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News Briefs
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NEWS BRIEFS Jul-23-2008
By Catholic News Service
U.S.
CRS official urges Congress to respond to food crisis facing Africans
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- A Catholic Relief Services official urged Congress to reinforce recent supplemental funding with $1.6 billion in additional resources for food and security programs in Africa. Mounting global food and fuel prices have created grim circumstances for thousands of hungry families throughout Africa, said Sean Callahan, CRS executive vice president for overseas operations. Callahan recently returned from a trip to east Africa and testified July 16 before a subcommittee of the House Agriculture Committee. "I visited a feeding site run by the Ethiopian Catholic Church and the Missionaries of Charity in a largely Muslim area where, over the previous five weeks, 28 children had died of malnutrition," he told members of the subcommittee. "The conditions there are already dire." The United States contributes more total food aid than any other country, providing more than $1.78 billion in fiscal year 2007, which is about 58 percent of the total spent globally for food assistance, said April Demert Slayton, a spokeswoman for the Subcommittee on Specialty Crops, Rural Development and Foreign Agriculture. For fiscal 2008, $1.53 billion was provided for food aid through regular appropriations, which was increased by an additional $1.2 billion for global food assistance in the supplemental appropriations bill recently passed by Congress, Slayton said.
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Bishop says weapons of war must be abolished 'before they abolish us'
WORCESTER, Mass. (CNS) -- War has evolved to mean nothing but indiscriminate destruction, retired Auxiliary Bishop Thomas J. Gumbleton of Detroit told the crowd gathered for the Catholic Worker Movement's 75th anniversary celebration in Worcester. He said the U.S. government teaches that there are no innocent civilians and preparations are being made to use conventional or nuclear weapons even at the hint of threat. "The weapons of war must be abolished before they abolish us," he said. Organizers said the national Catholic Worker gathering, held July 9-12, drew more than 500 Catholic Workers and other interested individuals from around the United States and Germany and included morning prayer, talks, workshops, a play, music and dancing. Worcester Bishop Robert J. McManus celebrated Mass for the group July 12. In his remarks Bishop Gumbleton talked about President John F. Kennedy's speech to the United Nations in 1961 and how he wanted a peace race with the Soviet Union. "John Kennedy would have led us on this waging of peace," the bishop concluded. "He was not able to do it, but we are."
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In prison, no bars to Holy Spirit as bishop confirms inmates
CHESTER, Pa. (CNS) -- The Holy Spirit filled the walls of the state prison in Chester when Auxiliary Bishop Robert P. Maginnis of Philadelphia confirmed four inmates. "These men made a real, conscious decision to pursue this reception of the sacrament. They were very serious," Bishop Maginnis said in an interview with The Catholic Standard & Times, newspaper of the Philadelphia Archdiocese. "The people who are in prison, by and large, are looking for ways to improve themselves. In many cases, religion is a factor for them to see that if they have a better relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ -- if and when they are paroled -- they will become better citizens," he said. Bishop Maginnis marveled at the spontaneous round of applause the men received from their fellow Catholic inmates at the conclusion of the recent confirmation ceremony. "That's a real statement of their faith -- of what they believe," he said. The grace of the Holy Spirit that the inmates received at their confirmation is certain to make them stronger and "better able to live better lives," Bishop Maginnis said. At the same time, it demonstrated to the prison staff that "these men are willing to make strides to improve themselves," he said.
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WORLD
Neurologist calls withholding hydration 'euthanasia by omission'
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Withholding artificial nutrition and hydration from a patient in a persistent vegetative state amounts to "euthanasia by omission," said the former president of the World Federation of Catholic Medical Associations. Dr. Gianluigi Gigli, a professor of neurology at the University of Udine, Italy, spoke to the Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, July 23 about the case of an Italian woman who has been in a vegetative state for 16 years. Eluana Englaro, 37, was injured in a car accident in 1992. Initially on a respirator for three months, she has been breathing on her own since then and opens her eyes in the morning and closes them at night. She shows no other signs of awareness. Her father, Beppino Englaro, has been waging an eight-year legal battle trying to convince a court to allow him to stop providing his daughter with food and water and let her die. Milan's civil Court of Appeals ruled July 9 that he could withhold nutrition and hydration because of the "extraordinary duration" of her vegetative state and her own wishes for her life, which were "irreconcilable with the total and irreversible loss of her mental faculties." However, July 22 the Milan procurator general announced he was taking the court's ruling to the Supreme Court, which could block removal of the feeding tubes for up to one year.
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WYD official in New Zealand hopes Indians who defected will go home
AUCKLAND, New Zealand (CNS) -- The chairman of Auckland's World Youth Day committee said he hopes the Indian pilgrims who went missing from their host families' homes will "do the right thing." Two of the 40 Indians who came to New Zealand for the pre-World Youth Day program Days in the Diocese left for their home country July 20. Maurice Boland, the chairman, said it would be in their best interests if the others do the same thing, despite what people "who aren't acting in their best interests" tell them. "As you know, you were warmly welcomed to New Zealand and that welcome still exists," Boland said in a July 17 statement to the missing Indians. "However, every day you continue with your fruitless pretense of staying in our country is a further day closer to when your temporary stay will turn from being legal to being entirely illegal." About 220 Indians came to New Zealand as part of Days in the Diocese. During the July 10-14 acclimation program, 40 Indians went missing at different times in what appears to be an orchestrated attempt to stay in New Zealand. Boland said the actions of the 40 Indians "caused considerable anguish to their families, their faith, their country, and have imposed an added burden to authorities in New Zealand, Australia and India."
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Church leaders cautiously hopeful over Zimbabwe power-sharing deal
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (CNS) -- Church leaders expressed cautious hope over a deal signed by Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai that lays the framework for negotiations aimed at forming a power-sharing government. "The immediate expectation is that it will bring an end to the violence," said Father Frederick Chiromba, secretary-general of the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops' Conference, in a July 22 telephone interview from the capital, Harare. "Once peace has been established, meaningful dialogue can take place," Father Chiromba told Catholic News Service, noting that the "parties need to enter into dialogue in good faith" and to not revert to violence "if things don't go their way." Human rights groups said opposition supporters have been the targets of brutal state-sponsored violence since March, leaving more than 80 dead and 200,000 displaced. The preliminary agreement, mediated by South African President Thabo Mbeki, was signed July 21. It sets a two-week deadline for the government and two factions of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change to discuss issues, including a unity government and how to hold new elections.
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Newly inaugurated Vatican agency regulates workers' health, safety
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- A newly inaugurated Vatican agency is dedicated to regulating and overseeing workers' health and safety. Cardinal Giovanni Lajolo, president of the commission governing Vatican territory, presided over a July 21 ceremony blessing the Vatican safety inspectors' new headquarters. The offices are part of a total revamping of how the Vatican protects and safeguards the rights, health and safety of people who work on Vatican territory. In December the Vatican announced a new law to improve worker safety and rights. Most Vatican regulations follow Italian norms, but the Vatican wanted to cut bureaucracy and customize rules to take into account the Vatican's unique situation, said Gianluigi Marrone, a Vatican City judge. The law called for the creation of a new agency specifically dedicated to worker safety, he said in an interview published July 23 in the Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano. The agency was established this year and is staffed by a doctor, an engineer, an architect and an official from the Vatican's fire brigade.
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Cardinal to Anglicans: Ignoring Christian tradition like Alzheimer's
LONDON (CNS) -- A Vatican official told the world's Anglican bishops that ignoring Christian tradition and making decisions apart from the wider church are like degenerative diseases. At the Lambeth Conference, where the Anglican bishops are struggling with such issues as the ordination of women, gay bishops and gay unions, Cardinal Ivan Dias appeared to allude to a "spiritual Alzheimer's" threatening to destroy the historical memory of the Anglican churches. "Much is spoken today of diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's," Cardinal Dias, prefect of the Vatican's Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, told the plenary session in Canterbury July 23. "By analogy, their symptoms can, at times, be found even in our own Christian communities," he said. "For example, when we live myopically in the fleeting present, oblivious of our past heritage and apostolic traditions, we could well be suffering from spiritual Alzheimer's. And when we behave in a disorderly manner, going whimsically our own way without any coordination with the head or the other members of our community, it could be ecclesial Parkinson's," the Indian-born cardinal said. He added that the joint efforts of Anglicans and Catholics to spread the Christian faith depended on their "unity and cohesion."
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Cincinnati Archdiocese honored for service to Holy Land Christians
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation has announced the Archdiocese of Cincinnati will be the recipient of the 2008 Living Stones Solidarity Award for supporting Christianity in the Holy Land. "The Cincinnati Archdiocese's contributions of funds, time and resources ... have made a significant difference in the lives of innumerable Palestinian Christians," said a July 23 statement from the foundation, which is supported by American Christians dedicated to helping Palestinian Christians. Cincinnati Catholics have shown solidarity with Christians in the Holy Land by "opening their churches, homes and hearts to Palestinian Christian students and other visitors," the statement said. They regularly support the foundation's work and have welcomed four groups of Arab Christian eighth-graders through the Children's Peace Project, which was designed to make personal connections between Western and Holy Land Christians, it said.
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PEOPLE
Father Witherup elected superior general of Sulpicians
BALTIMORE (CNS) -- Sulpician Father Ronald D. Witherup, elected July 11 as the 26th superior general of the Sulpicians, said his top priorities will be promoting unity, communicating the society's pedagogy and recruiting new members. He was elected by delegates from 11 countries during a meeting near Paris. Bishops want "to keep their own priests because they all have needs in ministry," said Father Witherup, noting that priests must have the permission of their bishop to become Sulpicians. "So it's a challenge to recruit new members." Father Witherup most recently served for more than a decade as provincial of the religious community's Baltimore-based U.S. province. The Sulpicians, formally known as the Society of the Priests of St. Sulpice, are an international society of diocesan priests focused on the education and formation of priests and future priests. Among their ministries in Baltimore, the Sulpicians operate St. Mary's Seminary and University. Worldwide, there are 320 Sulpicians, 71 of whom serve in the society's U.S. province. The priests minister in approximately 13 countries, with the society growing fastest in Africa and South America -- areas where religious vocations are flourishing, Father Witherup said.
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Graduate of San Francisco Catholic high school bound for Beijing
SAN FRANCISCO (CNS) -- Shannon Rowbury, who was a standout athlete when she attended San Francisco's Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory High School, is bound for Beijing. She qualified for the 2008 Olympic track and field team by winning the 1,500-meter event at the Olympic trials in Eugene, Ore., July 6 with a time of 4 minutes, 5.48 seconds. In May Rowbury, 23, went from being off the radar in the sport to earning a championship title. Her time of 4:1.61in the 1,500-meter at an outdoor event in Carson, Calif., made her the fifth fastest American woman in that event in history. She was even faster July 18 in Paris, with a time of 4:0.33 in the 1,500-meter. A statement released by her alma mater said that "while many may be surprised by this 23-year old's rapid ascent," the Catholic high school community is "proud and excited to witness such success from an (alumna) of our school." "In August, Beijing and the world will get to see this athlete who we were lucky enough to know up close and personal for her four years -- 1998-2002 -- of high school," it said.
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