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News Briefs
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NEWS BRIEFS Oct-8-2007
By Catholic News Service
U.S.
Catholic colleges, foundations urged to help strengthen K-12 schools
PALO ALTO, Calif. (CNS) -- Catholic colleges and universities must team up with foundations to help strengthen Catholic elementary schools and high schools, especially by identifying trends and helping schools respond to them, a leading foundation official said. Francis J. Butler, president of Foundations and Donors Interested in Catholic Activities, spoke Sept. 28 in Palo Alto at a conference on "The Revitalization of American Catholic Education." "More than ever before, the church has the benefit of active and informed major donors deeply interested and involved in Catholic schools," he said. "But this new activism is also a formidable challenge for the schools," Butler added. "For institutions unaccustomed to the culture of business, the language and practice of social investing, partnerships and quality control is a tall order. Add to this the intricacies of having to qualify for public funding through federal and state initiatives, and one can easily appreciate how much the schools must rely on outside assistance."
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Orange Diocese to pay $7 million to women abused by lay employees
ORANGE, Calif. (CNS) -- Bishop Tod D. Brown of Orange has agreed to settle four sexual abuse cases involving lay employees of the church and female high-school students for nearly $7 million. The settlement, announced Oct. 2, was in addition to a $100 million settlement in 2005 involving 90 claimants alleging sexual abuse by clergy of the Orange Diocese. "The settlement of these civil cases represents the moral obligation of the church for such behavior by adults in positions of responsibility," Bishop Brown said in a statement. "By settling these cases I sincerely hope that it will enable the women who brought these actions to begin the process of healing and reconciliation." One of the cases, Jane C.R. Doe v. Andrade, Mater Dei High School and the Diocese of Orange, had been scheduled to go to trial the week of Oct. 8. It involved allegations against former Mater Dei assistant basketball coach Jeff Andrade by a former student who said she was molested for more than a year in the 1990s, beginning when she was 15. The other cases involved another Mater Dei faculty member, a teacher at Santa Margarita Catholic High School and a choir director at two parishes in the Orange Diocese. All of the abuse was alleged to have occurred between 1990 and 1999.
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Bishop Baker installed as fourth bishop of Birmingham
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (CNS) -- Bishop Robert J. Baker was installed as the fourth bishop of Birmingham at the Cathedral of St. Paul Oct. 2, a beautiful fall day that was the feast of the Guardian Angels. The three-hour ceremony began with Bishop Baker knocking at the Birmingham cathedral door, signaling his willingness to enter and become head of the diocese. Archbishop Pietro Sambi, apostolic nuncio to the United States, read the mandate from Pope Benedict XVI appointing Bishop Baker. Archbishop Sambi and Archbishop Oscar H. Lipscomb of Mobile escorted Bishop Baker to the cathedra, the chair that symbolizes a bishop's teaching office and his pastoral authority in the local church. Archbishop Lipscomb then presented him with the crosier, the pastoral staff that is the symbol of his office. "I am happy to be the new bishop of Birmingham," Bishop Baker told the congregation. He also thanked his predecessor, retired Bishop David E. Foley, for his "devoted leadership." Bishop Foley retired in May 2005, but was diocesan administrator until Bishop Baker's installation.
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Online Catholic Business Journal focuses on faith-business links
SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, Calif. (CNS) -- Cistercian Father Bernard McCoy, founder of LaserMonks.com, and Jesuit Father Robert J. Spitzer, president of Gonzaga University in Spokane, Wash., are among the columnists for the new online Catholic Business Journal. On the Web at www.CatholicBusinessJournal.biz, the online platform aims to connect Catholic business professionals with each other and with their faith. Its initial 17-week public launch is scheduled to end Dec. 12. The site offers users an interactive place to explore best practices, share resources, find and post jobs, discuss business issues, create joint ventures, submit prayer requests and give opinions on books, movies, restaurants and hotels, its organizers say. Nine Catholic columnists who are business leaders will supply commentary. "We are confident that the caliber of our columnists -- and their intimate understanding of faith and business -- will help influence lives and thinking in the workplace," said managing director Karen Walker.
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WORLD
Pope urges Catholics to pray the rosary for global peace
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI urged Catholics to pray the rosary for peace in the world. Speaking to pilgrims Oct. 7, the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, the pope recalled that Marian apparitions at Fatima, Portugal, 90 years ago underlined the need to pray for the end of World War I. "We too want to welcome the maternal request of the Virgin, committing ourselves to reciting the rosary with faith for peace in families, among nations and throughout the world," he told several thousand people in St. Peter's Square. The pope, noting that October was dedicated in a special way to evangelization, said the rosary can stimulate missionary action by leading Christians to meditate on the life of Jesus. Every Christian is called to announce the Gospel through words and example, he said. "Announcing the Gospel remains the first service the church owes to humanity, in order to offer the salvation of Christ to the people of our time, who are humiliated and oppressed in so many ways," he said.
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Prayerful presence in St. Peter's Basilica is reminder of its purpose
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- More than enforcing a dress code and broadcasting a multilingual reminder that St. Peter's Basilica is a church, seeing people praying in the basilica reminds tourists that the magnificent building is designed to give glory to God, Pope Benedict XVI said. "In this sacred place where thousands of pilgrims and tourists from all over the world come each day, there must be a stable community of prayer," the pope told the priests who form the chapter of St. Peter's Basilica. Archbishop Angelo Comastri, archpriest of the basilica, told the pope that since the sixth century there always has been a group of clergy assigned to pray at the tomb of St. Peter. Pope Benedict said that in recent years the chapter has rediscovered its original purpose, "consisting, first of all, of the ministry of prayer." He said, "If prayer if fundamental for all Christians, for you, dear brothers, it can be said to be a professional obligation."
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Sports stars can be role models for youths, pope says
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI said sports stars can be models for young people, but only if they remember that winning isn't everything. "In the practice of sport at every level, one needs to preserve the inner harmony between body and spirit, and avoid reducing sport to the search for results," he told members of Austria's national Alpine ski team Oct. 6. The pope said that when practiced with the right spirit sports can help promote human development and lead to the discovery of individual capabilities and talents. Human dignity should always be respected in these sporting activities, he said. Sports figures remain models for youths, he said, and therefore should exhibit the virtues that are associated traditionally with athletic contests: determination, a spirit of sacrifice, and inner and outer discipline, as well as respect for opponents and an awareness of one's own limits. "At a time when there is a loss of values and a lack of direction, athletes can offer strong motivation to struggle in favor of good in various contexts of life, from the family to the workplace," he said.
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Vatican official says religions must be free to contribute to peace
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The only way to ensure that religions contribute to peace rather than violence is to guarantee religious freedom and promote religious education so believers understand that peace and harmony are at the core of every religion, the Vatican's foreign minister said. Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, the Vatican's secretary for relations with states, spoke Oct. 5 at the U.N. General Assembly's high-level dialogue on interreligious and intercultural understanding and cooperation for peace. The text of his remarks was released Oct. 6 at the Vatican. Archbishop Mamberti said Pope Benedict has taught that "faithfulness to one's own religious convictions is not expressed in violence and intolerance, but in sincere respect for others, in dialogue and in an announcement that appeals to freedom and reason while remaining committed to peace and reconciliation." While religion is a herald and source of peace, the archbishop said, it too often has been manipulated by politicians, nationalists and those seeking power.
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Vietnamese cardinal says his visit to China will boost Catholic unity
HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam (CNS) -- A Vietnamese cardinal said his recent visit to China will increase the unity and friendship of the Catholic Church in Vietnam and in China. Cardinal Jean-Baptiste Pham Minh Man of Ho Chi Minh City told the Asian church news agency UCA News Oct. 4, "The visit aimed to create solidarity and friendship, and establish close relations for the Catholic churches in Vietnam and China." In response to an invitation from China's State Administration for Religious Affairs, the cardinal led a five-person delegation to mainland China in late September. The delegates visited the Beijing-based headquarters of the government-sanctioned Bishops' Conference of the Catholic Church in China, as well as church leaders in the Beijing and Shanghai dioceses. They also met with Chinese state officials. Cardinal Man said the visit was "an opportunity for us to build communion between the two churches, because communion means to understand, sympathize with, and share spiritually and materially with each other."
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Venezuelan Catholic official discusses nationalizing private schools
BOGOTA, Colombia (CNS) -- A Catholic education official said educators were working with government officials in Venezuela to reach an understanding following threats by President Hugo Chavez to expand government control over private education. "In our conversations they (government officials) have told us that they will respect our religion," said Maritza Giron, an official with the Venezuelan Catholic Education Association, the nation's largest private school organization. It serves 500,000 poor children. Giron told Catholic News Service Oct. 4 that she thought a government attempt to take over the Catholic education system would be impractical because of the large number of students the church serves. "We represent a solution for the state," she said. During Chavez's weekly call-in radio and television program in late September, he said the government would nationalize private schools that did not adopt a new school curriculum created by the government.
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PEOPLE
Virginia priest starts homes for unwed mothers
ARLINGTON, Va. (CNS) -- Providing homes for unwed mothers is a necessary outreach for the pro-life movement, said Father Stefan Starzynski, a priest of the Arlington Diocese who has started two homes for unwed mothers. He feels it is only a matter of time before Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion, will be overturned and the pro-life movement needs to be ready to respond to pregnant women who need a safe haven. "We have done the marches, we have held the banners, this is absolutely the next step," added the priest, who is parochial vicar at St. Mary of Sorrows Parish in Fairfax. Last year Father Starzynski opened the Paul Stefan Home for Unwed Mothers, which is named for a baby born without lungs who survived for one hour. So far, nine women have stayed in the home and six babies have been born. Currently, the home has three residents. By the end of this year, another house will open on the same 50-acre property in Orange County. Currently, about 37 percent of all babies born in the U.S. are born to unwed mothers, he noted.
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Priest believed to be world's oldest Jesuit dies at Georgetown
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Jesuit Father James A. Martin, believed to be the world's oldest Jesuit at age 105, died at the Jesuit residence at Georgetown University in Washington Oct. 1. A funeral Mass was celebrated Oct. 4 in Georgetown's Dahlgren Chapel for Father Martin, who had been ill with pneumonia. A member of the Society of Jesus since 1921 and a priest since 1934, his career included work as a teacher of history and catechism at the Ateneo de Manila University, run by his order in the Philippines; service as an Air Force chaplain in France, North Africa and Italy during World War II; and 45 years in academia and retreat work around the country, until his retirement in 1989. But Father Martin also had a lifelong love of sports, especially the Philadelphia Phillies baseball team, and read the sports page every day until he died, according to his fellow residents at the Jesuit facility at Georgetown, where he had lived in retirement. He reportedly turned down an offer to play professional baseball to join the Jesuits.
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Copyright (c) 2007 Catholic News Service/USCCB. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed.
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