that the disease "can be contracted by innocent people," he said.
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Catholic statements on immigration legislation have common themes
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- As hundreds of thousands of people marched in cities across the country in support of comprehensive immigration reform, Catholic bishops in various states joined the chorus of voices calling on Congress to do more than crack down on illegal immigrants. The Senate Judiciary Committee was to take up immigration legislation the last week of March, pressured by Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., to quickly turn a completed bill over to the full Senate. As committee and floor votes neared, immigrants, church activists, union members and others who are pressing for change led rallies and marches in Washington, Milwaukee, Phoenix, Chicago, Denver and other cities. The Saturday before the Senate returned from a weeklong break to consider the bill, more than half a million people marched in downtown Los Angeles. Bishops from Georgia, Arizona, New York, California, Pennsylvania and Colorado are among those who have issued pastoral letters or public statements in recent months about immigration and what they would like legislation to address.
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'Da Vinci Code' lies could bring more interest in faith, speaker says
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (CNS) -- Instead of fearing or trashing "The Da Vinci Code," people of faith should view it as a much-needed vaccine against ignorance, according to Thomas Ryan, chairman of the religious studies department at St. Thomas University in Miami. "It is a novel that holds a mirror up to us -- to silly academics and people who misuse facts," Ryan told a group of Protestant, Catholic and Jewish leaders gathered March 22 for the monthly clergy dialogue sponsored by the National Conference for Community and Justice. He said talking about the popular book -- and upcoming movie -- should "strengthen our congregations to be able to deal with what's out there" in terms of religious ignorance and misconceptions. "This is a vaccine," said Ryan, whose area of specialization is medieval church history. "This articulates the silliness that's out there. We could use it as a way of inoculating ourselves."
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Opus Dei unveils new Web site in 22 languages
NEW YORK (CNS) -- In its fourth design in the past decade, Opus Dei has launched a new version of its Web site at www.opusdei.org. The Web site, which was visited by more than 3 million people in 2005, offers information about Opus Dei as well as news about the Catholic Church and the pope. It is now available in 22 languages. "'The Da Vinci Code' has definitely increased the number of visitors to our Web site," said Peter Bancroft of the Opus Dei communications office in New York. "In 2005, we had 15 million page hits, from 3 million different visitors. Just on the U.S. version of the site, we have had a million visitors to our page about 'The Da Vinci Code.'" An improved press room section of the site offers contact information for Opus Dei press offices around the world, as well as backgrounders, press releases and audiovisual materials on the organization.
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WORLD
Pope gives new cardinals rings, symbols of union with church
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Placing a special ring on the fingers of 15 new cardinals, Pope Benedict XVI emphasized their relationship with him and with the universal church. "The ring is always a nuptial sign," he told the new cardinals during the Mass March 25, the feast of the Annunciation of the Lord. "May your acceptance of the ring be for you a renewal of your 'yes,' your 'here I am,' addressed both to the Lord Jesus who chose you ... and to his holy church, which you are called to serve with the love of a spouse," the pope said in his homily. U.S. Cardinal William J. Levada, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, was the first to kneel on a cushion in front of the pope, extend his right hand and receive his ring. With each cardinal, including Boston Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley, the pope slipped the ring on the finger and said, "Receive the ring from the hand of Peter and know that with the love of the prince of the apostles your love for the church will be reinforced."
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Pope visits modernistic Rome church commissioned by his predecessor
ROME (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI visited a modernistic Rome church commissioned by Pope John Paul II and read from a sermon his predecessor prepared shortly before his death. In his final days, the late pope worried that the world was succumbing to selfishness, fear and the power of evil, Pope Benedict told several hundred parishioners at the Church of God the Merciful Father on the outskirts of Rome March 26. Pope John Paul was scheduled to deliver the sermon April 3, 2005, one week after Easter. "In the divine plan, it was written that he should leave us on April 2, the eve of that day, and therefore could not pronounce these words," Pope Benedict said. Pope Benedict then quoted from the text, released last year by the Vatican. "To humanity, which sometimes seems lost and dominated by the power of evil, selfishness and fear, the risen Lord offers the gift of his love which forgives, reconciles and opens the spirit to hope once again," Pope John Paul wrote.
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Pope urges Afghan officials to drop charges against Christian
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI has urged Afghan authorities to drop charges against a man who faces possible execution for converting to Christianity. A Vatican telegram March 25 to Afghan President Hamid Karzai said the pope's appeal was inspired by "profound human compassion" and by "the firm belief in the dignity of human life and respect for every person's freedom of conscience and religion." Abdul Rahman, 41, was jailed after declaring his conversion to police officers. He reportedly became a Christian several years ago, after working for a Christian aid agency in Pakistan. Afghanistan's Supreme Court said Rahman could face the death penalty unless he reverts to Islam, prompting a worldwide outcry. On March 26, Afghan civil authorities appeared to defuse the situation when they ordered a mental evaluation for Rahman and suspended the case. The telegram on behalf of the pope was signed by Cardinal Angelo Sodano, Vatican secretary of state.
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Time ripe for improvement in Vatican-China relations, official says
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The time is ripe for improvement in Vatican-China relations, said a top Vatican official. In interviews with a Hong Kong television station and local newspaper, South China Morning Post, the Vatican's foreign minister, Archbishop Giovanni Lajolo, said there was hope for an eventual normalization of relations between the two states. "The fact itself of (China) entering into unofficial contacts is an attitude not of closure but of openness," the archbishop told the Hong Kong-based newspaper. While official diplomatic ties have been severed since 1951, some sort of improvement may be on the horizon, he added. "The time is ripe," the archbishop said March 25 on a Hong Kong cable television program. "We hope for an opening on the part of the Chinese authorities, who cannot ignore the expectations of their people or the signs of the times."
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Bolivian bishops say constitutional assembly could be opportunity
LA PAZ, Bolivia (CNS) -- Bolivia's bishops said the upcoming assembly charged with rewriting Bolivia's Constitution could be a great opportunity to build "bridges of encounter and reconciliation." In a pastoral letter, "Let Us Build a Bolivia for All," issued March 22, the bishops said the new constitution should include truth, freedom, justice, charity, transparency and dialogue. They also urged the delegates, who will be elected in July for the August assembly, to include measures to defend the right to life, support the family and protect Bolivians' rights to jobs with fair pay, social security and health insurance, education, housing and a fair judicial system. Above all, the prelates said, the new constitution and the government of President Evo Morales, who took office in January, must ensure the inclusion of all Bolivians and protect those who are the poorest and most vulnerable, particularly the indigenous people, who make up about half the population.
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PEOPLE
Focusing on charity, Cardinal Levada takes possession of Rome church
ROME (CNS) -- Sealing his ties with the church of Rome, U.S. Cardinal William J. Levada, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, told parishioners he hoped to grow in love and charity with them. In a brief ceremony and Mass March 26, Cardinal Levada formally "took possession" of the Church of St. Mary in Domnica. Known as one of Rome's ancient "diaconal churches," it is built on the site of one of the early Christian house churches, which later became a center for the distribution for food and clothing to the poor. Each new cardinal technically becomes a member of the clergy of the Diocese of Rome, being assigned a church in the city as a sign of his call to collaborate in the ministry of the pope, the bishop of Rome. Cardinal Levada began his homily by addressing the parishioners in Italian. He told them he knew how much chaos the day's Rome marathon had created for the city's traffic and promised to speak only briefly because he did not "want to start another marathon."
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Jazz pianist, composer Dave Brubeck to receive Laetare Medal
NOTRE DAME, Ind. (CNS) -- Jazz legend Dave Brubeck has been named winner of the 2006 Laetare Medal presented by the University of Notre Dame. The 85-year-old jazz pianist and composer is scheduled to receive the medal at the university's May 21 commencement. "The composed energy of Mr. Brubeck's art helps us apprehend the fullness of creation," said Holy Cross Father John I. Jenkins, Notre Dame president, in announcing the award March 26. "His life and his music splendidly interweave the celebration of beauty with the imperative to worship," he said. The award, first given in 1883, honors a Catholic "whose genius has ennobled the arts and sciences, illustrated the ideals of the church, and enriched the heritage of humanity." Brubeck, in more than six decades of performing, became known for his innovations as a piano player and composer. He continues recording CDs and performs 60 to 70 times a year. Among his compositions are ballets, a musical, an oratorio, cantatas and a Mass.
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Copyright (c) 2006 Catholic News Service/USCCB. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed.
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