|
|
|
|
News Briefs
|
NEWS BRIEFS May-29-2008
By Catholic News Service
U.S.
Head of center on responsible investing raised with sense of justice
SAN ANTONIO (CNS) -- When Laura Berry, now executive director of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, worked on Wall Street as a portfolio manager, institutional clients with justice goals were routinely shuttled her way. "I was actually enthusiastic about investing this way," said Berry, a Catholic who grew up with a strong sense of social justice. "Many of the more traditional investment managers at the time thought it was: 'You go to church on Sunday and you worry about investing your money Monday through Friday,'" she said. "I didn't see it that way." The little girl who attended St. Benedict Catholic School when she was growing up in Detroit today heads a New York-based organization that has been a leading force in the corporate social responsibility movement since its founding nearly 40 years ago. Berry was in San Antonio recently to speak at the Socially Responsible Investment Coalition's fundraising dinner.
- - -
Michigan governor expected to veto partial-birth abortion legislation
LANSING, Mich. (CNS) -- An official of the Michigan Catholic Conference called on Gov. Jennifer Granholm to sign legislation banning partial-birth abortion, saying the state legislation "mirrors the constitutionally sound federal ban." Paul A. Long, vice president for public policy at the Lansing-based public policy agency for the Michigan Catholic bishops, praised the Michigan House for its 74-32 vote May 27 in favor of the legislation, which the Senate had approved by a 24-13 margin in January. The legislators who voted for the bill "deserve praise for outlawing a procedure that exemplifies just how far-reaching and out of touch the abortion issue has become," Long said in a May 27 statement. "Today's vote is a victory for those who have spent several years working to uplift the dignity of women and the human rights of the unborn by ending the atrocity known as partial-birth abortion." Granholm spokeswoman Megan Brown told Catholic News Service May 29, however, that "the governor will veto the bill when it comes to her desk."
- - -
Study says poor students do better at Catholic than at public schools
LOS ANGELES (CNS) -- New research shows that poor and marginalized students attending Catholic schools have significantly higher retention and graduation rates than their peers in public schools. Conducted by Loyola Marymount University's School of Education in Los Angeles, the study focused on a group of Catholic school students in Los Angeles. All of the students received tuition funding from the Catholic Education Foundation of the Los Angeles Archdiocese between 2001 and 2005. According to the researchers, this study was the first time the foundation opened its records to a university and provided Catholic school data in such detail. Information on the study was released by the Catholic university May 19. The study followed 603 students from eighth to ninth grade and 205 students from ninth grade to high school graduation at about 30 schools in Southern California.
- - -
St. Louis Archdiocese ordains largest number of priests in 21 years
ST. LOUIS (CNS) -- When Archbishop Raymond L. Burke of St. Louis ordained nine men to the priesthood for the archdiocese May 24, it was the largest ordination class for the archdiocese since 1987. In addition five other seminarians from St. Louis were being ordained in coming weeks for other dioceses. In his homily at the ordination Mass, Archbishop Burke urged the congregation to pray for the nine men "so that they may always and in everything conform themselves to the grace conferred upon them in ordination, that they may be holy shepherds of the flock whom God the Father entrusts to their pastoral care." The archbishop urged the nine men to be "attentive to guide God's people in the way of justice which leads to lasting peace." He also told them their "priestly teaching and guidance will inspire and strengthen all of the faithful in the transformation of the culture of violence and death, in which we live, into a civilization of selfless love and life."
- - -
WORLD
Australian authorities bulk up police presence for World Youth Day
PERTH, Australia (CNS) -- New South Wales state police have been asked not to take annual leave or attend court appearances during World Youth Day events July 15-20 in Sydney in order to provide increased security. According to The Australian, a daily newspaper, 4,000 officers will be on duty during World Youth Day when officials are predicting 225,000 participants at daily events and 500,000 attending the final Mass July 20 at Royal Randwick Racecourse. Kristina Keneally, a World Youth Day spokeswoman, said the event would not involve the lockdown-style security measures used during last year's meeting of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders in Sydney when police used fences to barricade parts of the city. "Sydney during World Youth Day will not be Sydney during APEC," Keneally said. "What we have is a celebration of youth." Keneally said the pope's recent U.S. visit indicated to Australian security forces that Sydney could expect an atmosphere of celebration, festivity and happiness from the crowds.
- - -
Bishop applauds abolishment of Nepal's 239-year-old monarchy
KATMANDU, Nepal (CNS) -- The bishop of Nepal described the recent abolishment of Nepal's 239-year-old Hindu monarchy as "truly a great achievement." Catholics, "as citizens of the country, deserve to be proud, and we rejoice with the nation and our brothers and sisters. We thank God for his blessings," Bishop Anthony Sharma of Nepal told the Asian church news agency UCA News May 29. Nepal's Constituent Assembly voted overwhelmingly to abolish the monarchy May 28, a day after its members were sworn in in the capital, Katmandu. The assembly gave the king 15 days to leave office. The announcement that assembly members had voted to support the proposal for the implementation of a republic was not made until close to midnight. Despite the late hour, people thronged the streets of the capital, singing, dancing and waving the flags of various political parties to welcome the republic.
- - -
Ethicist tells Catholic journalists in Toronto to be 'word warriors'
TORONTO (CNS) -- Ethicist Margaret Somerville, one of Canada's leading intellectuals, challenged members of Catholic media to become "word warriors" and ethics agents to give people "the words they need to protect human dignity." "Words matter" because human dignity is under "unprecedented threat," the founding director of McGill University's Centre for Medicine, Ethics and Law told a gathering of about 400 Catholic journalists and communications professionals at the Catholic Media Convention in Toronto May 28. "A few words can turn the tide." Somerville gave an example from a recent conference in Turkey, dealing with the ethics of selling human organs. Most participants shared a horror of organ trafficking and "organ tourism," but some were willing to consider the sale of organs because the organs are so scarce. Somerville said that at that conference she called the sale of human organs "the 21st century form of slavery." People used to sell the whole body, now they will sell bits and pieces of it, she said. Those words prompted spontaneous applause, she added.
- - -
Pope tells new diplomats human rights needed for lasting peace
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Respect for human rights, negotiated settlements to conflicts and improved education are essential ingredients for consolidating peace and promoting development, Pope Benedict XVI told nine new ambassadors to the Vatican. The pope May 29 welcomed new ambassadors from Tanzania, Uganda, Liberia, Chad, Bangladesh, Belarus, Guinea, Sri Lanka and Nigeria. In addition to making a brief speech to the entire group, Pope Benedict handed each ambassador a message addressed to that country. In his message to Sri Lankan Ambassador Tikiri Bandara Maduwegedera, the pope asked the government to ensure that its new commission for investigating claims of human rights abuses works seriously and quickly "so that the truth about all of these cases may come to light." The pope expressed particular concern about Father Thiruchelvam Nihal Jim Brown and his assistant, "whose whereabouts are still unknown, almost two years after their disappearance."
- - -
Social, economic problems can't be solved without God, says pope
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Social, political and economic problems can never be resolved fully if humanity does not put God back at the center of life, Pope Benedict XVI said. It is only through God and with one's hopes and values springing from him that "it is possible to rediscover a strong and steady faith in life and give soundness and energy to our projects" promoting people's welfare, he said. The pope spoke May 29 during a private audience with Italian bishops who were meeting for their general assembly in Rome. Even though Italian society is facing many problems, the pope said, "the fundamental problem of humanity remains the problem of God." He said, "No other human and social problem will ever be truly resolved if God does not return to the center of our life."
- - -
Highlight the positive message, says Vatican spokesman
TORONTO (CNS) -- The Vatican spokesman, Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, urged members of the Catholic media to highlight the positive and beautiful in life, while not ducking the responsibility to recognize and denounce evil. "It is always necessary to have a criterion, a hierarchy in expressing the Christian proposition," Father Lombardi told several hundred communications professionals at a plenary session of the international Catholic Media Convention May 29. "That which is positive takes first place." He pointed out it was "no accident" Pope Benedict XVI's first encyclical was on love, and his second was on hope, nor that his first book was "on Jesus who shows us the face of God." "Benedict XVI insists that ours is not a religion of prohibitions, of 'nos,'" he said. Pope Benedict, however, has been realistic and uncompromising in his critiques of relativism, subjectivism, individualism, materialism and hedonism, he said. "We have to know how to recognize and denounce the evils, the risks and the dead ends present in contemporary culture," he said.
- - -
PEOPLE
Texas Catholic editor Bronson Havard to retire
DALLAS (CNS) -- Deacon Bronson Havard, the longest-serving editor of the Texas Catholic, the Dallas diocesan newspaper, will retire July 31. He also is resigning the positions of general manager of El Catolico de Texas, the diocesan Spanish-language newspaper, and president of the Texas Catholic Publishing Co. Deacon Havard, who turned 65 last year, was named Texas Catholic editor in 1993 and was ordained a deacon in 2000. He said he plans to work full time as Catholic chaplain at Southern Methodist University with the blessing of Dallas Bishop Kevin J. Farrell -- a ministry post he has held part time for the past five and a half years. Bishop Farrell expressed "deep appreciation for the years of service Deacon Bronson has given to the Texas Catholic and the Catholic Church" and named managing editor Debra Hampton as acting editor after Deacon Havard's departure. "The only career I ever wanted was in journalism," Deacon Havard said.
- - -
Israeli foreign minister urges religious leaders to work together
JERUSALEM (CNS) -- Religious leaders must work together to delegitimize extremists who use religion to spread hate, said Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni. "Extremist elements misuse religion to turn national conflicts into religious ones," she told the Forum of Leaders of Monotheistic Religions in Israel May 27. "The innocence of believers is misused by religious leaders who must be balanced by the voices of other religious leaders who have won the admiration of their faithful." The forum, which meets several times a year, is made up of the chief rabbis of Israel, the archbishops of the Holy Land and important sheiks. At the gathering, Livni said she deplored religious extremism which sends children out on terrorist missions to kill themselves and others in the name of religion. "This is the ideology of hatred and it contradicts the basic tenets of any religion," she said.
- - -
Miracle beneficiary says she always called on Blessed Damien for help
HONOLULU (CNS) -- In 1936, when Father Damien de Veuster's remains were put on a ship in Honolulu to be sent back to his birthplace in Belgium, 8-year-old Audrey Horner lined up with fellow Catholic school students along the walkway to the wharf to bid aloha to the holy man. Seventy-two years later, on April 29, Audrey Horner Toguchi received news that her healing in 1999 from cancer was officially attributed to the intercession of Blessed Damien. Honolulu Bishop Larry Silva released Toguchi's name for the first time when he announced that the theological consultors of the Vatican Congregation for Saints' Causes had determined Blessed Damien was responsible for the unexplained healing. The 19th-century Belgian missionary, a member of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, spent the final 16 years of his life caring for patients with Hansen's disease, or leprosy, on the Hawaiian island of Molokai. He was beatified in 1995 in Belgium by Pope John Paul II. The action by the theological consultors is a major step toward his canonization.
END
Copyright (c) 2008 Catholic News Service/USCCB. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed.
CNS · 3211 Fourth St NE · Washington DC 20017 · 202.541.3250
|
|
|
|
