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News Briefs
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NEWS BRIEFS Jun-29-2009
By Catholic News Service
U.S.
Church leadership organization honors Catholics Come Home campaign
PHILADELPHIA (CNS) -- The National Leadership Roundtable on Church Management presented its annual award for best practices to Catholics Come Home and Tom Peterson, its founder and president. The award, presented in Philadelphia June 25 during the management organization's annual meeting, recognized Catholics Come Home for its effective use of communications media, particularly TV ads, to invite inactive Catholics and others to take a closer look at the church today. Televised spots detail the good works of the Catholic Church throughout history. They also offer real-life testimonials of fallen-away Catholics explaining what turned them away and what drew them back. The Catholics Come Home spots appeared in the Phoenix Diocese during Lent 2008 and will appear in more than a dozen other dioceses around the country later this year or in early 2010. By the time Advent rolls around in 2010, organizers say they'll go national on major networks.
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Catholic college students take part in solar house competition
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- A solar house-building team from Jesuit-run Santa Clara University in California has set its sight on winning the U.S. Department of Energy's biennial Solar Decathlon, a competition to design, build and operate an energy-efficient home powered entirely by solar energy. In 2007, as a late entry after another team dropped out, the Santa Clara team finished third. This year, the team has partnered with the California College of Architecture to design an attractive 800-square-foot abode. The house will be transported to Washington for the Oct. 8-16 decathlon on three flatbeds. Its design allows the sun to follows the arc of the house, providing more energy to power the modern dwelling. With a $1.4 million budget, about 30 students are working full-time over the summer on the house. "It's really been an interesting ride to say the least," said Allison Kopf, a junior engineering-physics major at Santa Clara, the only Catholic college competing in the Solar Decathlon. "Most of our team is engineers and there's also some business people. You learn how people in different disciplines communicate differently -- all trying to communicate on one project."
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U.S. appeals court upholds Virginia's ban on partial-birth abortion
RICHMOND, Va. (CNS) -- Virginia's ban on partial-birth abortion is constitutional, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in a 6-5 decision June 24. The head of Americans United for Life, which filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the case and assisted the state with the litigation, welcomed the decision. "We are thrilled that the 4th Circuit followed clear U.S. Supreme Court precedent and upheld Virginia's ban on partial-birth abortion -- which is more accurately called partial-birth infanticide," said Charmaine Yoest, president and CEO. Opponents of the ban are expected to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review the appellate court's decision. The 2003 law makes it a felony to perform a partial-birth abortion, but it never went into effect because its constitutionality was challenged by a doctor who said the procedure can be necessary to protect the life of the mother and could prevent doctors from performing legal procedures for fear they would be prosecuted. But writing for the majority, Judge Paul Niemeyer said that the situations in which doctors would face criminal charges are so narrowly drawn that it would not invalidate the law that makes abortions in other circumstances legal.
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Sociologist, panelists discuss how to unite varied church generations
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- A scholar on the sociology of religion and Catholics of four different generations held a lively discussion June 26 about how to bring together those who see the church as an institution and those who see it as a collection of people who choose to join. Both groups "value Catholic identity, affirm core Catholic beliefs and stress the importance of the sacraments," said James D. Davidson, professor emeritus of sociology at Purdue University, during the Msgr. Philip J. Murnion Lecture sponsored by the Catholic Common Ground Initiative at The Catholic University of America. But the two groups, identified as Culture I and Culture II Catholics, can differ dramatically on other aspects of Catholic beliefs and practices, Davidson said. Culture I Catholics see the clergy as the church's authority figures, place a high value on obedience and agree with the church even on peripheral beliefs, he said, while Culture II Catholics see the laity as leaders, value thinking for themselves and often disagree with church teaching on peripheral matters. Davidson said sociological data shows "a steady movement away from Culture I toward Culture II" among younger generations of U.S. Catholics. "These younger generations continue to identify with the faith, but they are not as attached to the church as pre-Vatican II Catholics," he said.
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WORLD
Bishops must be loving shepherds, pope tells archbishops
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Bishops are called to watch over their faithful not like "a prison guard," but with the same love and concern that God watches over the world, Pope Benedict XVI said June 29 during his homily on the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul. During the Mass in St. Peter's Basilica, 34 archbishops from 20 countries knelt before Pope Benedict and received a pallium, a woolen band worn around their shoulders as a sign of their authority and their responsibility as shepherds. North American prelates receiving their palliums included: Archbishops Allen H. Vigneron of Detroit; George J. Lucas of Omaha, Neb.; Robert J. Carlson of St. Louis; Timothy M. Dolan of New York; Gregory M. Aymond of New Orleans; J. Michael Miller of Vancouver, British Columbia; Pierre-Andre Fournier of Rimouski, Quebec; and Vincent Nichols of Westminster, England. Orthodox representatives of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople participated in the Mass. The patriarch sends a delegation to the Vatican each year on the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, the Vatican's patrons, and the pope sends a delegation to Turkey each year for the feast of St. Andrew, patron of the patriarchate.
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New archbishops find pallium shows their ties to pope, parishioners
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Receiving the woolen pallium from the pope underlines an archbishop's unique ties to the vicar of Christ in Rome and to his own flock of parishioners back home, said a number of archbishops from the United States and Canada. The pallium "strikes me as somewhat of a wedding ring -- that we are intimately bound to our people -- our sheep -- as shepherds," said Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan of New York, "and we're also bound to the universal pastor of the church, Pope Benedict XVI." Archbishop Dolan was one of 34 bishops from 20 countries who received the white, narrow circular band called a pallium during a special Mass in St. Peter's Basilica June 29. Archbishop Gregory M. Aymond of New Orleans said it was "a very powerful experience" to see the tremendous diversity and universality of the Catholic Church during the ceremony. Canadian Archbishops Pierre-Andre Fournier of Rimouski, Quebec, and J. Michael Miller of Vancouver, British Colombia, also received their palliums. They led their pilgrims on a private tour of the Sistine Chapel and shared a brief prayer with them there June 27.
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Healthy collaboration between church, government possible, says pope
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Catholic Church is not a threat to the Vietnamese government and a healthy collaboration between the two is possible, Pope Benedict XVI told Vietnamese bishops. The church "has absolutely no intention of substituting itself with those in charge of governing, but it only wishes to be able to play an appropriate part in the life of the nation and being at the service of the people in a spirit of dialogue and respectful collaboration," he said. The pope met with bishops from Vietnam during an audience June 27 at the Vatican. The bishops were making their "ad limina" visits to Rome to report on the status of their dioceses. "Healthy collaboration between the church and the political community is possible," the pope told the bishops. Lay people and families also can play an important role in building a society marked by justice, solidarity and equality, he said. The Catholic family should nurture and be the source of human values and virtues and be "a school of faith and love toward God," he said, adding that proper formation was, therefore, critical.
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Closing Pauline year, pope reveals results of tests on apostle's tomb
ROME (CNS) -- Closing the year of St. Paul, Pope Benedict XVI announced that tests done on the presumed tomb of the apostle revealed the presence of bone fragments from a human who lived between the first and second century. "This seems to confirm the unanimous and uncontested tradition that they are the mortal remains of the Apostle Paul," the pope said during an evening prayer service June 28 at Rome's Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls. The basilica has long been held to be the burial site of St. Paul, but because of the destruction and rebuilding of the basilica, the tomb's exact location was unknown for centuries. Vatican officials announced in December 2006 that several feet below the basilica's main altar and behind a smaller altar, they had found a roughly cut marble sarcophagus beneath an inscription that reads: "Paul Apostle Martyr." Because part of the sarcophagus is buried beneath building material, Vatican officials determined they could not dig it out to open and examine the contents. It was decided, Pope Benedict said, to drill "very tiny perforation" into the marble so that a small probe could be inserted in order to withdraw fragments, which underwent carbon-14 analysis.
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Role of bishop of Rome key to Catholic-Orthodox progress, pope says
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- A common understanding of the role the bishop of Rome played in the united Christianity of the first millennium is essential for resolving the question of the primacy of the pope in a united church, Pope Benedict XVI said. He met June 27 with Orthodox Metropolitan Emmanuel of France, Bishop Athenagoras of Sinope, who serves as the assistant metropolitan of Belgium, and Deacon Ioakim Billis of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. The three Greek Orthodox represented Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople at the evening prayer service closing the year of St. Paul June 28 and at the pope's Mass for the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul June 29. Meeting the delegation privately before the festivities began, the pope said the year of St. Paul was a year "of prayer, of reflection and of exchanging gestures of communion between Rome and Constantinople." The pope said the joint activities were the best way to honor St. Paul, who urged Christians "'to preserve the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace,' teaching us that there is 'only one body and one spirit.'"
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Uruguayan bishop asks forgiveness after having sex with two men
MINAS, Uruguay (CNS) -- An Uruguayan bishop asked forgiveness of Catholics in his diocese after revealing that two men with whom he had sex were blackmailing him. In a letter read at Masses June 27 and 28, Bishop Francisco Barbosa da Silveira, 65, of Minas wrote, "I never wanted to cause sadness to anyone, especially you, the people whom the Lord entrusted to me to accompany and encourage." The bishop said he would "obediently do whatever the church asks of me." The Uruguayan newspaper El Pais reported that the two men were former prison inmates who began doing odd jobs around the bishop's residence and office after asking the bishop for assistance. Sex acts in December involving the bishop and the men were recorded on a mobile phone, and soon afterward the men began blackmailing the prelate, who went to police about a month ago, the newspaper said. One of the men was arrested and charged with extortion. The other was already in jail on other charges.
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Internet causing marital problems, says Irish Catholic support group
DUBLIN, Ireland (CNS) -- The world of cyberspace is causing real-world problems for a growing number of married couples, according to research conducted by ACCORD, the Irish bishops' agency providing care and support for marriage. For the past three years, ACCORD studied how often high levels of Internet usage were cited among the sources of marital conflict. John Farrelly, the agency's director of counseling services, said the issue is now "statistically significant," with 7 percent of clients in the first half of 2009 reporting it as their primary problem. "The key areas which are causing conflict are Internet gambling, infidelity and one partner spending too much time online rather than with their spouse and family," Farrelly said in a statement. ACCORD's half-year statistics showed a growing number of Irish couples seeking marriage counseling because of financial pressures. The percentage of clients identifying finances as a marital problem increased from 20 percent in 2007 to 31 percent in the first half of 2009.
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PEOPLE
New head of Zimbabwean archdiocese says he'll focus on poverty relief
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (CNS) -- The new archbishop of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, said he will focus on poverty relief and development rather than trying to fill the gap left by his predecessor, who was arguably Zimbabwe's most outspoken critic of human rights abuses under President Robert Mugabe. "My priority is people, and here they need spiritual and material help," said Archbishop-designate Alex Kaliyanil, superior of the Divine Word missionaries in Zimbabwe. The Indian archbishop-designate, named to Bulawayo June 20, has worked mostly in rural parts of the archdiocese since he arrived in the southern African country in 1989. The archbishop-designate, who has been an adviser to the Catholic aid agency Caritas Zimbabwe, said challenges he faces in his new job include "poverty, underdevelopment, unemployment and HIV/AIDS." Since a unity government was formed in February, "the country has moved forward, with humanitarian aid coming in, and people are more hopeful of positive change in their lives," he said.
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Catholic Common Ground Initiative honors Sister Carol Keehan
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The Catholic Common Ground Initiative presented its annual Cardinal Joseph Bernardin Award June 26 to Sister Carol Keehan, a Daughter of Charity who is president and CEO of the Catholic Health Association. Sister Carol was selected because of "her extraordinary contributions to creating common ground between church leaders and government officials, organized labor and Catholic health care providers, the rich and the poor," according to the citation presented to her in a brief ceremony on the campus of The Catholic University of America in Washington. The citation praised Sister Carol for her efforts to achieve national health care reform and for her work on a recent document by representatives of Catholic health care, the labor movement and the U.S. bishops' conference setting principles designed to ensure a fair process as health care workers decide whether to join a union. The award is named for the late Chicago archbishop who was a co-founder of the Catholic Common Ground Initiative.
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Nun in Fawcett's hometown recalls her as 'first-grader with pigtails'
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas (CNS) -- Sister Patrice Floyd remembers actress Farrah Fawcett as "a little first-grader with pigtails" at Christ the King School in Corpus Christ, Fawcett's hometown. The actress, who first rose to fame starring on "Charlie's Angels," died in Los Angeles June 25 at age 62 after a three-year battle with cancer. A private funeral Mass was to be celebrated for her at Our Lady of the Angels Cathedral in Los Angeles June 30. A longtime educator in the Diocese of Corpus Christi, Sister Patrice, a Sister of the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament, said the Fawcett family lived across the street from Christ the King. Though she was raised a Catholic, her faith never seemed to be a topic of her interviews but as she battled cancer she spoke about praying to God and hoping for a miracle. In a documentary about her struggle that she produced and which aired on network television in May, she was often shown holding a rosary during her treatments. Before her death, news reports said a priest came to her hospital room and administered the church's last rites.
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Father King, longtime theology professor at Georgetown, dies at 80
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Jesuit Father Thomas M. King, a longtime professor of theology at Georgetown University in Washington, died June 23 at age 80. A prolific author, Father King was well-known for his role of blessing the cast, crew and set of "The Exorcist," which was filmed in Washington in 1972. In a news release Georgetown said the priest apparently died of a heart attack. A funeral Mass for the priest was celebrated on Georgetown's campus June 27. Originally from Pittsburgh, he is survived by a brother, Jesuit Father Bill King, who also belongs to Georgetown's Jesuit community, and two sisters, Martha Cox of Pittsburgh and Catherine Marie Tovey of Portland. Ore. Born on May 9, 1929, Thomas Mulvihill King joined the Society of Jesus in 1951. He was ordained a priest in 1964 and began teaching at Georgetown in 1968. A self-declared night owl, Father King was known at Georgetown for celebrating a popular late night Mass at 11:15 six nights a week in the campus chapel. As a writer, Father King published at least nine books mainly dealing with issues in theology.
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Copyright (c) 2009 Catholic News Service/USCCB. All rights reserved.
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