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News Briefs
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NEWS BRIEFS Dec-27-2007
By Catholic News Service
U.S.
Oregon Catholics plan small-group sessions to focus on reconciliation
PORTLAND, Ore. (CNS) -- Catholics from western Oregon, who weathered the end of an archdiocesan bankruptcy and a $75 million reorganization in 2007, will be meeting in homes and parishes during Lent 2008 to focus on healing and reconciliation. Parishioners from the Archdiocese of Portland will read and study the Sunday Scripture readings, share faith and daily struggles and work toward making matters right in their personal lives, homes, neighborhoods, churches and the archdiocese. Catholics in the region have been occasionally gathering in recent years to pray for the healing and reconciliation of victims of clergy sexual abuse and everyone affected by the scandal. The Lenten small groups will broaden that spiritual effort, seeking healing in all parts of life. "We are not just talking about child abuse here, but reconciliation in families, in parishes -- anything that separates you from God," said Deacon Thomas Gornick, director of evangelization for the Portland Archdiocese.
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Volunteers at Anchorage Catholic hospital touch tiniest lives
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (CNS) -- It just might be the sweetest, cuddliest volunteer opportunity in the whole state of Alaska. For 67 volunteers at Providence Hospital in Anchorage, that opportunity is called the Kuddle Korps. Little training is required. You just have to love very small babies, and have the patience to sit for a couple of hours in a rocking chair holding them quietly. At the hospital's neonatal intensive care unit, Dale Bader is the lead volunteer for the Kuddle Korps, and she also "rocks" during a two-hour weekly shift with the tiny infants. Bader has rocked for five years and it shows. Her motherly -- and grandmotherly -- instincts are undeniable as she tenderly but very efficiently tucks a premature infant into her arms. "When I quit work, I knew I needed something to do. And I knew I wanted to hold babies," said the grandmother of seven. "I called every hospital in town." The right call went to Providence Hospital where the neonatal intensive care unit is the largest in the state. Every other hospital in Alaska refers newborn babies who are premature or born with complications to Providence.
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West Virginia bishop honors miners lost in Monongah disaster of 1907
MONONGAH, W.Va. (CNS) -- One hundred years to the day after the Dec. 6, 1907, Monongah mine disaster -- the worst coal-mine disaster in U.S. history -- the people of Monongah came together to remember the 361 miners and others who lost their lives in the tragedy. At a ceremony in Monongah, Bishop Michael J. Bransfield of Wheeling-Charleston blessed a large memorial bell donated to the town by the Italian government, as many of the miners who perished in the disaster were Italian immigrants. The bell stands adjacent to "Monongah Heroine," a memorial statue of a woman and children, which honors the families of the fallen miners. Also present for the tribute were representatives of the Italian government, including Giovanni Castelaneta, the ambassador to the U.S., and West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin. At the ceremony, children from the community read the names of the miners who died in 1907. Afterward, Bishop Bransfield celebrated Mass at Holy Spirit Parish in Monongah, which was packed with people marking the anniversary. In his homily, Bishop Bransfield spoke of the impact the disaster had on the town, noting that many of the men who died left behind wives and children. "We cannot even imagine the sorrow and devastation that was present," he said.
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New CD billed as first rosary with the music of a saint
DENVER (CNS) -- A two-CD set of the rosary is being billed as the first such recorded rosary to be accompanied by the music of a saint. "Praying the Rosary With St. Alphonsus Maria Liguori" has been released by the Denver province of the Redemptorists, the religious order St. Alphonsus founded 275 years ago. The saint's musical compositions are played in the background to the rosary and 20 meditations also written by St. Alphonsus. Most of the meditations come from his spiritual work "The Glories of Mary." The music is performed and sung by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Master Chorale and the Padre Serra Children's Choir. Redemptorist Father Peter Schavitz leads the rosary recitation. A percentage of the proceeds will fund the work of Redemptorist missions in Brazil and Nigeria. The CD sells for $17.95 plus shipping and handling. It can be ordered by phone at: (800) 231-1207, by e-mail at: info@littlelambmusic.com, or online at: littlelambmusic.com.
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WORLD
Christians seek Indian federal intervention in anti-Christian attacks
BHUBANESWAR, India (CNS) -- Christian leaders in India have sought intervention from the federal government to end anti-Christian violence which has killed two Christians since the attacks by Hindu radicals began Dec. 24. Christian organizations in New Delhi appealed to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to "alleviate the fear of the Christian community" in the eastern state of Orissa, reported the Asian church news agency UCA News. "We would like you to take immediate action so that violence against the peace-loving minority community may be stopped right away and peace restored," they said in a statement. Archbishop Vincent Concessao of New Delhi, president of the National United Christian Forum, was among Catholic and Protestant leaders who signed the statement. The Dec. 26 statement came amid reports of Christians fleeing their villages to the jungle, and priests and nuns going into hiding as Hindu radicals stepped up attacks against them. The attacks began Dec. 24 in Bamunigam and soon spread to other parts of the predominantly tribal Kandhamal district.
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Pope's calendar in 2008 confirms life doesn't slow down after 80
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- As Pope Benedict XVI looks at his 2008 calendar, he's no doubt recognizing that life doesn't slow down after 80. With three foreign trips, a world Synod of Bishops on the Bible, a jubilee year dedicated to St. Paul, an important dialogue with Muslims, and an encyclical and a new book in the works, 2008 is shaping up as perhaps the busiest year of his pontificate. The pope will celebrate his 81st birthday in Washington April 16, the day he's scheduled to meet with U.S. President George W. Bush at the White House and with U.S. bishops at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. There's bound to be a birthday cake somewhere along the way. The April 15-20 trip to the United States and the United Nations will be the pope's first journey outside Italy in 2008. In Washington, the pope also is expected to say Mass in the Nationals' baseball stadium and hold meetings with educators and ecumenical leaders. In New York, in addition to his U.N. visit, the pope's tentative schedule includes a meeting with interreligious representatives, Mass in St. Patrick's Cathedral, an encounter with seminarians, a visit to ground zero and Mass in Yankee Stadium.
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Catholic leaders in Pakistan condemn assassination of Benazir Bhutto
THRISSUR, India (CNS) -- Catholic leaders in Pakistan have condemned the assassination at an election rally of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, leader of the opposition Pakistan People's Party. "We condemn this dastardly act. It is a terrible tragedy for Pakistan," said Bishop Anthony Lobo of Islamabad-Rawalpindi, secretary-general of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Pakistan, in a Dec. 27 telephone interview with Catholic News Service from Rawalpindi, where Bhutto was assassinated. According to reports, Bhutto, 54, and at least 20 others were killed Dec. 27 in a suicide attack. "Obviously, this is a setback for democracy," he said. "The forces that were opposed to it have succeeded this time." Describing Bhutto as "an extraordinary, brave woman," Bishop Lobo said that "she was aware of the great danger to her life. Yet, she went around to assert democracy and laid down her life in the process." Peter Jacob, executive secretary of the National Commission for Justice and Peace of the Pakistani bishops' conference, told CNS, "The people are stunned and angry."
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PEOPLE
Franciscan ordained as auxiliary bishop for Milwaukee Archdiocese
MILWAUKEE (CNS) -- Conventual Franciscan Father William Patrick Callahan, 57, was ordained the sixth auxiliary bishop in the history of the Milwaukee Archdiocese Dec. 21 at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist in Milwaukee. Noting that the ordination took place on what nature views as the day of least light in the year, "supernature tells us that this is the day the Lord has made, that, at least in this Archdiocese of Milwaukee, we have abundant light," said Milwaukee Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan, one of two ordaining archbishops. "We bask in radiance, we heed Zephaniah and 'shout for joy,' we are confident that while the sun -- s-u-n -- may be in hiding, the Son -- s-o-n -- is shining, as we thank God for the gift of a new bishop," he said during his homily. On hand for the nearly two-hour ceremony were Auxiliary Bishop Richard J. Sklba, retired Milwaukee Archbishop Rembert G. Weakland, co-ordaining Archbishop John J. Myers of Newark, N.J., and 20 visiting archbishops, bishops, abbots and monsignors.
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New leader of School Sisters of Notre Dame outlines priorities
BALTIMORE (CNS) -- In the face of what she sees as an increasingly polarized and splintered world, the newly elected global leader of the School Sisters of Notre Dame said she hopes to promote a sense of solidarity among humanity. Sister Mary Maher was elected general superior of her international women's religious community during the congregation's 22nd general chapter held in Sao Leopoldo, Brazil, this fall. She had been in her second year as provincial leader of her order's Baltimore-based Atlantic-Midwest province. "The world is fractured by an inability to deal with difference except through violence," said Sister Mary, a native of Oceanside, N.Y., who entered the School Sisters in 1968 and professed her final vows in 1979. "We School Sisters have a mission to bring all to the oneness in God," she said. "Education is our response to the cries of the world." During the general chapter, members of the order approved a directional statement, "Call to Solidarity," that will guide the order during the next five years.
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Family members of art deco artist visit her work at New York seminary
HUNTINGTON, N.Y. (CNS) -- While multitudes of people see the art of muralist Hildreth Meiere at New York's Radio City Music Hall and the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, a limited audience also gets to see her work up close at St. Mary's High School in Manhasset and at Immaculate Conception Seminary in Huntington. Msgr. James Swiader, dean of seminarians in Huntington, said he has often admired the mosaic "The Eternal Christ Enthroned in Judgment" in the bishops' chapel at the seminary, but he said he never realized the scope of the artist's work until her family members recently visited the seminary to photograph the mosaic. "It was amazing to me to see the mosaic, which is unlike any other work of hers that I have seen," said Hildreth "Hilly" Meiere Dunn, the artist's granddaughter, who photographed the chapel. Hildreth Meiere was a 20th-century artist whose work included Byzantine mosaics, art deco medallions and bas-reliefs; she died in 1961. The seminary mosaic, commissioned in 1943, is set in the chapel adjoining the crypt, where bishops of Rockville Centre and Brooklyn are buried. It depicts Jesus seated on the throne of earth on Judgment Day.
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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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