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News Briefs
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NEWS BRIEFS Mar-11-2008
By Catholic News Service
U.S.
Letters seek repentance for war, urge pope to confront Bush over war
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- More than 3,000 people, many involved in the Catholic Worker Movement and peace activism, have signed a letter to Pope Benedict XVI asking him to call for an immediate end to the Iraq War during his U.S. visit in April. Another statement circulating among faith leaders marks the fifth anniversary of the start of the war in Iraq March 19 with a call to repentance for "the sin of this war." The letter to the pope asks him to reconsider his plans and refuse to meet with President George W. Bush until the Iraq War, which the pope has opposed, is ended. The pope and the president are scheduled to meet at the White House April 16. " The separate anniversary statement, titled "Call to Lament and Repent: Guide Our Feet to the Path of Peace," was started as a Lenten project through Sojourners, an evangelical Christian community. "This season of Lent, we are truly living 'in darkness and in the shadow of death' as we mark on March 19, 2008, the fifth anniversary of the war with Iraq," it opens. "It is a war that is being waged by our country, financed by our taxes and fought by our sisters and brothers. As U.S. Christians, we issue a call to the American church to lament and repent of the sin of this war."
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Vatican statement on baptisms not meant to cause panic, priest says
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- A week after the Vatican announced that baptisms are invalid if they were not administered with the words "in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit," the pastor at Christ the King Parish in Haddonfield, N.J., said he had not been inundated with questions from his parishioners. "Not too many people know about it," Father Joe Wallace told Catholic News Service March 7. But he was sure that as word spread about the Feb. 29 statement from the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, not only would Catholics have questions, but so would people from other faiths. Father Wallace, who is also director of ecumenical and interreligious affairs for the Diocese of Camden, N.J., said the Vatican statement is hardly promoting a new idea and he also said it was not meant to cause panic among those who wonder if their baptisms were performed with the right words. Instead, he said the Vatican statement was meant to clarify what the church has always believed and ensure that future baptisms use language that is clear and "unambiguously Trinitarian" revealing the three persons of the Trinity.
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Annual abuse audit and survey find soaring costs, fewer allegations
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The costs to the Catholic Church for legal settlements in abuse cases, therapy for victims of sexual abuse, support for offenders and legal fees soared to more than $600 million in 2007, the fourth year of reporting on the handling of abuse cases by U.S. dioceses and religious orders. The 2007 Survey of Allegations and Costs released by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops March 7 also reported a continued decrease in the number of new credible allegations of abuse: 599 new allegations were made in 2007, compared with 635 in 2006, 695 in 2005 and 898 in 2004, the first year of the survey. Only five of the new allegations involved abuse that occurred in 2007. As in past years, most allegations involved abuse that took place before 1985. According to the survey conducted by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University, dioceses and religious institutes paid $615 million for legal settlements, therapy, support for offenders, attorneys' fees and other costs. In the four previous years of the survey, the highest amount paid out was $466 million in 2005. Of the $615 million, dioceses spent $499 million and religious orders paid $116 million.
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New York City has produced two saints, with other causes under way
NEW YORK (CNS) -- Saintliness isn't what people might normally associate with gritty New York City. Regardless, the Big Apple has produced two saints and a number of others whose causes have a connection to the city or are at various stages in the canonization process. And there are still other New Yorkers for whom a sainthood cause might one day be promoted. "A saint is anyone who is in heaven," according to Paulist Father Paul G. Robichaud, postulator for the cause of Father Isaac Thomas Hecker, founder of the Paulist Fathers. "A canonized saint is someone who the church determines to actually be in God's presence." He should know: Father Robichaud graduated from what he called the Vatican's "saint school," a four-month crash course on "how to make a saint." "To become a saint, a candidate's life must be thoroughly investigated," he explained in an interview. "Once the cause has been introduced and approved by the Congregation for Saints' Causes, the candidate may be referred to as 'servant of God.'"
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WORLD
Pakistan blast kills more than 20, damages Catholic buildings
LAHORE, Pakistan (CNS) -- A massive suicide bomb targeting a government building killed 23 people and badly damaged Catholic buildings in Lahore. The bomb exploded at 9:30 a.m. March 11 outside the Federal Investigation Agency office, causing serious damage to nearby Sacred Heart Cathedral, Sacred Heart Cathedral High School, St. Anthony's College, St. Paul Communication Center, the Caritas Pakistan building, a Catholic press building, a convent and catechists' house, reported the Asian church news agency UCA News. Initial reports said the blast killed two students at the church schools -- one at Sacred Heart and one at St. Anthony's -- and injured more than 100. Four members of the Caritas Pakistan staff were hospitalized for their injuries. Caritas Internationalis is the Vatican-based umbrella group for national Catholic charities around the world. Honduran Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga of Tegucigalpa, president of Caritas Internationalis, sent a message of condolence to Caritas Pakistan and decried the bloodshed that continues "to destabilize Pakistan."
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Prelate criticizes Belarus' restrictions on rights of foreign clergy
WARSAW, Poland (CNS) -- The head of the Archdiocese of Minsk-Mohilev, Belarus, has criticized the government's restrictions on the rights of foreign clergy. "The tendency generally holds sway that there should be as few foreigners among the clergy as possible," Archbishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz told Poland's Catholic information agency, KAI, March 7. "It depends on the central government whether particular priests, monks or nuns obtain visas. New regulations have now been adopted that a foreign clergyman can obtain a visa for one year only." He said the government of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko had "shown openness" toward the Catholic Church by allowing it to broadcast Sunday Masses on state radio and other festivities on TV. But he added that clergy visas could only be issued by the government's State Committee for Religion, which requires visiting priests to produce higher education certificates. "This is incomprehensible to me, since it's the bishop who decides who to invite -- it isn't the business of the state," said Archbishop Kondrusiewicz.
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Palm doctors: Vatican plants to get health checkup
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Italian palm growers, researchers and artists will donate thousands of palms -- including 300 braided-palm works of art -- to the Vatican for the Palm Sunday Mass in St. Peter's Square. But the real gift -- from Italy's Center for Palm Studies and Research in San Remo -- will turn attention from the square March 16 into the Vatican gardens the next day. The center is not donating palm trees to the Vatican; there already are plenty there. The Vatican palms are getting a health checkup. With the red palm weevil boring into and killing palm trees throughout the Mediterranean, the center has offered the Vatican its phytosanitary services. The March 17 visit will include an evaluation of the condition of the Vatican palms, cataloging the species present, treating any sick palms and undertaking preventive care, said a statement released March 11 at the Vatican. Radio transmitters also will be attached to some of the palms to provide constant monitoring.
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Forum looks at Catholic role in economic empowerment of women
UNITED NATIONS (CNS) -- A March 7 forum co-sponsored by the Vatican's Permanent Observer Mission to the United Nations looked at the issues involved in the economic empowerment of women and the role Catholic organizations play in helping women have a better financial footing. The other sponsors of the forum were the Path to Peace Foundation and the Vincentian Center for Church and Society at St. John's University in Jamaica, N.Y. The forum was a side event coinciding with the 52nd session of the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women held Feb. 25-March 7 on the theme "The Human Dignity of Women in Contemporary Society: Economic Justice and Empowerment of Women." The event focused principally on programs the Catholic community operates around the world. Organizers anticipated an audience of 80, but 200 people attended, with a number of them sitting on the floor of the meeting room so they could take part.
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PEOPLE
Pope designates Holy Thursday collection for Cuban orphanage
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI has decided the collection taken up at his Holy Thursday evening Mass will be sent to an orphanage in Cuba where members of the Daughters of Charity care for the handicapped. Each year the pope chooses where to send the collection taken up during the Mass of the Lord's Supper at the Basilica of St. John Lateran, the cathedral of the Diocese of Rome. Pope Benedict's decision to send the March 20 collection to La Edad de Oro orphanage in Havana was announced by the Vatican March 11. Each year the pope also designates someone to write the meditations read during his Good Friday celebration of the Way of the Cross in Rome's Colosseum. The meditations for the March 21 service were written by Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun of Hong Kong, Vatican Radio reported.
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Knights of Malta elect Englishman as new grand master
ROME (CNS) -- In a secret and swift election, the Knights of Malta elected an Englishman as their 79th grand master. Matthew Festing, who had been the Knights' grand prior of England, was chosen March 11 to replace Andrew W.N. Bertie, who died in February. Festing, 59, will head the world's oldest chivalric order, founded in the 11th century. He is only the second Englishman to hold the post of grand master; Bertie was the first. Known officially as the Sovereign Military Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta, the organization was established to care for pilgrims during the Crusades. It lives on today as a lay Catholic religious order and a worldwide humanitarian network. The order is also a sovereign state, holding observer status at the United Nations and maintaining diplomatic relations with 100 countries. Festing, an expert in art and history, joined the Knights in 1977 and in 1991 became a "professed" knight, taking religious vows. He is a descendent of Blessed Adrian Fortescue, a Knight of Malta who was martyred in the 16th century.
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First Thai Catholic senator hopes to reflect Christian views
BANGKOK, Thailand (CNS) -- Thailand's first Catholic senator hopes to be able to reflect her faith community's views as well as promote the rights of women and children, her area of expertise. Teresa Yuwadee Nimsomboon, 62, president of the Catholic Association of Thailand, was among 74 senators whose appointments recently were endorsed by the national election commission, reported UCA News, an Asian church news agency. "It is God's will that I have an opportunity to serve his people," Yuwadee told UCA News. "Besides working for women's and children's rights, I hope to be a voice for Catholics in Thailand." The 2007 Thai Constitution provides for the direct election of 76 members of the 150-seat Senate. A special selection committee chooses the other 74 senators from the list of qualified nominees forwarded by the election commission. An elected senator serves a six-year term and an appointed senator three years. Kirti Bunchua, an academic and one of the few Catholics to have served as a legislator, confirmed to UCA News that Yuwadee is the first Catholic senator.
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Retired bishop accused of 'inappropriate behavior' with adult man
BILOXI, Miss. (CNS) -- A complaint has been filed in Circuit Court in Gulfport alleging retired Biloxi Bishop Joseph L. Howze engaged in inappropriate conduct with an adult man. The incident allegedly took place in January 2007. A letter from Biloxi Bishop Thomas J. Rodi was read at all weekend Masses March 8-9 to inform Catholics about the allegation. In statement released on his behalf by his lawyer, Bishop Howze said he was "saddened by the events alleged in legal proceedings filed against me in the civil courts. I deny any inappropriate conduct." He said he would make no further comment "until this matter is concluded before the courts." The complaint, which alleges the bishop inappropriately touched the plaintiff, asks for a jury trial and seeks unspecified damages. Since Bishop Howze is a retired bishop, he is not under the authority of the Diocese of Biloxi, nor the bishop of Biloxi. Bishop Howze, 84, retired in May 2001. At the time of his retirement, he was the top-ranking active African-American bishop, having served as a bishop since 1972 and head of the Biloxi Diocese since 1977.
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