|
|
|
|
News Briefs
|
NEWS BRIEFS Aug-14-2008
By Catholic News Service
U.S.
Episcopal priests worried about their church talk to Catholic bishop
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Four priests from the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth, Texas, who said they are troubled by the "liberal" direction taken by the Episcopal Church met with the Catholic bishop of Fort Worth. The meeting raised questions about whether they intend to seek a way to join the Catholic Church. The Episcopal clergy members met with Bishop Kevin W. Vann of Fort Worth June 16 to explore how the two faith communities can better collaborate spiritually, Pat Svacina, director of communications for the Catholic diocese, confirmed to Catholic News Service Aug. 14. "The bishop listened to them as part of an ongoing dialogue he has been having with them," Svacina said. "The bishop has not taken a position on this topic at this time. Ultimately, full communion with the Catholic Church would be a decision made by the Vatican." Suzanne Gill, director of communications for the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth, confirmed that the priests visited Bishop Vann and talked "about a fuller communion." Though Fort Worth Episcopal Bishop Jack Leo Iker knew the priests were meeting with Bishop Vann and was given a copy of the document they presented to him, they were not representing their diocese, bishop or congregations, Gill said. "They represented only themselves."
- - -
Dominican sisters based in Nashville start new mission in Australia
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (CNS) -- The 12 months spent by three U.S. Dominican sisters in Sydney, Australia, to help plan and organize World Youth Day has led to a new mission in Australia for the congregation. The three -- Sisters Mary Madeline Todd, Mary Rachel Capets and Anna Wray -- are members of the St. Cecilia Congregation in Nashville. They have returned home but two of them will go back to Sydney to help establish their community's first permanent mission outside the United States. Cardinal George Pell and Auxiliary Bishop Anthony Fisher of Sydney, a fellow Dominican, "were eager to have our sisters working in Sydney," said Sister Mary Madeline. "What we could offer and what they needed were complementary." What the Dominicans offer and what is needed in southern Australia, Sister Mary Madeline said, is a "witness of religious life." Although Australian society has become increasingly secular, "there is a great interest in religious life in Australia," Sister Mary Madeline told the Tennessee Register, newspaper of the Nashville Diocese.
- - -
Eritrean Catholic bishop prays for peace between Eritrea, Ethiopia
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Eritrean Bishop Menghisteab Tesfamariam of Asmara urged Eritreans in North America to unite in faith and prayed that the international community would work for peace between his country and Ethiopia. Bishop Tesfamariam, 59, met Aug. 13 with the director of the Department of Justice, Peace and Human Development of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in Washington, one of several stops on his five-week pastoral trip through North America to visit Eritrean immigrants. The bishop said he was not asking the bishops' conference to influence the U.S. government or United Nations to intervene in the political struggles between Eritrea and Ethiopia, two neighboring countries in the Horn of Africa. "It is a rather delicate subject," he told Catholic News Service Aug. 13. "For me as a bishop to speak in a political way may not be helpful."
- - -
Doubleday publishes new editions of two Archbishop Sheen books
NEW YORK (CNS) -- To mark the 50th anniversary of the publication of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen's "Life of Christ," Doubleday is publishing a new paperback edition of the archbishop's 688-page book on the life, crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. Republished along with "Life of Christ" is Archbishop Sheen's autobiography, "Treasure in Clay," completed shortly before his death in 1979. The 416-page paperback recounts his life as the bishop of Rochester, N.Y.; national director of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith; a participant in the Second Vatican Council; and television's first religious broadcaster. The publication date for both books is Aug. 19.
- - -
WORLD
Syrian monastery gives visitors taste of ancient spiritual life
AL-NEBEK, Syria (CNS) -- A sixth-century monastery in the desert of western Syria is giving today's visitors the experience of ancient spiritual life. Named after St. Moses, an Ethiopian monk, the Mar Musa monastery is about 20 miles from the nearest town, Al-Nebek. The monastery and its church are staffed with Catholic and Orthodox nuns and priests, and the compound has become a center for Muslim-Christian interfaith dialogue. With its vegetable garden and goat herd, the desert monastery is a model of sustainability. "I felt like I had a calling to come here, and I felt at home in Mar Musa even before I started living here," said Father Michel Toma, a Syrian Catholic priest from Homs, Syria, who moved to the monastery several months ago after having visited the remote spiritual oasis several times over the last 10 years. "I love nature. It's a relaxing and calm place." Everyone who visits works to help keep the monastery running. Some tend to the goats and make cheese. Father Toma's specialty is making candles, something he is teaching the other residents.
- - -
Italian animal rights group urges pope to stop wearing animal fur
ROME (CNS) -- Although Pope Benedict XVI does not wear fur-trimmed accessories in the summer, an Italian animal rights group launched a summertime petition drive asking the pope to stop wearing animal fur year-round. Lorenzo Croce, president of the Italian Association for the Defense of Animals and the Environment, posted his petition online July 21 and had collected more than 2,900 signatures by the morning of Aug. 14. The petition says the ermine-trimmed accessories Pope Benedict has worn -- the red, fur-trimmed "camauro" cap he wore briefly in 2005 and the fur-trimmed capes he regularly wears in the winter and early spring -- "have nothing to do with sacred vestments." The petition asks the pope to act "with respect for life in all its forms and to remember that animals also are creatures of God." It also says animals "have a right to live" and that they feel fear and pain "when they are killed to satisfy human greed in all its forms."
- - -
Foreign Catholics surprised to find church, Mass in Beijing
BEIJING (CNS) -- Some foreign Catholics attending the Beijing Olympics said they were surprised to discover that the Catholic Church operates in mainland China and the liturgy is the same as back home. Philippine-American Rob Walsh -- the father of Olympic swimmer James Walsh, who swam for the Philippines -- was one of many visitors, including state leaders, who attended Mass Aug. 10 at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, reported the Asian church news agency UCA News. Rob Walsh said his experience of Mass in Beijing is similar to what he is used to in the United States. He was staying in Beijing for three weeks with family members and had attended two other Sunday Masses at the cathedral. Before that, he told UCA News, he had thought the Catholic Church was not allowed to function in China. The historic cathedral, a 30-minute walk from Tiananmen Square, offers five Masses every Sunday -- one in Latin, two in Chinese and two in English.
- - -
PEOPLE
Priest to meet Maryknoll leaders over role in Womenpriests' ceremony
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Maryknoll Father Roy Bourgeois will meet Aug. 18 with the three members of his order's General Council to discuss his participation in a recent ceremony sponsored by Roman Catholic Womenpriests. The Aug. 9 ceremony involved what Roman Catholic Womenpriests considers the ordination of Janice Sevre-Duszynska to the priesthood. The organization, which is not recognized by the church, has sponsored numerous ceremonies since 2002 involving reported ordinations of women deacons, priests and bishops. These ceremonies have led to the excommunications of all involved because women cannot be ordained Catholic priests. Father Bourgeois, an internationally known peace and justice advocate, confirmed he will meet with Maryknoll's general superior, Father John Sivalon, and the two other members of the order's council. The priest told Catholic News Service from his Columbus, Ga., home Aug. 14 that his participation in the ceremony at a Unitarian Universalist church in Lexington, Ky., followed a period of reflection after he received an invitation from Sevre-Duszynska, a longtime friend. "In conscience I felt I had to be there," he said. Father Bourgeois, 69, said that during the event he concelebrated the liturgy and delivered the homily. He also said he laid hands on Sevre-Duszynska, 58, during what traditionally would be the rite of ordination. Betsey Guest, community outreach coordinator for the Maryknoll order, which has its headquarters in Maryknoll, N.Y., said the members of the order's General Council learned of Father Bourgeois' participation in the ceremony through media reports. "They were not consulted prior to his participation, nor would they have condoned it," she said. Reports that Cardinal Edward M. Egan of New York intervened in asking the order to meet with Father Bourgeois were erroneous, she said.
- - -
Catholic missionaries take ministry work to U.S. college campuses
WORCESTER, Mass. (CNS) -- After college, Renee Burke-Drazba landed a job in her field and loved it. But the next year she gave up her teaching job to do fundraising to support herself as a missionary to college students. "People thought I lost my mind," she told The Catholic Free Press, diocesan newspaper of Worcester. Now they seem to think, "Someone needs to do it, and it can't be me." Burke-Drazba is a missionary with the Fellowship of Catholic University Students, known as FOCUS, which began in 1998 and is now an outreach at 33 secular and Catholic colleges in 18 states. According to the group, its goal is to "reach the Catholics on campus and invite them to see how having Christ at the center of their lives will enrich them personally and give their lives meaning." The group spreads its message through missionaries like Burke-Drazba, of Blessed Sacrament Parish in Worcester, who is entering her third year of service at a Catholic university, Seton Hall University in South Orange, N.J., and Danielle McKenna, of St. Joseph Parish in Charlton, who is entering her first year of service at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md.
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
|
|
|
|
