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News Briefs
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NEWS BRIEFS Dec-15-2008
By Catholic News Service
U.S.
Catholics gather at downtown Chicago plaza for special Guadalupe Mass
CHICAGO (CNS) -- On a frosty December afternoon, more than 400 Catholics gathered on Federal Plaza in downtown Chicago to publicly celebrate the Eucharist in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Auxiliary Bishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller of Chicago called it a "historic moment" and said the people who gathered there did so because they were concerned about the state of society. But they did not come with despair, because Our Lady of Guadalupe is a sign of hope, said the bishop, who was the main celebrant of the outdoor Mass Dec. 12, the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. "We are a people of hope," he said, an anthem that would be repeated several times during the Mass by the congregation. "Our Americas are a place of hope." The Mass was celebrated in the shadow of the Kluczynski and Dirksen federal office buildings, with the American flag flying above the congregation. The event was the brainchild of Thomas Brjecha of the Thomas More Society. The society sponsored the Mass along with various Chicago archdiocesan offices and the Pro-Life Action League.
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Financial woes leave millions wondering how far down economy can go
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- History likely will frame 2008 as the year America overcame lingering questions about racism as the country elected its first African-American president in Barack Obama. But even such a historic election could be overshadowed by the deepening concern about just how far the U.S. economy would sink into recession in the worst economic slump since the Great Depression. The majority of electoral analysts agreed people voted their pocketbooks Nov. 4, thinking Obama offered them a better chance to save their homes from foreclosure, create jobs and spur an economic turnaround in a shorter period of time than Republican John McCain. However, as the year drew to a close, the consensus among financial analysts, economists and government policymakers was that any recovery would be more than a year away. Obama himself acknowledged things would get worse before they got better.
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Catholic officials help victims of violence, global crises in 2008
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Catholic Church officials continued to advocate for and work to help victims of violence and the global food and economic crises in 2008. In addition to helping refugees from conflicts with global repercussions in the Middle East or Africa, the church has advocated for justice and peace for the poor, hungry and defenseless in Asia and Latin America. In some of the world's hot spots, such as India, the violence was sectarian in nature. Nearly 60 people died, hundreds were injured and thousands were displaced in anti-Christian violence in India's Orissa state. In late August, a Hindu leader and four of his associates were killed and, although a Maoist group took credit for the murders, Hindu fanatics blamed Christians. Iraq continued to see Christians fleeing the country five years after the U.S. invasion. Church aid workers provided basic necessities, counseling and legal assistance to many of the 2.3 million Iraqi refugees in Lebanon, Egypt and Syria. For Catholic agencies in host countries, that meant greatly expanding services.
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U.S. Catholics receive strong dose of encouragement from pope's visit
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- U.S. Catholics were repeatedly encouraged to find renewed hope in Christ during Pope Benedict XVI's April 15-20 visit to the United States. Whether the pope was addressing international or religious leaders, youths or those Catholics who filled baseball stadiums in Washington and New York, he continually reiterated the trip's theme, "Christ Our Hope," and earnestly spoke of a "new springtime" for the church in America. The pontiff, in his first visit to the United States as pope, celebrated Mass at the ballparks in both cities and spoke at the White House, the General Assembly of the United Nations and at churches in Washington and New York. He also departed from his planned itinerary for a private meeting with victims of the clergy sex abuse crisis. After his departure, many U.S. Catholics said they felt a deeper connection with their spiritual leader and that the effects of the visit would last beyond the six-day trip as they planned to read and reread the texts of his speeches. For many, what stood out the most was not the huge crowds at papal events but his private meeting at the apostolic nunciature in Washington with five victims of clergy sexual abuse.
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Cardinal Dulles recalled for brilliance, simplicity, kindness
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Cardinal Avery Dulles, a Jesuit theologian who was made a cardinal in 2001, was remembered by friends and admirers for his brilliant mind as well as for his "simplicity and sense of wonder." Cardinal Dulles died Dec. 12; he was 90. An evening wake was scheduled for Dec. 16 and 17 at Fordham University Church, followed by the celebration of Mass each evening. A funeral Mass for the cardinal was scheduled for Dec. 18 at St. Patrick's Cathedral, followed by burial at the Jesuit Cemetery in Auriesville, N.Y. Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, retired Washington archbishop, and a fellow member of the 2001 class of cardinals, described the Jesuit scholastic he first met 60 years ago as even then being "an imposing personality with his twang, his razor-sharp intellect and, perhaps more than anything else, his obviously profound dedication to his faith." "He was one of the truly great American theologians, constantly renewing and deepening his commitment to the truth," said Cardinal McCarrick in one of many statements issued by church leaders, friends and colleagues after Cardinal Dulles' death.
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WORLD
For pope and Vatican, 2008 was important interfaith year
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI will look back on 2008 as an important year for interreligious dialogue, with the inauguration of a major Catholic-Muslim forum, notable meetings with Jews in the United States, and the opening of ecology as a new terrain for interfaith cooperation. At the same time, discrimination and violence against minority Christian communities in Asia and the Middle East clouded the interfaith horizon and pushed human rights to the top of the Vatican's dialogue agenda. The initial meeting at the Vatican of the Catholic-Muslim Forum in November was a milestone in relations between the two faiths, and represented a remarkable turnaround after a low point in dialogue two years earlier. The theme of the encounter was love of God and neighbor, and the Vatican representatives made sure to highlight respect for human rights -- including the rights of minority faith communities -- as an essential area of cooperation.
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Christmas decorations a reminder of new life from Christ, pope says
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The traditional decorations of Christmas are reminders that the light and love of Jesus Christ bring new life to all who wait in darkness, Pope Benedict XVI said. The pope spoke about Christmas trees as symbols of new life Dec. 12 when he met a delegation from Austria, which donated the Christmas tree in St. Peter's Square, and he spoke about Nativity scenes as reminders of God's love for humanity when he blessed figures of the baby Jesus Dec. 14 before reciting the Angelus. "Before the Nativity scene, we experience Christian joy, contemplating in the face of the newborn Jesus the face of the God who drew near to us out of love," the pope said during his Angelus address. The day's reading from St. Paul, he said, called on Christians to rejoice because the Lord is near. Although the Catholic Church believes in the second coming of Christ, there is no need for "alarmism," he said. "The nearness of God is not a question of space or time, but a question of love: Love is drawing near."
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Dominican sisters promote human rights in Iraq through education
ROME (CNS) -- Despite years of economic hardship and violence in Iraq, the Dominican Sisters of St. Catherine of Siena are working in the country to promote human rights, said an Iraqi nun. Dominican Sister Nazik Matty said most people "only hear about people being killed and buildings being bombed" in Iraq and never learn about some of the positive things being done there. The sister, who is studying at Rome's Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas, spoke during a Dec. 12 conference on women and human rights organized by the university. She said the war has not only destroyed buildings and infrastructure, but has also deeply injured the Iraqi people. Through their many projects and outreach, the Dominican sisters work to create places for people of different religions, classes and ethnic groups to come together, meet, heal and reconcile, she said.
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Pope calls for church-state cooperation for peace
ROME (CNS) -- While church and state should be separate and respect each other's role in society, they must cooperate to promote peace, solidarity and the good of all people, Pope Benedict XVI said. "Conflicts and tensions between peoples make increasingly necessary the collaboration of all those who share the same ideals of justice, solidarity and peace," the pope said Dec. 13 during a morning visit to Italy's Embassy to the Holy See. Pope Benedict was the fourth pope to visit the embassy, which was established after the 1929 Lateran Pacts settled the disputes between the Italian government and the papacy over the temporal rule of Rome and the former Papal States and formally recognized the independence of Vatican City. The autonomy of church and state, the pope said, is something the Catholic Church not only recognizes, but also "rejoices in as a great progress for humanity and as a fundamental condition for its own freedom and for fulfilling its universal mission of salvation among all peoples."
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Philippine prelates appeal for extension of land-reform program
MANILA, Philippines (CNS) -- Philippine Catholic officials have issued a letter asking legislators to pass Senate and House bills to extend and amend the country's land-reform program, set to expire at the end of December. "It is a matter not only for the rural poor who are set to be bereft of their land and their dignity as persons; it is also a matter for our people residing in urban areas who would bear the burden of accommodating landless farmers in our cities," they said in the letter released by the Asian church news agency UCA News Dec. 15. "Agrarian reform concerns all of us because, if it is left unfinished, we would be participants and witnesses to the poverty of millions of our brothers and sisters and to the perpetuation of injustice." Among the signers of the letter to the legislators were Cardinals Gaudencio Rosales of Manila and Ricardo Vidal of Cebu, as well as Archbishop Angel Lagdameo of Jaro, president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines, and Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo of Manila, who chairs the bishops' Commission on Social Action, Justice and Peace.
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PEOPLE
Retired Bishop Kuzma of Byzantine Diocese of Van Nuys dies at age 83
UNIONTOWN, Pa. (CNS) -- Retired Bishop George M. Kuzma of the Byzantine Eparchy of Van Nuys, Calif., died Dec. 7 at Mount Macrina Manor in Uniontown, Pa. He was 83. A funeral Divine Liturgy was to be celebrated Dec. 16 at St. John the Baptist Byzantine Catholic Cathedral in Munhall. Interment was to follow at Mount Macrina Cemetery in Uniontown. An announcement from the eparchy about his death said Bishop Kuzma's "deep love and dependence on the Holy Spirit (was) a recurring theme of his priestly and episcopal ministry." Bishop Kuzma was born July 24, 1925, the youngest of six children born to Ambrose and Anna (Martin) Kuzma of Windber. He completed high school six months early so that he could enlist in the U.S. Navy and serve his country during World War II. During the war he served in the Asian Pacific region before being honorably discharged in March 1946, after which he began his studies for the priesthood.
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More women leaders needed at the Vatican, says Cherie Blair
ROME (CNS) -- The Catholic Church would benefit from having more women in senior-level positions at the Vatican, Cherie Blair said during a conference on the church's role in defending women's rights. "Just as diversity between and within the sexes enriches human life and strengthens our civil society, so, too, I believe would it strengthen the church if we could see more women in leadership roles within it," she said. Blair -- a lawyer who specializes in human rights and the wife of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair -- spoke Dec. 12 at a conference organized by Rome's Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas, also known as the Angelicum. Titled "Women and Human Rights," the one-day conference was held to mark the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Blair's participation had been criticized by some Web sites which said the Catholic Blair was a pro-abortion public figure who did not live out church teachings. The Angelicum refused to cancel Blair's engagement. After her talk, Dominican Father Bruce Williams, a professor of moral theology at the Angelicum, publicly offered an apology to Blair and said that after hearing her speech it was "crystal clear" the accusations against her were "rash and outright calumnious."
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Laid-off Filipino workers shop for jobs this Christmas
SAN NICOLAS, Philippines (CNS) -- Daisy Rumbaoa's expected return from Taiwan this Christmas season is causing her family worries. The youngest child of a sickly carpenter is among thousands of Filipinos who have lost their overseas jobs as part of a global recession. Relatives expect her to return this month, her father, Elpidio Rumbaoa, told the Asian church news agency UCA News Dec. 6 at his home in San Nicolas, nearly 190 miles north of Manila. "We pray that my daughter can find another job" overseas, the 60-year-old widower said. "She is our family's hope." Elpidio Rumbaoa worries that even if Daisy Rumbaoa finds work in the Philippines, it will not pay enough for her to continue supporting the family. She left two years ago and has been working in a factory in Taiwan. Her salary has enabled her to send home money for her father's medical expenses and the high school tuition fees of her nieces and nephews, reported UCA News.
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Cardinal Dulles dies at 90; Jesuit theologian made a cardinal in '01
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Cardinal Avery Dulles, a Jesuit theologian who was made a cardinal in 2001, died Dec. 12 at the Jesuit infirmary in New York, Murray-Weigel Hall. A cause of death was not released but he had been in poor health. He was 90 years old. Cardinal Dulles had been the oldest living U.S. cardinal. His death was announced by the New York-based Jesuit provincial's office. An evening wake was scheduled for Dec. 16 and 17 at Fordham University Church, followed by the celebration of Mass each evening. A funeral Mass for the cardinal was scheduled for Dec. 18 at St. Patrick's Cathedral, followed by burial at the Jesuit Cemetery in Auriesville, N.Y. His death "brings home to God a great theologian and a totally dedicated servant of the church," said Cardinal Francis E. George of Chicago, president of the U.S. bishops.
END
Copyright (c) 2008 Catholic News Service/USCCB. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed.
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