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News Briefs
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NEWS BRIEFS Dec-3-2007
By Catholic News Service
U.S.
Catholic university's air-traffic controller program takes off in '08
ROMEOVILLE, Ill. (CNS) -- Lewis University in the Joliet Diocese is set to add an air-traffic controller degree program to its academic offerings at the start of the fall 2008 semester. The Catholic university, which is run by the Christian Brothers, is one of just nine colleges and universities across the nation chosen by the Federal Aviation Administration to participate in its new Air Traffic Collegiate Training Initiative. Christian Brother James Gaffney, university president, made the announcement Nov. 27 at a press conference on the university's main campus in Romeoville. He said the school is privileged, honored and excited to begin the process of readying students to efficiently and safely direct air traffic. When the program takes flight next fall, the students are expected to have the option of pursuing certification or earning an associate's degree in the air-traffic training program. A bachelor's degree curriculum is also slated to be offered, according to William Brogan, chair of the university's Department of Aviation and Transportation Studies.
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International conference examines impact of abortion on men
SAN FRANCISCO (CNS) -- While the impact of abortion on men is low on the cultural radar, there is overwhelming research, clinical experience and anecdotal evidence that men can be profoundly traumatized by the elective loss of a child whether they encouraged it, resisted it or only learned of it after the fact. This was the view of speakers at the first international conference on men and abortion held in San Francisco Nov. 28-29. Nearly 200 people from at least seven nations and 28 states gathered at St. Mary's Cathedral to hear the personal stories of men affected by abortion, reports on research on the topic, and presentations by counselors and therapists on the treatment of men suffering post-abortion grief. Organized by the Milwaukee-based National Office of Post-Abortion Reconciliation and Healing, the "Reclaiming Fatherhood: A Multifaceted Examination of Men Dealing With Abortion" conference was co-sponsored by the Archdiocese of San Francisco and the national office of the Knights of Columbus.
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God on the gridiron: Faith helps football players on, off the field
INDIANAPOLIS (CNS) -- After beating the Chicago Bears in Super Bowl XLI in February, the Indianapolis Colts stormed to another strong start, winning their first seven games of the 2007-08 season. Even with a faith-filled head coach like Tony Dungy, it might have been easy for players on the team to think they are invincible. But the players know better. And consecutive losses to the New England Patriots and the San Diego Chargers helped bring that reality into perspective, as have serious injuries suffered by some of the team's star players. Father Peter Gallagher, volunteer chaplain of the Colts and chaplain of Cardinal Ritter Junior-Senior High School in Indianapolis, said coping with injuries is an opportunity for football players to grow closer to Christ. "I would try to get them to associate whatever they're experiencing with the suffering of Christ," he said. "If we can't associate even those difficult things in our lives with Christ's experience of those same things, then we're really not fully trusting in his message and in his presence in our lives."
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WORLD
Pope says Advent is good time to rediscover hope, read encyclical
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI began Advent by summarizing his latest encyclical on Christian hope and encouraging people to read it. The time before Christmas is a good period to rediscover the hope that Christ brought to human history, which can "change one's life," the pope said Dec. 2, the first Sunday of Advent. He said he wrote his second encyclical, "Spe Salvi" (on Christian hope), for the entire church and for all people of good will. The 76-page text was released at the Vatican Nov. 30. Addressing pilgrims at his noon blessing, the pope said the essence of Christian hope was an awareness of God and "the discovery that he has the heart of a good and merciful father." Christ's life and death gave God's love a human face, he said.
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Pope's second encyclical invites people to personally encounter Jesus
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- It's difficult to select a single summarizing line in Pope Benedict XVI's encyclical "Spe Salvi" (on Christian hope), but a fundamental point is found in its first few pages. Christ's sacrifice, the pope said, overturned the pagan worldview of the early Christian era. In Christianity's new vision, the universe was governed not by the laws of matter but by a personal God who revealed himself in the person of Jesus Christ. "And if we know this person and he knows us, then truly the inexorable power of material elements no longer has the last word; we are not slaves of the universe and of its laws, we are free," he said. Throughout its 76 pages, the pope's encyclical on hope is not just an exposition of philosophical and theological arguments, but an invitation for people to personally encounter Jesus Christ. That invitation has been the core of Pope Benedict's mission over the last two and a half years.
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Book bound in skin of executed Jesuit sells at auction in England
LONDON (CNS) -- A book bound in the skin of an executed Jesuit priest was sold at an auction in England to an unnamed private collector for 5,400 pounds (more than US$11,000). The macabre, 17th-century book tells the story of the 1605 Gunpowder Plot and is covered in the hide of Father Henry Garnet. Jessica Wall, a spokeswoman for Wilkinson's Auctioneers in Doncaster, England, said: "We didn't know what the book was going to go for. It was an unexpected result but a good one. We are very pleased." The priest, at the time the head of the Jesuits in England, was executed May 3, 1606, outside St. Paul's Cathedral in London for his alleged role in a Catholic plot to detonate 36 barrels of gunpowder beneath the British Parliament, an act that would have killed the Protestant King James I and other government leaders. The book, "A True and Perfect Relation of the Whole Proceedings Against the Late Most Barbarous Traitors, Garnet a Jesuit and His Confederates," contains accounts of speeches and evidence from the trials. It measures about 6 inches by 4 inches and comes in a wooden box.
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Pope meets with South Korean bishops, offers prayer for North Koreans
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI offered his prayers for the people of North Korea and praised the people of South Korea for the efforts they have made to promote reconciliation with the North and to alleviate suffering there. The pope met Dec. 3 with the bishops of South Korea and the bishop of Mongolia, who were making their "ad limina" visits to report on the status of their dioceses. Bishop John Chang-yik of Chuncheon, president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Korea, thanked Pope Benedict for his repeated appeals "to help our tragically divided nation achieve full reconciliation and a true lasting peace." Recalling Pope John Paul II's 1984 and 1989 trips to South Korea, the bishop said the trips "lent a decisive impetus to evangelization for all the Koreans." "Would Your Holiness, God willing, also graciously consider visiting us? It would again mean so very much for all of our people and our neighbors," the bishop said. Pope Benedict did not respond to the invitation publicly, but he encouraged the bishops to strengthen their religious education programs.
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Pope says promoting peace requires respect for unchanging morals
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Promoting lasting peace, justice and human dignity requires solidarity and a respect for unchanging moral values, Pope Benedict XVI said. Meeting Dec. 1 with representatives of 85 Catholic agencies recognized as nongovernmental organizations by the United Nations and other international bodies, Pope Benedict said the problems of humanity cannot be solved without a clear acceptance of ethical norms. "International discussions often seem marked by a relativistic logic," which is convinced that the only way to find agreement and promote peaceful coexistence is to ignore the fact that each human life was created by God and to pretend that there are no moral absolutes, the pope said. "This has led, in effect, to the imposition of a notion of law and politics which ultimately makes consensus between states -- a consensus conditioned at times by short-term interests or manipulated by ideological pressure -- the only real basis of international norms," he said.
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Venezuelans vote down Chavez's package of constitutional reforms
CARACAS, Venezuela (CNS) -- A package of constitutional reforms proposed by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez that would have increased the president's powers and established a "socialist economy" was defeated narrowly by voters. Retired Archbishop Ramon Perez Morales of Los Teques said the Dec. 3 vote "opens a new chapter in the nation's history, a chapter which must be characterized by the word 'meeting.' Venezuela must not be the same as before." It was the first defeat for Chavez at the polls in nearly a decade. Chavez called the opposition victory "pyrrhic" and resolved to move the nation toward socialism using other means. Archbishop Roberto Luckert Leon of Coro, vice president of the Venezuelan bishops' conference, called on Venezuelans to be careful Chavez does not use other means to expand his powers. He urged the opposition to unite behind the strongest candidates for governor and municipal offices in upcoming regional elections.
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Pope urges health care workers to safeguard patients' dignity
ROME (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI urged hospitals and health care workers to welcome patients with love and safeguard their dignity. "Let us open our hearts to everybody, especially if they are in difficulty, because helping those in need prepares us to welcome Jesus who comes to us" through those who are sick and suffering, he said Dec. 2. The pope made his remarks during his first visit to a Rome hospital run by the Knights of Malta. The grand master of the Knights of Malta, Fra Andrew W.N. Bertie, and the papal vicar of Rome, Cardinal Camillo Ruini, welcomed the pope, who presided over a Mass in the St. John the Baptist Hospital pavilion with staff, patients and family members. The pope also visited the hospital wards, including a special reanimation unit for those recovering from comas. In his homily, the pope said the mission of hospitals and care centers was "the loving and skilled welcome of patients, the protection of their dignity and the commitment to improve their quality of life."
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Canadian refugee workers launch campaign to fight unfair prosecution
OTTAWA (CNS) -- Refugee advocates have launched a campaign to ensure that humanitarian workers do not get prosecuted under laws aimed at human traffickers. "I am proud to aid and abet refugees," said the advocates from Canadian charities and nongovernmental organizations. The Canadian Council for Refugees, a nonprofit umbrella organization for refugee rights, and Amnesty International Canada launched the campaign Nov. 29 at the council's meeting in Ottawa. Francisco Rico-Martinez, a Catholic participant from the FCJ Refugee Centre in Toronto and former president of the Canadian Council for Refugees, told the gathering that 80 percent of the work he does could be considered in violation of the law. The FCJ Refugee Centre was started by sisters from the Faithful Companions of Jesus. Rico-Martinez said he gets phone calls from people who want to flee to Canada and he advises them to use Mapquest or Google on the Web to check for places where the border is not well guarded. When they arrive in Canada, he said, they come to his office or his home, and he helps them to apply for refugee status. "I am going to violate every single law on earth to stop torture or to protect the life of someone," Rico-Martinez said.
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Lebanese cardinal criticizes politicians for foreign allegiances
BEIRUT, Lebanon (CNS) -- Lebanese Cardinal Nasrallah P. Sfeir criticized Lebanon's political leaders for their allegiances to foreign powers and urged lawmakers to elect a president "before it's too late." Politicians' allegiance to foreign powers has made them "prisoners of their position and paralyzed their capabilities," said the cardinal, patriarch of the Maronite Catholic Church. "The prevailing situation is dangerous. We do not know whether anyone assesses its danger among those in responsibility," Cardinal Sfeir said in a statement issued Nov. 30. The cardinal urged the opposition to end its boycott of the presidential election and said it is "disgraceful and condemnable" that the opposition's resigned Cabinet ministers boycott parliamentary sessions but continue to run their respective ministries. "The Lebanese people denounce all these acts which go against logic and law. They expect the authorities whom they have elected to focus on people's daily concerns, provide jobs for people so they can take care of their families and provide them a secure and dignified life," the cardinal said.
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PEOPLE
Seattle University gives its new honor, St. Ignatius Medal, to couple
SEATTLE (CNS) -- Jesuit-run Seattle University has given its first St. Ignatius Medal to Jeanne Marie and Rhoady Lee Jr., both Seattle University alumni and large donors to university projects. The Lees have helped fund at least five building projects on the campus. The Lees' children donated their own gift to the university to name its performing arts center after their parents. The new award, which is expected to be made each year, is named for St. Ignatius of Loyola, the Jesuits' founder. It is seen as the highest honor for dedication and volunteer service to Seattle University. It acknowledges individuals whose contributions in leadership and their humility and service to the university contribute to the school's vision of a just and humane world. The Lees received the medal Nov. 10 at the 24th annual Seattle University Gala. Rhoady Lee, 79, is the former chairman and CEO of Lakeside Industries of Issaquah, Wash., which is an asphalt-paving contractor and specializes in crushed rock and asphalt production.
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New Chinese bishop challenged by mobility of Catholics in diocese
YICHANG, China (CNS) -- Newly ordained Bishop Francis Lu Shouwang of Yichang says serving Catholics in his diocese is a challenging task amid rapid social transformation taking place due to a major dam project. The 41-year-old prelate was ordained with a papal mandate and the Chinese government's recognition Nov. 30 in St. Francis Cathedral in Yichang. It was the first episcopal ordination in Yichang in nearly 50 years, reported UCA News, an Asian church news agency. The diocese is located along the Yangtze River in Hubei province. Bishop Lu's coat of arms includes a symbol of the Three Gorges Dam, a major landmark in the area, signifying his commitment to evangelize and serve local people. Bishop Lu told UCA News Nov. 30 that a special feature of his diocese is the great movement of laypeople from the mountainous rural area to the cities on the plains since the start of the Three Gorges Dam project; he said they also move to look for better jobs.
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New Australian prime minister has Catholic roots, Christian policies
SYDNEY, Australia (CNS) -- Kevin Rudd, the Catholic-born leader of Australia's Labor Party, was sworn in as Australia's prime minister Dec. 3. Throughout a year of electoral campaigning, Rudd worked to familiarize the Australian people with how his view of Christian values informed his policies. The youngest of a Catholic family of four children in rural Queensland, Rudd said the death of his father, a dairy farmer, from complications arising from a car accident had the greatest transforming effect on him when he was just 11 years old. When his father died in 1969, Rudd was the only child living at home. His older brother was away in the army, his sister was a novice at a Mercy sisters' convent, and his 14-year-old brother was boarding at the Marist College Ashgrove in suburban Brisbane. With the family evicted from their farm, Rudd recalled that he and his mother spent a night in their car before being taken in by other family members. The eviction, said Rudd, aroused "my earliest flickering of a sense of justice and injustice. ... I just thought it was plain wrong that that could happen to anybody or that you didn't have anywhere to go and stay."
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Pope among 12 religious leaders on CBS documentary 'In God's Name'
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The genesis for a documentary on why people use religion and faith as justification for some of history's most horrible acts came from one recent horrible act: the World Trade Center attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Jules Naudet, who with brother Gedeon produced the upcoming CBS documentary "In God's Name," collaborated with his older brother on "9/11," which aired on CBS five years ago. Until those terrorist attacks, the Naudets intended to make a documentary on the lives of firefighters. What resulted was something entirely different. The Naudets were at the trade center Sept. 11 because they had begun work on their film about firefighters. Pope Benedict XVI is one of 12 spiritual leaders, five of them Christian, featured in the new documentary, scheduled to air Dec. 23, 9-11 p.m. EST. Non-Christians include the Dalai Lama, the chief rabbi of Israel, a Hindu spiritual leader and a prominent Sunni Muslim leader. The pope was the only one of the 12 who did not sit down with the Naudets for a private interview. Historically, the Vatican has not given private interviews with the pope, Jules Naudet noted, so they researched archives and found features on the pope that yielded answers to their questions.
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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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