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News Briefs
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NEWS BRIEFS Aug-15-2006
By Catholic News Service
U.S.
Caritas adviser notes importance of women, girls in AIDS prevention
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Caritas Internationalis' special adviser on HIV and AIDS said he hoped the XVI International AIDS Conference would be remembered for focusing on women and girls. For their part, faith-based organizations and Catholic leaders working on the prevention and treatment of AIDS are not only focusing on gender discrimination that restricts women from education and health care, but they are "engaging men in the struggle, too," Father Robert Vitillo told Catholic News Service in an Aug. 14 telephone interview from Toronto, where he participated in the main conference as well as earlier conferences for religious leaders. Catholic organizations are promoting abstinence and lifelong fidelity in marital relationships so women are better protected from AIDS, he said. Women are sometimes victimized by men, who contract HIV when they have sex outside of marriage, then infect their wives, he said.
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Suit against USCCB harms sex abuse prevention, says bishop
SUPERIOR, Wis. (CNS) -- A lawsuit brought against the U.S. Catholic bishops by relatives of a man believed to have been killed by a priest "will only hurt the positive progress we have made" to end clergy sex abuse of minors, said Bishop Raphael M. Fliss of Superior. The suit was filed in a Wisconsin court Aug. 8 against the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and against its member bishops as individuals. It does not ask for monetary damages. It asks for a court injunction to have the bishops release the names and addresses of priests and church personnel who at the least have had accusations of child sex abuse against them deemed credible. It also asks the bishops to release documents that it says could be evidence of a failure by the bishops to report suspected child abuse to law enforcement authorities and documents that could be evidence that child sex abuse took place. "While I am certain their motives are sincere, I believe these actions will only prolong their pain and anger and will hinder our efforts to move forward in providing safe environments for our children and youth," said Bishop Fliss in an Aug. 14 statement.
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Alliance wants to see Catholic social teaching part of policy debates
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- With fall elections approaching, the group Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good is gearing up to present voters with information on Catholic social teaching on a variety of topics. Working primarily through grass-roots organizing and a speaker's bureau, the group has slowly been building a network of people with expertise in Catholic social teaching. It pulls together resources and members from 15 Catholic organizations representing clergy, religious orders and laypeople. Executive director Alexia Kelley said although the group first began coming together nearly two years ago it officially came into existence in July 2005 and began an organized outreach to the news media this July. That was followed by the Aug. 2 release of a statement from a dozen Catholic organizations about pending legislation on the minimum wage. It was signed by organizations including the Franciscan Federation, the Institute of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas, the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns, the National Catholic Rural Life Conference and Pax Christi USA.
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Atlanta conference aims to help African-American Catholics evangelize
ATLANTA (CNS) -- Nearly 500 African-American priests and Catholic laypeople from 20 U.S. dioceses came to Atlanta in August to focus on becoming better evangelizers through prayer, the sacraments and solid formation, and trusting in God's grace and love to overcome any personal limitations. The Aug. 4-6 Interregional African-American Catholic Evangelization Conference had as its theme "Gettin' on the Good Foot, Runnin' to the Kingdom," a reference to the prophet Isaiah's call to the people who had grown complacent in exile to return to Jerusalem to work and wait for the promises of God to be fulfilled. At the opening Mass Auxiliary Bishop Martin D. Holley of Washington spoke of the importance of having solid catechetical formation through the study of the catechism, Scripture, church documents and the lives of the saints. He also stressed the value of feeding one's spirit to become enlightened through Christ and thus a light to others. "Don't settle for junk food or fast food when you can have a gourmet meal," Bishop Holley said.
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Health crisis developing in New Orleans after Katrina, experts say
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Although it could eventually lead to a more equitable and effective health care system in New Orleans, Hurricane Katrina destroyed the city's already fragile health care safety net and left many of the poor lacking vitally needed services. That was the assessment of a panel of health care providers and policymakers brought together in Washington Aug. 8 by the Kaiser Family Foundation to discuss "Health Care One Year After Hurricane Katrina." "People are not getting the routine things we all take for granted," said Dr. Karen DeSalvo, chief of general internal medicine at Tulane University Health Sciences Center in New Orleans. "That can only go on for so long before impacting public health." Major problem areas include mental health services and diagnostic services such as X-rays, she said. Dr. Fred Cerise, secretary for the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals, said there was "a significant loss of physicians" in New Orleans and the surrounding area, estimating that the current number of doctors is 35 percent to 50 percent of pre-Katrina levels. Psychiatrists, dentists and nurses are especially scarce, he said.
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Exhibit will highlight history, ministry of women religious in U.S.
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The Leadership Conference of Women Religious is putting together an exhibit titled "Pioneers, Poets and Prophets" to tell the story of the impact more than 220,000 women religious have had on America since before it was an independent nation. In 1727, the first missionaries, nine Ursuline sisters, arrived in New Orleans from France. Sister Carole Shinnick, a School Sister of Notre Dame and LCWR's executive director, said the exhibit will "educate and celebrate" and also refute stereotypes some people have about nuns. She said it will educate people, for example, about the brave missionaries who helped shape the United States, the sisters who have been leaders in the women's rights movement and those who are advocates for the poor. "Fewer and fewer persons have direct experiences with religious. When you don't know the information, stereotypes arise. We hope to address stereotypes (about sisters)," Sister Carole said in an interview with Catholic News Service. Sister Carole also said the exhibit will emphasize "vocation as a call, not just a career," but a life "rooted in faith."
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Parishes nationwide continue aiding hurricane-impacted parishes
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- In the year since hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated the Gulf Coast, parishes across the country have played an active role in the rebuilding process by offering monetary and spiritual support to parishes hit hard by the storms and by sending volunteers to do the dirty work of removing moldy debris, gutting damaged homes and schools, and putting up new drywall. Parishes used diverse means to connect with parishes that needed help. Some found parishes with the same name as theirs through Internet searches or phone calls to diocesan offices. Parishes run by religious orders sought other parishes sponsored by their order. Others used more personal connections by contacting the damaged parish of a friend or relative of one of their own parishioners. Many parishes have also been twinned, or paired, with those needing help through the Parish Partnership Program sponsored by the Chicago-based Catholic Church Extension Society. In the past year, 283 parishes in 107 dioceses joined the program, helping 101 parishes along the Gulf Coast.
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WORLD
Feast of Assumption is reminder that love conquers hatred, pope says
CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy (CNS) -- The feast of Mary's assumption into heaven is a reminder that in the end love and peace will conquer hatred and violence, Pope Benedict XVI said. Celebrating an early morning Mass Aug. 15 in the small parish church at Castel Gandolfo and reciting the Angelus at noon with visitors to the papal summer residence, the pope prayed for Mary's intercession for peace in the world. Mary's assumption, body and soul, into heaven is a divine reassurance that "love, and not hatred, will conquer. Peace will win," the pope told the 200 people crowded into the Church of St. Thomas. Those inside included Cardinal Angelo Sodano, who is about to retire as Vatican secretary of state, and Msgr. Georg Ratzinger, the pope's older brother, who is staying at the summer residence.
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Sri Lankan fishermen sit idle, unable to fish during civil conflict
MANALKADU, Sri Lanka (CNS) -- Peter Pyananda, a fisherman in the Jaffna seas north of Sri Lanka, has never sat idle -- not even during the tsunami of December 2004. But with fighting increasing between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and government forces, almost the entire coastline of the Jaffna isles has been closed off, preventing fishing. "After the tsunami, we had no problem in going to the sea. But the situation is different now," the Catholic fisherman told Catholic News Service. Government security forces impose severe restrictions on the fishermen, who stay at home, away from the beaches dotted with bunkers. Approximately 80,000 people have been killed and more than 1 million have been displaced since 1983 when Tamil rebels demanded autonomy for areas in northern and eastern Sri Lanka. Ethnic Tamils account for 17 percent of Sri Lanka's 19 million people, while ethnic Sinhalese account for 70 percent of the population.
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African bishops tell priests to stop acting as traditional healers
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (CNS) -- Southern African bishops have told priests they can no longer act as traditional African healers. Priests must "desist from 'ubuNgoma' (traditional healing) practices involving spirits and channel their ministries of healing through the sacraments and sacramentals of the church," said the bishops of the Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference, which represents South Africa, Botswana and Swaziland. In an Aug. 11 pastoral letter, the bishops expressed concern that "many African Christians, during difficult moments in their lives, resort to practices of the traditional religion: the intervention of ancestral spirits, the engagement of spirit-mediums, spirit-possession, consulting diviners about lost items and about the future, magical practices and identifying one's enemies." Fear of the spirit world is intensified "instead of the love of the ever merciful God definitively revealed by Christ through his death and resurrection," they said. "More disturbing" is that some priests, religious and lay Catholics have "resorted to becoming diviner-healers" and "call on the ancestors for healing."
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PEOPLE
Cardinal George leaves hospital after bladder surgery
MAYWOOD, Ill. (CNS) -- Cardinal Francis E. George of Chicago left Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood Aug. 15, after undergoing surgery for bladder cancer July 27. The cardinal, dressed in a black clerical suit and using crutches, appeared at the door of the Stritch School of Medicine at the hospital shortly before 9 a.m., flanked by archdiocesan aides. He stopped to speak briefly to reporters gathered there. "I'm extremely grateful to those who have remembered me in their prayers before the Lord," said the 69-year-old cardinal. "In bringing me before the Lord, they had to bring themselves before the Lord and I hope that deepened their relationships." Colleen Dolan, director of the archdiocesan communications department, said Cardinal George has received good wishes and promises of prayers from people in at least 85 countries.
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UNAIDS head says pandemic endures because of poverty, injustice
TORONTO (CNS) -- AIDS is not an emergency; it's an enduring feature of injustice, poverty, the status of women, fear and ignorance, the executive director of UNAIDS told religious leaders. The long-term nature of the AIDS crisis makes religion a key player in the fight against the pandemic, Dr. Peter Piot said Aug. 12 during a gathering of faith-based organizations at the University of Toronto before the XVI International AIDS Conference Aug. 13-18. Because churches, mosques and temples have endured for generations and have always worked for their communities, they are ideal institutions to take on the fight against AIDS, said Piot. "Treatment is for life, and prevention is for life as well -- for (the) life not only of the individual but for the life of the society," he said. In many parts of the world churches are now the leading institution for combating AIDS, said Piot. This marks a contrast to some early religious response to the disease, he said.
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Help for hurricane victims takes variety of forms
JOLIET, Ill. (CNS) -- In the year since hurricanes Katrina and Rita hit the Gulf Coast, some parishes and individuals have taken creative approaches to assisting those in the devastated region. In Joliet, a group of leaders from various faith communities coordinated an effort with Habitat for Humanity International to launch Operation Home Delivery. "We showed we may be able to do together something that we can't do as individual parishes, congregations and synagogues," said Rob Hatfield, senior minister of First Church of Lombard United Church of Christ and member of a local clergy association. In one week's time this July, volunteers from more than a dozen churches, congregations and synagogues built a three-bedroom home on an open field, then it was disassembled into easy-to-transport sections to be delivered to Hattiesburg, Miss. Arrangements were made for a semitrailer about 48 feet long expected to carry the 13,000-pound load to Mississippi, where a group of volunteers would spend four days reassembling it. The Habitat for Humanity chapter working in the Gulf region planned to complete the rest of the home.
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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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