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News Briefs
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NEWS BRIEFS Sep-17-2009
By Catholic News Service
U.S.
Faith groups said to have ability to influence financial decisions
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Over the past 40 years, faith groups have demonstrated the ability to influence how corporations, and even governments, make financial decisions, according to Oblate Father Seamus Finn, director of social justice for the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate and a leader within the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility. The New York-based ICCR was founded 40 years ago to convince corporations to disinvest in South Africa, then run under apartheid, a system of strict racial separation. It took more than 20 years, but South Africa changed without a violent revolution. ICCR trained its sights on other issues, employing mostly what Father Finn called a "negative" system of divesting in companies with objectionable business practices. More recently, however, ICCR has tried a "positive" tack, Father Finn said during a Sept. 16 symposium at Georgetown University's Berkeley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs, trying to get companies to do right through dialogue. The same tactic is now being tried on a global scale with the International Interfaith Investment Group, a move recognizing that decisions affecting citizens in one country are being made in corporate boardrooms on another continent. The mission of "3iG," as it calls itself, is to "contribute to a just and sustainable society, by promoting faith-consistent investments in the spirit of interfaith and international dialogue and cooperation. ... The great challenge is to integrate faith-based principles into the world of business, particularly via investing." Father Finn's order is one of 3iG's founding members, as are ICCR and the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers.
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Parents of disabled children speak out on health reform proposals
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Seventeen parents of children with disabilities gathered on Capitol Hill Sept. 15 to speak out against proposed government health care reform plans that they said could mean the difference between life and death for their children by limiting access to doctors and rationing health care. The parents, many with their children by their side or holding large photos of their loved ones, joined together as the Healthcare for Gunner Coalition to let President Barack Obama and Congress know that it will be their children and their families who could suffer and be denied critical care under current proposed legislation. Joined by Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., the mother of a child with Down syndrome, and Trent Franks, R-Ariz., who was born with a cleft palate, coalition members presented a horrific picture of a future where the weak, vulnerable, elderly and the unborn are given lowest priority. "We have to make sure that health care legislation doesn't leave this important group behind," said McMorris Rodgers. "We have to make sure that health care reform does three things: improve the health care in America, lower the costs and help vulnerable persons." Franks, whose late brother had Down syndrome, warned of the dangers presented by the current health care reform bill, H.R. 3200. "We run into one reality: the rationing of care because you have to decrease the costs," said Franks. "There is always, always rationing and restrictions, which fall on the most weak."
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Downtown church dedicates symbol of its hospitality to poor, homeless
PORTLAND, Ore. (CNS) -- Aiming to enhance hospitality to the poor, a downtown parish in Portland has beautified its building and added an icon that speaks to those on the margins. "From the poverty and brokenness of many who worship here all of us become healers for the community," Portland Archbishop John G. Vlazny told worshipers who filled the small St. Vincent de Paul Downtown Chapel for a Mass dedicating the Christ the Healer icon. "The community may be torn apart with drug addiction, homelessness and mental illness, but it becomes a healing community because of the mercy of Jesus Christ," the archbishop added. After Mass, scores of worshipers walked with the 3-by-4-foot icon around the bustling block, praying for the neighborhood. Homeless people sitting on benches or pushing shopping carts looked on in wonder. At the end of the procession, some strong arms hung the icon above the church's tabernacle and the congregation broke into spontaneous applause. "It was an important moment in the life of the parish," says Holy Cross Father Bob Loughery, the pastor. "This is something we stand for and believe in: the healing presence of Christ in our neighborhood. We are agents of that."
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Project Rachel marks 25 years of healing hearts about abortion
MILWAUKEE (CNS) -- Project Rachel, the post-abortion reconciliation ministry of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, has been healing hearts of those affected by abortion since 1984. The 25th anniversary has been "an awesome experience of looking back and seeing how an idea that was really only Spirit-inspired changed the face of the abortion debate in the U.S., and, not only in the U.S., but also in other countries," said Vicki Thorn, Project Rachel founder and executive director of the National Office of Post-Abortion Reconciliation and Healing since 1990. "Never did I suspect I would be in mainland China and Australia and New Zealand and a number of European countries ... talking about this issue," she added. Some of Thorn's favorite work beyond the one-on-one with women is the speaking and training she does with priests and caregivers. Father Ralph Gross, pastor of St. Bruno Parish in Dousman and a Project Rachel priest since shortly after it began, was among priests at the first training workshop. "Project Rachel has done a wonderful job educating priests over the years to be able to be more sensitive and more understanding of the circumstances, and to have a better insight into the crisis of abortion and the aftermath," he said, adding that even those who aren't directly associated with Project Rachel but have attended workshops have gained great insight into Thorn's work.
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WORLD
Mexican bishops look to Colombians for help fighting drug violence
MEXICO CITY (CNS) -- At a press conference earlier this year, Archbishop Hector Gonzalez Martinez of Durango had planned to denounce extortion attempts against priests in his archdiocese. He instead stunned reporters -- and the whole country -- by announcing that cartel kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, Mexico's most-wanted man, was residing in a remote corner of Durango state. Even more stunning, he insisted, "Everyone knows it, except the authorities." His candor generated nationwide headlines and a warning from presumed associates of Guzman, who dumped two bodies along with a note that advised, "No government, no priest can stand against El Chapo." Archbishop Gonzalez, the subject of intense media scrutiny, would later respond to reporters' questions with the words, "I'm deaf and dumb." The archbishop's latter words describe the posture of many Mexicans and church leaders when it comes to denouncing organized crime and addressing a wave of violence that has claimed more than 13,500 lives since President Felipe Calderon took office in December 2006 and sent the army to suppress Mexico's drug cartels. But that posture may be changing for Mexican Catholics. The social ministry secretariat of the Mexican bishops' conference is preparing a comprehensive report on violence in Mexico that is expected to provide both a diagnosis and an action plan for addressing the problem. None of the report's authors wished to comment on their findings before its November publication, but the issue of organized crime has been a delicate one for the church. Equally delicate is the peril of wading into the public policy arena in a country with a history of contentious church-state relations and the risks of denouncing powerful drug cartels that act as benefactors and de facto authorities in many isolated parts of Mexico.
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Pope greets Rome's Jewish community, plans to visit synagogue
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI has told the Jewish community of Rome that he plans to visit its synagogue in the near future, the Vatican has confirmed. In a good will telegram to Chief Rabbi Riccardo di Segni marking the upcoming Jewish holidays, the pope said he would visit "with joy" the Rome synagogue sometime in October, after the end of the High Holy Days. The telegram was made public by the Jewish Community of Rome and confirmed by Father Ciro Benedettini, vice director of the Vatican press office. Father Benedettini said that while no date had been set, the visit would likely take place sometime in the fall. In the telegram, the pope offered his "heartfelt best wishes" for the holidays of Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur and Sukkot. "I renew my cordial friendship while I wait to make, with joy, the visit to your community and synagogue at the end of your holidays," the pope said in the telegram. Such a visit, he said, "is animated by a real desire to show you that I and the whole Catholic Church are close to you."
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Honduran bishop says he will try to launch dialogue to resolve crisis
EUGENE, Ore. (CNS) -- A Honduran bishop told Catholic News Service he would launch an effort to resolve the apparently intractable crisis in the Central American country. Honduran Bishop Luis Santos Villeda of Santa Rosa de Copan told Catholic News Service Sept. 16 he would see "if an internal dialogue is possible" between "the Resistance" -- Hondurans who oppose the de facto government installed in a June 28 coup -- "and the economically powerful who are behind the coup." "Dialogue many times seems impossible at the beginning, but as things get clarified the parties come to accept it," he said. "And attempting to open a dialogue is strategically important at this point, because if the armed forces and the police continue killing the people of the Resistance -- they've already killed eight -- and breaking their arms with batons, this could provoke widespread resentment that could evolve into a civil war." Bishop Santos has participated in two public demonstrations of the Resistance. On Sept. 12 he celebrated Mass with eight other priests during a demonstration in the streets of Santa Barbara, and the following day he was joined by six other priests as he celebrated Mass during a demonstration in La Esperanza. Yet the bishop denied he is a member of the Resistance. "It's the people who are in the Resistance, not me," he told Catholic News Service in a telephone interview. "My task is to provide pastoral accompaniment, encouraging them spiritually to love God and their neighbor. My message is that faith in Jesus Christ and the love of God are necessary to confront the social injustice that reigns in Honduras and which has become more visible with the coup d'etat."
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Pope holds meteorite during visit to Vatican astronomers' headquarters
ROME (CNS) -- When Pope Benedict XVI officially inaugurated the Vatican Observatory's new headquarters in Castel Gandolfo, a Jesuit astronomer let the pope hold a meteorite from Mars. "The pope very much wanted to be involved with our new headquarters," U.S. Jesuit Father George Coyne told Catholic News Service Sept. 17. Pope Benedict spent the evening of Sept. 16 in the company of papal astronomers who conduct study and research in Castel Gandolfo, outside of Rome, and at its other research center in Tucson, Ariz. His hourlong visit began with "a very beautiful prayer and blessing" for the staff and official inauguration of their new headquarters, said Father Coyne, the former director of the Vatican Observatory. The pope also blessed a dedication plaque in the main-floor entrance area and took a leisurely tour inside, visiting the new library, conference room, staff offices and laboratory. The new facility is located in a renovated monastery about one-and-a-half miles from their previous location inside the papal palace. Father Coyne said the pope "looked very carefully at the exhibits we have" and readily accepted the invitation of U.S. Jesuit Brother Guy Consolmagno to hold a meteorite.
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Grand Duke of Luxembourg receives 2009 Cardinal Van Thuan Prize
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Grand Duke of Luxembourg was awarded the 2009 Cardinal Van Thuan Prize for his efforts in defending the right to life and freedom of religion, the Vatican said. The prize, which included a special silver medal and a certificate, was given to Henri, the grand duke, at a ceremony in Rome Sept. 16. Cardinal Renato Martino, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, said at a press conference Sept. 15 that the grand duke had been chosen "for his efforts in the defense of human rights, but especially for the right to life and religious freedom." The grand duke lost his right to veto in late 2008 when he refused to sign a law legalizing euthanasia in the tiny European country, earning the respect of Catholics and others who oppose euthanasia. Cardinal Martino said the grand duke, who is married with five children, is worthy of the Van Thuan prize, which is "tailored to people who live according to their faith and put it into practice in their daily lives." The grand duke met with Pope Benedict XVI in a private audience at the papal summer residence in Castel Gandolfo, outside Rome, the day after the ceremony.
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PEOPLE
Catholic program helps prostitutes quit 'the life,' regain dignity
PHOENIX (CNS) -- When Aimee was 13 years old, her mother kicked her out of the house. Not knowing what to do, she started sleeping with older men "just so that I'd have a roof over my head," she said. After a few years, she had three children and an addiction to methamphetamine. "I asked my mom to take my kids. I told her I'd be back in a month," said Aimee, who asked that her last name be withheld to protect her family. "I never came back. Not for eight years." What followed were years of prostitution in Las Vegas and Hollywood, stints in jail and in and out of addiction, violence and abuse from a series of pimps. Eventually she had a "trick" buy her a bus ticket to Arizona, and in August 2008 she found herself at her grandparents' house in Phoenix. "They knew the life I was living and they didn't approve of it," Aimee said of her Catholic grandparents. "They're very religious. I'd let them down so many times." But when she walked into her grandparents' house, she said, her life changed. "I was in my grandparents' house in flip-flops and dirty feet and a miniskirt and my little duffle bag," she said. "But they didn't judge me." Her grandmother told her, "If you want to change your life, you're the only one that can do it." While she was at a 12-step class, she found out about DIGNITY, Catholic Charities' prostitution diversion and rehabilitation program. She entered the program on Sept. 15, 2008. DIGNITY, or Developing Individual Growth and New Independence Through Yourself, is a Catholic Charities program that helps women make the difficult decision to leave "the life" of prostitution. "Few people know or understand why women become trapped in the life of prostitution, or what prevents them from leaving," said Paul Martodam, CEO of Catholic Charities Community Services. He said the program helps "women discover their God-given dignity" and "begin anew."
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Catholic assistant chaplain is one of 12 outstanding airmen of 2009
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- When Tech. Sgt. Jennifer Laufer, chaplain assistant with the 42nd Air Base Wing, was named one of 12 outstanding airmen of the year by the Air Force Association, she said the honor was not only personal, but a tribute to the work of military chaplains. Laufer said she is the first female chaplain's assistant to receive this honor. The 35-year-old mother of two is currently stationed at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Ala., along with her husband, Master Sgt. Rob Laufer. The family attends nearby St. Joseph's Parish in Prattville. where Laufer and her husband are extraordinary ministers of holy Communion and their children are altar servers. Laufer was honored during a Sept. 14 ceremony during the Air Force Association conference at the National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Md., just outside Washington. The honorees, selected for leadership, job performance, community involvement and personal achievements, represent more than 400,000 enlisted members of the Air Force. When she was recently deployed to the Kirkuk Air Base in Iraq she had the role of combat spiritual leader working with the medical staff and injured service members. "Anytime someone was wounded, we were there to meet their spiritual needs," she told Catholic News Service Sept. 16. She said the most rewarding aspect of her work in Iraq was simply being with the servicemen and women and supporting them. The hardest part was being away from home.
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China allows low-key funeral for clandestine bishop in Shaanxi
HANZHONG, China (CNS) -- A low-key funeral was held for Bishop Bartholomew Yu Chengti of Hanzhong, who died of stomach cancer Sept. 14 at the age of 90. The Asian church news agency UCA News reported that only about 1,000 Catholics were allowed to attend the Sept. 17 funeral at the rural church in Yuwang village, the bishop's hometown in Shaanxi province. The Vatican-approved bishop had ministered in the clandestine Catholic community since he was secretly ordained a bishop in 1981. He retired in 2003. The Chinese government, which says it must approve the selection of Catholic bishops, recognized him only as a priest, and local officials expressed "grave concern" over the funeral, but the diocese insisted on honoring him as a bishop. In the end, government officials ordered that each parish send only a few representatives, and they did not allow the diocese to publicize the obituary or invite guests from outside Hanzhong. Despite this official disapproval, a dozen priests from neighboring dioceses in Shaanxi, Gansu and Sichuan provinces joined the Hanzhong Diocese's 27 priests to concelebrate the funeral Mass and pay tribute to the highly respected prelate. Bishop Louis Yu Runchen of Hanzhong, who is both recognized by the government and in communion with the pope, presided at a Mass in the morning. A memorial service and burial in the church compound followed.
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Copyright (c) 2009 Catholic News Service/USCCB. All rights reserved.
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