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News Briefs
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NEWS BRIEFS Aug-4-2008
By Catholic News Service
U.S.
New national Housing Trust Fund to help low-income Americans
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Wrapped inside the foreclosure relief bill passed by Congress to help hard-pressed homeowners was legislation to help similarly hard-pressed renters. The creation of a national Housing Trust Fund was included in the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, signed July 30 by President George W. Bush. The amount to be set aside for the fund this year -- $300 million -- is modest compared to the billions at stake in the foreclosure relief provisions of the law, but it was seen as welcome relief by housing advocates. "The (U.S.) bishops' conference has worked for years to enact a national Housing Trust Fund because affordable housing is vitally important to the stability and sustainability of families and communities throughout the country," said an Aug. 1 statement by Bishop William F. Murphy of Rockville Centre, N.Y., chairman of the bishops' Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development. "Many other bishops and I have supported initiatives of this sort in our own communities," he added. "I am pleased to see this national effort succeed and become a possible model for state and local efforts."
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Guatemalan bishop gets view of migration problems from two countries
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- When he comes to the United States once or twice a year, Bishop Alvaro Ramazzini Imeri makes a point of visiting immigrants from his San Marcos Diocese in the southwestern part of Guatemala, giving him a view of two ends of the migration cycle. There are sizable populations of people from San Marcos in Cincinnati, Richmond, Va., Los Angeles, North Carolina, Delaware and Florida, he explained during a visit to Washington for the 2008 National Migration Conference in July. On his visits Bishop Ramazzini said he hears about the Guatemalans' troubles finding decent work, being separated from their families, functioning in a country where they don't know the language and finding too little spiritual support from the church. "They find the work here is hard," he told Catholic News Service. "You can earn a lot of money but you have to work very hard." Recent workplace raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, particularly worry the Guatemalan immigrants who may lack visas to work legally in the United States. "The fear is absolutely bigger than in past years," the bishop said.
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Catholic colleges, universities make efforts to go tobacco-free
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- When students and teachers return to college this fall, they might notice that something is missing: tobacco smoke. More Catholic colleges and universities are starting to toughen up their no-smoking policies, and among them are several Jesuit-run universities. On July 1, Creighton University in Omaha, Neb., went completely smoke-free. Smoking is not only prohibited in campus buildings, it is now prohibited on all campus grounds and property. The University of San Francisco is creating two designated smoking areas on campus, which will be in effect when the fall semester begins Aug. 28. The new policy calls for a review in two years to determine if the campus can be completely smoke-free. "A restrictive environment helps (smokers) to quit smoking," Kamal Harb, director of health promotion services at the university, said in an interview with Catholic News Service.
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Catholic colleges, universities take steps to go green
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Catholic colleges and universities are joining their public counterparts in pursuing green initiatives for their campuses using a variety of resources, offices and organizations. Students and school officials are tapping into Internet-based initiatives such as the Campus Greening Initiative at www.netimpact.org and Campus Climate Challenge, www.climatechallenge.org, and they're also entering competitions such as RecycleMania, which promotes friendly competition among campuses to promote recycling efforts. About 24 Catholic colleges and universities have also joined the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education, a group that provides its members with research materials and techniques for encouraging greener campuses. Sustainability, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, means "meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."
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For participants, Cursillo encounter is place to renew faith
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- For adults seeking to renew their faith, the place to be Aug. 1 was the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington. Auxiliary Bishop Francisco Gonzalez of Washington celebrated Mass at the shrine as part of the 18th National Cursillo Encounter, held July 31-Aug. 3 at The Catholic University of America. The theme for this year's encounter was "Christ Is Our Light." The Cursillo movement seeks to promote faith renewal for adults. Buck Reibsome, from the Diocese of Harrisburg, Pa., was attending the encounter for the first time. He told Catholic News Service that a desire to "fall in love with Christ again, (to) renew that feeling," prompted him to come to Washington for the event. It also was the first time the national encounter took place in the nation's capital. Concelebrants for the Mass at the national shrine were priests from all over the country who were attending the encounter with their parishioners.
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WORLD
Pope offers best wishes to China, Olympic participants
BRESSANONE, Italy (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI offered his best wishes to China, the International Olympic Committee and all the athletes who will participate in the Aug. 8-24 games in Beijing. "I am happy to send the host country, the organizers and participants -- especially the athletes -- my cordial greeting with the hope that each one can give the best of his- or herself in the genuine Olympic spirit," the pope said Aug. 3. Beijing invited two Catholic bishops from outside the mainland -- Coadjutor Bishop John Tong Hon of Hong Kong and Bishop Jose Lai Hung-seng of Macau -- to the opening ceremony Aug. 8 but did not invite an official Holy See representative, reported the Asian church news agency UCA News. Pope Benedict spoke about the Olympics after reciting the midday Angelus prayer with about 9,000 people gathered in the square in front of the Bressanone cathedral. The pope said he would be following the Olympic Games.
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Anglican leader calls for moratorium on practices causing division
CANTERBURY, England (CNS) -- The spiritual head of the worldwide Anglican Communion called for moratoriums on the blessing of same-sex unions, the ordination of openly gay people and naming bishops for disgruntled Anglicans in other church jurisdictions. "I hope that a little more mutual responsibility and accountability, a bit more willingness to walk in step will make us more like a church" rather than a loose collection of nation-based Christian communities, Anglican Archbishop Rowan Williams of Canterbury said at an Aug. 3 press conference. The archbishop spoke at the end of the Lambeth Conference, a 19-day meeting of Anglican bishops from around the world. Some 200 bishops declined their invitations to participate because of the presence of bishops from North America, where some dioceses bless same-sex unions and where an openly gay priest was ordained a bishop.
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Ecuador's bishops question provisions of proposed constitution
QUITO, Ecuador (CNS) -- As Ecuadoreans prepare to vote on a new constitution in late September, the country's bishops have questioned provisions dealing with the family, education and the right to life. In a statement issued July 28, the bishops noted that the document, approved July 24 by delegates to the Constitutional Assembly, includes "generous statements about the centrality of the person ... in the economy, education and health, with emphasis on promotion of the poor." They pointed out that those are issues "that the church has always emphasized," but said they would like to have seen the constitution include more provisions about "combating poverty and corruption." The bishops criticized the document's language on several issues they said were nonnegotiable items "that demand a clear attitude on the part of believers and people of good will." They said the constitution's lack of recognition of the right to life from conception and a phrase that says people can decide "when and how many children to have" leave "the door open" to abortion.
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Mexican bishops call for truce in debate over petroleum sector
MEXICO CITY (CNS) -- The Mexican bishops' conference called for a truce in a debate about a proposed overhaul to the country's government-run petroleum sector, saying that disputes over the highly divisive issue could provoke social unrest. "We invite all social actors to contribute to the creation of spaces for dialogue that will permit serene argumentation, mutual respect for differences of opinion, sincere searches for the truth and openness so that (people have) the safety to express themselves freely," said Bishop Felipe Arizmendi Esquivel of San Cristobal de Las Casas, who spoke for the bishops' conference in a July 31 statement. Mexican President Felipe Calderon's proposed reforms to the state-owned oil company Pemex would allow the company to partner with private companies in activities that include the exploration, exploitation, refining and transportation of petroleum. Calderon pitched the reforms as a measure that would fix Pemex, a deeply indebted company that accounts for approximately 40 percent of the federal government's revenues. Those revenues could be in jeopardy: The Mexican Energy Secretariat projects the country's proven oil reserves will be exhausted within a decade.
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Speakers call for less stigma, more money for AIDS medicine
MEXICO CITY (CNS) -- Key speakers at a global AIDS conference called for more money for medicine and less stigma in the fight against HIV, while a Mexican Catholic leader stressed the need for solid marriages and faithfulness. At the opening ceremony of the XVII International AIDS Conference Aug. 3, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon praised Mexico for passing a recent law against homophobia and urged nations with high HIV-infection rates to do the same. "In countries without laws to protect sex workers, drug users and men who have sex with men, only a fraction of the population has access to prevention," Ban said. "Conversely, in countries with legal protection and the protection of human rights for these people, many more have access to services. As a result, there are fewer infections, less demand for antiretroviral treatment and fewer deaths." Ban also called for major increases in funding for the treatment of AIDS, saying it was a long-term struggle and that budgets would have to rise considerably and be sustained for the next few decades. The United Nations estimates that 33 million people have HIV, the virus that causes AIDS; only 3 million of them are using the often-expensive antiretroviral drugs.
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PEOPLE
Georgetown scholar: Muslims comfortable in dialogue with Catholics
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (CNS) -- Roman Catholics can play an important role in burgeoning and, by nearly all accounts, needed efforts in dialogue between Christians and Muslims, said a noted Catholic scholar of Islamic studies. "Muslims say they're comfortable dialoguing with Catholics" because of the church's steadfast positions on questions such as family, abortion and bioethics, said John Esposito, director of the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University in Washington. Esposito, 68, participated in a just-completed conference of Christians and Muslims held at Yale University in New Haven. Conference participants hoped to improve interfaith relations frayed in the wake of the 9/11 attacks and the U.S.-led war in Iraq. In an interview with Catholic News Service following the July 28-31 public portion of the eight-day conference, Esposito said that comfort level remains a key cornerstone of Catholic-Muslim relations and is a continuing point of good will.
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