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News Briefs
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NEWS BRIEFS Aug-1-2008
By Catholic News Service
U.S.
Collapse of talks seen as step toward better future for poor nations
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The collapse of the Doha trade talks in Geneva is a step toward a future of fairer global trade agreements, said Dominican Sister Maria Riley, senior adviser at the Center of Concern, a Washington think tank. "Poorer countries are exercising their power and saying 'no, until we get a better deal,'" she told Catholic News Service in a phone interview Aug. 1. "Poorer countries like India and China are emerging and flexing their muscles. It's evening the playing field. It's a move to a much more diplomatic system." The World Trade Organization talks failed July 30 when negotiators were unable to reach an agreement over levels for agricultural safeguards -- tariffs that countries can apply to protect their markets from a sudden surge in farm imports. Negotiators could not agree on the trigger point at which such safeguards would take effect, with India and China holding out for a lower level and the United States pushing for a higher threshold. Since a sharp jump in food prices led to shortages and riots in some parts of the world earlier this year, developing countries have been seeking greater control over their agriculture sectors.
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Millions of immigrant stories later, CLINIC celebrates 20 years
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- At least as far back as the 1930s, the U.S. Catholic Church has been helping immigrants wade through the legal quagmires of immigration law. But it wasn't until the 1988 creation of the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, known as CLINIC, that the church's role in providing legal services to immigrants was formalized and expanded nationwide. As CLINIC marks its 20th anniversary this August, people who've been a part of its history marvel at how far the network has come. From 17 church-sponsored immigration service agencies around the country in 1988, CLINIC has grown to 173 diocesan and other affiliated programs with 260 field offices in 48 states. Its affiliates employ about 1,200 attorneys and paralegals and serve an estimated 600,000 people each year, CLINIC executive director Don Kerwin told Catholic News Service. Kerwin has been with CLINIC since 1992, when he ran its political asylum program for Haitians. He became director in 1993. He rattled off more statistics that define CLINIC's success: more than 1,000 training sessions run for attorneys and staff members, and more than 100,000 people who have been helped to become naturalized citizens.
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Social action advocates discuss racism, study coalition-building
ATLANTA (CNS) -- During a discussion on racism at an Atlanta institute for Catholic social advocates, a theology professor told participants the Catholic Church has not been a beacon of racial justice in the United States, but has the tools to be an advocate for racial reconciliation. "U.S. Catholics have not been immune to the racial virus that has infected American society. In fact, in many ways, we have aided and exacerbated it," Father Bryan Massingale said to a crowded room. The priest, who teaches at Jesuit-run Marquette University in Milwaukee, was one of the speakers at the 23rd annual Social Action Summer Institute July 20-25 at Oglethorpe University. More than 200 Catholic leaders from across the country participated in the program, examining racism, digging into the church's moral teachings and studying how to build coalitions with people of other faiths. The aim was for advocates to take home what they learned and enliven programs at local parishes in dioceses across the country, said Susan Stevenot Sullivan, director of parish and social justice ministries for Catholic Charities of the Atlanta Archdiocese. Her ministries office organized the program.
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Youths need to find spiritual connection to service, say speakers
ATLANTA (CNS) -- Although Catholic youths are used to doing service work, they need to find a way to connect their volunteering with their faith, according to speakers at a conference in Atlanta. Service activities have become commonplace in Catholic high schools and for confirmation candidates, but the volunteer work almost has become a "requirement to fulfill," said Jill Rauh, youth and young adult coordinator for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Department of Justice, Peace and Human Development. Rauh, one of the speakers July 25 on the final day of the Social Action Summer Institute at Oglethorpe University, said there needs to be more of a connection among social issues, action and the teachings of the church. Rauh led the session called "The Prophetic Role of Young Catholics" with Grace Cassetta, diocesan director of youth ministry and adolescent catechesis in the Diocese of Las Cruces, N.M.
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Volunteers walk cross-country to spread pro-life message
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- When school ended for the summer break in May, most students went home and started their vacation. But that was not the case for Carlos Rivas and about 30 others. Instead of lying on the beach or trying to make a little extra cash, they began walking across the country to spread the message of the dignity of life. They are part of Crossroads, an organization that sponsors three walks across the U.S., from the West Coast to the East Coast. A fourth Crossroads walk takes place in Canada, this year going from Toronto to Ottawa Aug. 5-15. The U.S. treks, which began May 24, will end in Washington Aug. 15; a pro-life rally will take place near the Capitol Aug. 16. According to the Crossroads Web site, www.crossroadswalk.com, the organization was founded in 1994 as a response to Pope John Paul II's call to young people at World Youth Day in Denver in 1993. He urged them "to go out into the streets and into public places, like the first apostles who preached Christ and the good news of salvation in the squares of cities, towns and villages."
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People at interfaith prayer service, rally urge justice for migrants
POSTVILLE, Iowa (CNS) -- Inside a Catholic church in northeast Iowa July 27, a rabbi from Chicago pondered the symbolism of the Statue of Liberty at a gathering of 500 people of various faiths. The common denominator for him and the interfaith crowd was a commitment to social justice in the aftermath of a May 12 immigration raid that disrupted life in tiny Postville. Just a couple of blocks away in downtown Postville, a woman in a Statute of Liberty costume and crown held a picket sign that read: "Save the American Worker." The common denominator for her and about 100 other picketers lining one side of the downtown was opposition to illegal immigration. Both sides eventually crossed paths as the people in the church joined other supporters outside St. Bridget Catholic Church on a march first to Agriprocessors, the meat processing plant where the raid occurred, and then through the downtown. Police officers, sheriff's deputies and Iowa state troopers patrolled the downtown area to prevent altercations. Chanting on each side of the downtown street grew louder as each group tried to make their point stand out.
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Mexican activist praises Catholic Church's work on immigration
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Mauricio Farah Gebara, an official with the National Commission of Human Rights in Mexico, praised the Catholic Church in Mexico and in the United States for their "outstanding work on behalf of immigrants and their families." Farah Gebara, executive director of the commission's fifth division, made the comments in a speech July 31 as a part of the 2008 National Migration Conference held July 28-31 in Washington. The church is "a source of much needed relief and hope for people so vulnerable, and at the same time, so necessary for the well-being of us all," said Farah Gebara. The National Commission of Human Rights is an independent group that works in Mexico to help guarantee human rights for migrants. It works with individuals trying to cross into the U.S. as well as those entering Mexico from Central America. It also issues policy recommendations to all levels of government in Mexico on how the government can improve immigration policies and human rights in the country.
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WORLD
Anglicans see blunt talk from Catholics as sign of friendship
ROME (CNS) -- Behind the headlines about tough words from Roman Catholic observers at the Anglican Communion's Lambeth Conference there also was straight talk about the blunt words only real friends could say. At a July 29 dinner for the 75 ecumenical observers attending the conference, Anglican Archbishop Rowan Williams of Canterbury said the guest speakers have praised the Anglican Communion on some points, but also have shared "truths that may be a little less palatable." Introducing Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, Archbishop Williams said, "One of the things that we have always looked for him to do for us is to ask some very awkward questions in a way that only a friend can ask with effect and pungency." The next day, at one of 15 small sessions Anglican bishops could choose from, Cardinal Kasper offered a Roman Catholic assessment of the issues the Lambeth Conference was dealing with: the ordination of women priests and bishops; blessing same-sex unions and ordaining people who are openly gay; and trying to find a structure to strengthen and guarantee the unity of the Anglican Communion.
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Summer reading: Darwin, design and divine intervention
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- A series of articles on creation, intelligent design and Darwinism made reading the Vatican newspaper seem like taking a crash summer course in Evolution 101. Over a three-week period in July, L'Osservatore Romano published three full-length articles detailing the controversies surrounding different interpretations of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution and the Catholic Church's stance on the issue. Such articles might seem like a natural selection given other Vatican initiatives to discuss emerging scientific theories on how life has evolved and the role of faith in explaining God's divine plan. For example, the Vatican hosted a three-day international congress on ecology in mid-July in Zaragoza, Spain, in which participants gave talks on ethical responsibility for nature and intelligent design. During World Youth Day in Sydney, Australia, Austrian Cardinal Christoph Schonborn of Vienna led a debate on creation and evolution. And later this year, the Vatican will present an in-depth look at the creation vs. evolution question when it hosts a five-day conference on "Scientific Insights Into the Evolution of the Universe and of Life."
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Vatican official defends life of Italian woman in vegetative state
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Because Eluana Englaro is alive, caregivers must continue to give her food and water, said the president of the Vatican's Pontifical Academy for Life. Archbishop Salvatore Fisichella, president of the academy, hailed a July 31 decision by the procurator general's office in Milan to ask Italy's Supreme Court to overturn a lower court decision authorizing the withdrawal of nutrition and hydration at the request of the young woman's father. The procurator general's office said that when Milan's civil Court of Appeals ruled July 9 that the provision of nutrition and hydration could be stopped it did so without obtaining a clear scientific opinion that the young woman's condition could never improve. In addition to saying it would take the case to the Supreme Court, the procurator general's office asked the Court of Appeals to suspend its ruling so that Englaro's family does not act before the Supreme Court can rule. Now 37 years old, Englaro was injured in a car accident in 1992. She has been in what doctors describe as a persistent vegetative state for 16 years.
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Family urges Haitian judiciary to renew inquiry into priest's murder
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (CNS) -- Ten years after Father Jean Pierre-Louis was gunned down by unknown assailants, his family has urged the Haitian judiciary to renew the investigation into his death. Jacques Pierre-Louis, Father Pierre-Louis' brother, told local media July 28 that the priest's relatives "have decided to ensure that the judiciary reactivates this case, so that the law can finally impose itself in this heinous act." Pierre-Louis described his brother, who was shot to death Aug. 3, 1998, as a "radical" and a "man of conviction." Father Pierre-Louis was born into a family of considerable means but chose to devote his life to the poor, often living in difficult conditions in rural areas. He was the parish priest of Mount Carmel Church in Port-au-Prince when he died at the age of 54.
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PEOPLE
Opus Dei head says he hopes young people recommit to God's friendship
PERTH, Australia (CNS) -- The international head of the Opus Dei prelature said he hopes young people will take up Pope Benedict XVI's suggestion and "recommit to the friendship that God offers each one of us." He also said that parents who love each other and each of their children "without limits" give a "priceless" example. Bishop Javier Echevarria Rodriguez, the prelate of Opus Dei, made the comment July 26 in an e-mail interview with The Record, the weekly newspaper of the Archdiocese of Perth, during a visit to Oceania that included World Youth Day celebrations in Sydney. Bishop Echevarria also visited Opus Dei members in the Australian cities of Melbourne and Victoria and in New Zealand. He said he hoped young people "will continue the practices of World Youth Day back in their own countries. This includes seeking the teachings of the church, spending time in prayer in front of the Blessed Sacrament and seeking out the sacraments of the Eucharist and confession."
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Chinese Catholic bishop carries Olympic torch on its way to Beijing
TANGSHAN, China (CNS) -- A Chinese Catholic bishop said the local church's engagement in society has enabled him to carry the Olympic torch on its way to Beijing. Coadjutor Bishop Peter Fang Jianping of Tangshan, 45, represented the Catholic Church in Tangshan during the July 31 torch relay in Tangshan, a city about 110 miles east of Beijing, the capital. Bishop Fang told the Asian church news agency UCA News Aug. 1 that he was invited to run because the Chinese government has made progress in recent years in carrying out its religious policies and in expressing concerns over religious issues to religious leaders. The local church's active participation in social affairs also has garnered the appreciation of the government and public, he told UCA News. "Because of the church's contribution to the society, I was named a torchbearer," he said.
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Muslim leader expresses hope pope will visit Syria for Pauline year
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The grand mufti of Syria, Ahmad Bader Hassoun, said he has invited Pope Benedict XVI to Damascus to celebrate the year of St. Paul, the apostle converted on the road to Damascus. The grand mufti, a leader of Syria's 18 million Muslims, met with Italian journalists who were visiting Damascus as part of their own celebration of the Pauline year. Vatican Radio reported Aug. 1 that Hassoun said he hoped to meet Pope Benedict in Rome and he hoped the pope would visit Damascus before the Pauline celebrations end next June. The pope convoked the yearlong celebration to mark the 2,000th anniversary of St. Paul's birth. Archbishop Giovanni Battista Morandini, the Vatican nuncio in Syria, told the Italian reporters that the country's 2 million Christians -- Orthodox and Catholics -- have joined together to discuss St. Paul's life, writings and witness.
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