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News Briefs
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NEWS BRIEFS Apr-29-2008
By Catholic News Service
U.S.
Costs of papal visit to U.S. hard to pin down but total millions
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI's recent U.S. visit has been credited with improving his image among Americans, sparking greater interest about him and spurring much-needed evangelization efforts in the country. But those benefits came with a price tag of at least $12.5 million and perhaps much more. The many dioceses, governments, transportation agencies and hosting facilities involved in the pope's April 15-20 visits to Washington and New York varied widely in their willingness to provide Catholic News Service with estimated tallies of their expenditures. Those that did provide estimates included the Archdiocese of Washington ($3 million), the District of Columbia ($2.2 million), The Catholic University of America in Washington ($800,000), the city of Yonkers, N.Y. ($400,000) and the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority ($250,000). Among the archdioceses that estimated their spending were Louisville, Ky., $250,000; Boston, $180,000; Philadelphia, $177,700; and Baltimore, $46,000. Joseph Zwilling, director of communications for the Archdiocese of New York, said he would not speculate how much it cost the archdiocese to host the papal events, and hasn't decided if he will make those figures public once they have all been tabulated. Since the combined expenses for the Archdiocese of Washington and the District of Columbia are estimated at roughly $5.2 million, it's logical to expect the costs for the Archdiocese of New York and the city of New York to be the same or higher, said Jesuit Father Thomas J. Reese, senior fellow at the Woodstock Theological Center at Georgetown University in Washington.
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Minister's assertions about race, religion continue to draw attention
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- A spate of public appearances by the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, who until February was pastor of Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ, is drawing unprecedented attention to the black church as a whole, in addition to the specific congregation where Sen. Barack Obama is a member. But who fits into what Rev. Wright describes as the "black church" is itself open to interpretation across racial, sociological, cultural and religious lines. Rev. Wright first came to national attention a few months ago as excerpts of some his sermons were used to suggest that Obama, a Democratic candidate for president, must agree with some of the more sensational comments by the minister by virtue of their relationship. The excerpts include Rev. Wright espousing the notion that HIV was created by the government as a form of genocide against blacks and saying that the 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States were the price of U.S. actions against other countries. In a lengthy interview on the PBS TV show "Bill Moyers Journal" April 25 and in an address April 28 at the National Press Club, Rev. Wright described the controversy over his preaching as an attack on the black church, not an attack either on himself or on Obama. "This is not an attack on Jeremiah Wright," Rev. Wright said in a wide-ranging, sometimes emotional talk at the press club. "It has nothing to do with Sen. Obama. It is an attack on the black church launched by people who know nothing about the African-American religious tradition."
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Pope's U.S. visit expected to yield spiritual returns beyond costs
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- While critics of the money spent on the April 15-20 papal visit have argued the funds could have gone to better use by feeding the hungry or providing aid to the needy, Brian Reynolds, chancellor of the Archdiocese of Louisville, Ky., said the investment in the event has inspired the faithful and will ultimately help those in need all over the planet. "It's good Catholic evangelization in action," Reynolds said. "Our experience has been that when the faithful are excited about their own church experiences and when people are enthusiastic, evangelization happens. With that outreach and service happens." Since the pope inspired passionate spirituality among millions of all faiths, those citizens will also be inspired by the Gospel that urges followers to donate their time, money and resources to worthy endeavors, like programs for the homeless, hungry and destitute, he said. "This is how the faith gets spread," Reynolds said. "The money spent won't take away from someone in need. It's a call to the missionary spirit that is in our roots. How do you measure the price of spiritual renewal?"
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Diverse leadership seen at summit as key to future of healthy church
ORLANDO, Fla. (CNS) -- On the last day of an unprecedented summit, Catholic ministry leaders detailed lifelong learning, collaborative ministry, solid formation and a greater need to encourage diverse leadership as crucial to the further growth of a healthy church. "Emerging models require an emerging vision of leadership," said Robert McCarty of the National Federation of Catholic Youth Ministry April 23, near the close of the National Ministry Summit, which attracted about 1,200 lay ministers, religious and clergy. McCarty served as a panelist on the morning's plenary session, which examined responses to recommendations for the future of pastoral leadership made earlier in the April 20-23 summit. Present were members of a coalition of six Catholic national organizations that received a $2 million grant in 2002 from the Lilly Endowment for a four-year study in response to changes in the church. Many of the recommendations made at the summit proposed changes to the training, formation and development of parish ministers at every stage in their careers.
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Second-oldest U.S. Catholic college marks 200th with new postal card
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- More than 1,000 stamp collectors, alumni, faculty and students flocked to Mount St. Mary's University in Emmitsburg, Md., April 26 to celebrate as the U.S. Postal Service issued a new 27-cent stamped postal card that pays tribute to the bicentennial of the second-oldest Catholic university in the country. After the stamped card was unveiled, the Maryland Symphony Orchestra played Ludwig van Beethoven's "Fifth Symphony," which was first performed Dec. 22, 1808, in Austria, a little more than two months after a cross was planted on Mary's Mountain to inaugurate construction of the new university and seminary, said Linda Sherman, director of communications at Mount St. Mary's. "It was a great evening with a full house," Sherman said of the event at the university's campus in Maryland's Catoctin Mountains. "It's a wonderful remembrance of what we were and what we've become." Stamp collectors from as far away as Oregon attended the event, she said.
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Arkansas churches unite after plant fire puts 800 out of work
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (CNS) -- After a fire destroyed the Cargill Meat Solutions plant in Booneville, putting 800 people out of work, the community has pulled together to brave the economic disaster. The recovery is being fueled by the Ministerial Fellowship, a group of 10 Christian churches, including Our Lady of the Assumption, from Booneville and the community of Magazine seven miles away. Five days after the March 23 fire, the group opened the South Logan County Family Resource Center to help families hit with sudden unemployment. The Rev. Darrell Frost, pastor of the Booneville First Assembly of God Church, is treasurer and past president of the fellowship, which he said has been in existence for 35 years. The resource center has a food pantry and offices for Cargill and the United Way. Volunteers are also offering counseling, both emotional and financial; job placement services; resume assistance; help with utility shut-off notices; and medical referrals, he said. Glenmary Father Don Tranel, pastor of Our Lady of the Assumption, is a member of the fellowship. He said the resource center is a "one-stop shop" for those in need. All those who lost jobs are being directed to the center.
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WORLD
Vatican says Christians, Buddhists should work jointly on environment
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Christians and Buddhists should work together to promote respect for the earth and a safe, clean environment, said the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue. In a message for the feast of Vesakh, a commemoration of the major events in the life of Buddha, the Vatican council urged Christians and Buddhists to work together to contribute to the public debate concerning climate change and sustainable development. The Vatican released the message April 29 as many Buddhist communities were preparing to celebrate Vesakh May 12-18. The message, signed by the council's president, Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, and secretary, Archbishop Pier Luigi Celata, said Christian and Buddhist traditions respect creation and "have a common concern to promote care for the environment which we all share." All people should be concerned with the future of the planet including "matters of grave concern" such as climate change, environmental preservation and sustainable development, it said.
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Chinese orchestra to perform Mozart's 'Requiem' for pope
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- China's Philharmonic Orchestra was set to perform Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's "Requiem" in the Vatican for Pope Benedict XVI, reported Vatican Radio. Currently on tour throughout Europe, the orchestra was offering the May 7 evening concert in the Paul VI hall "in honor" of the pope, who is an aficionado of Mozart and classical music. Vatican Radio reported April 29 that the Shanghai Opera House Chorus was also scheduled to perform along with the Beijing-based, state-run orchestra. Vatican Radio said this "important concert in the Vatican" would show that "music is a language and precious means of dialogue between peoples and cultures." Directed by Long Yu, the orchestra was founded in 2000 and has played numerous concerts around the world.
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Moscow Archdiocese launches monthly paper to replace closed weekly
OXFORD, England (CNS) -- The Moscow-based Catholic Archdiocese of the Mother of God has launched a monthly newspaper to replace its award-winning weekly that closed Christmas Day. Father Igor Kovalevsky, secretary-general of the Russian bishops' conference, said Katolichesky Viestnik-Svet Evanglia (Catholic News-Light of the Gospel) is only for the archdiocese "and we don't know how it will be received." "It's been created as part of a new church information policy, and this is still being devised and implemented," Father Kovalevsky told Catholic News Service in an April 29 telephone interview. The first issue of the new monthly, edited by Father Aleksandr Chmeletsky, was dated April 21. In an introductory article, Moscow Archbishop Paolo Pezzi said the monthly would "continue the mission" of the weekly Svet Evangelia. The first issue included extracts from Pope Benedict XVI's encyclical, "Spe Salvi" (on Christian hope), and a new Russian edition of the Code of Canon Law, as well as articles on Christian marriage and Russian Catholic groups abroad.
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PEOPLE
French bishops announce pope to visit Paris, Lourdes in September
PARIS (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI will visit France Sept. 12-15, spending two days in Paris before going to Lourdes to participate in events surrounding the 150th anniversary of the Marian apparitions to St. Bernadette Soubirous. The French bishops announced April 28 that Pope Benedict would arrive in Paris Sept. 12, be welcomed by top government officials, then address a gathering of intellectuals and artists representing "the world of culture." Later that day, he is scheduled to preside over an evening prayer service with priests, deacons, religious and seminarians in the Cathedral of Notre Dame, then address young people who will gather in the square outside the landmark. The pope will celebrate Mass Sept. 13 on the lawn of Les Invalides, a complex originally built in the 17th century as a hospital and home for wounded war veterans. The French bishops also said the pope hoped to meet in Paris with representatives of other Christian churches and with members of the French Jewish and Muslim communities. Pope Benedict will fly to Lourdes the afternoon of Sept. 13, they said.
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Meeting pope at ground zero brings tears to Sept. 11 survivor
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Looking into Pope Benedict XVI's eyes as she genuflected in front of him during his visit to the former World Trade Center site, Julie Malik knew the pope understood what she had experienced on a disastrous September morning more than six years ago. "I remember thinking, 'You're here. You're here to help us. You took your time to understand,'" Malik said of the April 20 meeting. Malik, 57, was one of four survivors of the Sept. 11, 2001, attack in lower Manhattan who met the pontiff during his visit to ground zero. Four rescue workers and 16 people who lost family members in the disaster also met the pope at the site. "There's one word I can think of to describe (the meeting) and that is 'amazing,'" Malik told Catholic News Service. "His eyes are so penetrating. He just stares in your eyes."
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