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News Briefs
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NEWS BRIEFS Oct-8-2009
By Catholic News Service
U.S.
Major concerns remain unresolved in health reform bills, bishops say
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- None of the major health reform bills before Congress adequately addresses the concerns raised by the U.S. bishops in the areas of abortion, conscience protection, immigrants and affordability, said the heads of three major committees of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Oct. 8. "If final legislation does not meet our principles, we will have no choice but to oppose the bill," said a letter to all members of Congress from Bishop William F. Murphy of Rockville Centre, N.Y.; Cardinal Justin Rigali of Philadelphia; and Bishop John C. Wester of Salt Lake City. "Much-needed reform of our health care system must be pursued in ways that serve the life and dignity of all, never in ways that undermine or violate these fundamental values," they added. "We will work tirelessly to remedy these central problems and help pass real reform that clearly protects the life, dignity and health of all." The three chair the USCCB committees on Domestic Justice and Human Development, Pro-Life Activities and Migration, respectively.
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Court to consider whether cross in national park is constitutional
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- A dispute over a war memorial on federal land raised questions among Supreme Court justices Oct. 7 over whether allowing a cross to stand in the remote California desert might have implications for other religious symbols on government property. In oral arguments, Solicitor General Elena Kagan, arguing on behalf of the Department of the Interior, defended a cross-shaped war memorial, placed by the Veterans of Foreign Wars in 1934 on a rock in an isolated part of the 1.6 million-acre Mojave National Preserve in San Bernardino County, Calif. The monument, which has been replaced several times by private organizations or individuals, is quite remote, visible only from a little-used side road. Kagan suggested that any confusion over whether the federal government is responsible for a religious symbol might be resolved by posting signs explaining the war memorial's nonsectarian history and purpose. That prompted questions among the justices about whether such signs posted to explain religious elements on government land might themselves constitute a constitutional problem. The case, Salazar v. Buono, will be decided before the end of the Supreme Court term in the spring.
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Clergy, seminarians reflect on priesthood at Year for Priests seminar
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Nearly 300 clergy and seminarians took time to reflect on the priest's role in contemporary society during a two-day symposium at The Catholic University of America in Washington marking Pope Benedict XVI's designated Year for Priests. "The Holy Father tells us that we participate in the work of redemption," said Archbishop Donald W. Wuerl of Washington. "That is what a priest does. He brings the Eucharist into the midst of the community, but he also brings the sacramental ministry of the church into the midst of the believing community." In a homily during the Oct. 6-7 symposium's morning prayers, Archbishop Wuerl stressed that it was incumbent on priests that they use all potential resources "to make Christ visibly and effectively present in the community." The symposium on "Ministerial Priesthood in the Third Millennium: 'Faithfulness of Christ, Faithfulness of Priests'" was co-sponsored by Catholic University's School of Theology and Religious Studies and by Theological College, the national seminary of the school.
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Blair says Christians, Muslims both face 'challenge of relevance'
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Christians and Muslims alike face "the challenge of relevance" in today's society, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair said Oct. 7 at Georgetown University. The challenge includes "showing how faith can be a force for the future, for progress, that it will not fade as science and technology and material prosperity alters the way we live," Blair said. "We face an aggressive secular attack from without. We face the threat of extremism, often from within," he added. "These challenges are not for Muslims alone or Christians alone or Jews, Hindus or Buddhists for that matter. They are challenges for all people of faith. "Those who scorn God and those who do violence in God's name both represent views of religion. But both offer no hope for faith in the 21st century," he said. Blair, who became a Catholic months after he stepped down in mid-2007 after a 10-year run as Britain's prime minister, spoke at a Georgetown-sponsored conference, "A Common Word Between Us and You: A Global Agenda for Change."
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Relic of Blessed Damien to return to Hawaii after his canonization
HONOLULU (CNS) -- Broken pieces of bone. Those are the physical remains coming back to Hawaii Oct. 17 as a first-class relic of Blessed Damien de Veuster after his Oct. 11 canonization. The relic will tour the islands before being permanently placed in the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace in Honolulu, where Blessed Damien was ordained as a priest of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. It is a small foot bone secured in a small tin box housed in a 15-inch-long wooden reliquary that will travel from island to island in a larger case made of koa, a Hawaiian hardwood. To Catholics who will venerate the relic, it's not the bone fragments themselves that have meaning, but what they represent. "A relic points to something that we cannot see, to that person and the holiness of his or her life," said Holy Cross Father Peter Rocca, rector of the Basilica of the Sacred Heart at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, which has hundreds of relics. "It also allows for an occasion to pray to the saints for their intercession and to assist us in living a Christian life," he told the Hawaii Catholic Herald, newspaper of the Honolulu Diocese.
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Dallas Diocese reaches $800,000 settlement in sex abuse cases
DALLAS (CNS) -- The Diocese of Dallas has agreed to pay $800,000 to three men who had filed suit against the diocese in connection with alleged sexual abuse in the 1970s and 1980s by a priest. The diocese said in an Oct. 2 announcement that the settlement, reached Sept. 30, would be paid "in large part by insurance funds." The announcement also said the diocese "has informed the three men through legal counsel" that Dallas Bishop Kevin J. Farrell "is open to meeting with them to extend an apology on behalf of the church." Father Richard Johnson, now 80 and still living in Dallas, was suspended from priestly ministry in 2006 when the sexual abuse charges were made and "is not allowed to function as a priest," the diocese said. Bishop Farrell asked the Vatican in 2007 to laicize him, but the case is pending. He was pastor of three parishes at the time of the alleged abuse. Attorney Tahira Khan Merritt told the Dallas Morning News that her three clients had been altar boys at St. Bernard of Clairvaux Parish in Dallas.
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Catholicism combats destructive individualism, cardinal says
ROME (CNS) -- The Catholic Church is a network of relationships that, if lived faithfully and openly, can show others how to live in harmony and with a sense of responsibility for the common good and the good of the planet, said Cardinal Francis E. George of Chicago. Presenting his new book, "The Difference God Makes: A Catholic Vision of Faith, Communion and Culture," the cardinal spoke Oct. 7 at Rome's Pontifical Lateran University. A central point of the book, which includes revised versions of several of the cardinal's speeches and essays, is that an "ideology of individualism" is leading people, particularly in the United States, to emphasize their personal rights and dreams to such an extent that they are losing sight of the responsibilities and duties they have to the communities to which they belong: their families, their nation and the human race. "In the United States, individualism as an ideology is so closely associated with creativity and personal freedom that the Gospel's injunction to surrender oneself to Christ and to others in order to be free has become largely incomprehensible," he wrote in the book's introduction. The cardinal is president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
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Bioethics seminar offers clarity on complex health care decisions
DENVER (CNS) -- A slate of Catholic medical ethicists sought to provide clear Catholic answers to complex health care decisions during a gathering in Denver. The Oct. 2-3 seminar in Catholic bioethics for health care professionals, clergy and teachers was held at the John Paul II Center in south Denver. The seminar was sponsored by the National Catholic Bioethics Center, located in Philadelphia, in collaboration with the Denver guild of the Catholic Medical Association. Topics included beginning-of-life and end-of-life issues; Catholic health care at the service of the human person; ethical approaches to complications before and after birth; and stem-cell research. Speakers included Father Tadeusz Pacholczyk, a noted expert on stem-cell research; Marilyn Coors, an associate professor of bioethics and genetics at the University of Colorado; Deacon Alan Rastrelli, a medical doctor and founding member of the inpatient palliative care team at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center; Marie Hilliard, a registered nurse and canon lawyer; and John Haas, a moral theologian and president of the National Catholic Bioethics Center.
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WORLD
African family values threatened by Western ideology, bishops say
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The African family is being undermined by violence, AIDS and Western ideas that upset the traditional relationship between men and women, some African bishops warned. Support for parents, better attention to the moral education of children and resistance to modern ideologies that diminish Christian family values are necessary, they told the Synod of Bishops for Africa. Guinean Archbishop Robert Sarah, secretary of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, said Oct. 7 that the Western concept that biological gender identity "is not intrinsic to the person but is a social construct" is contrary to African culture. The ideology also "denies God's plan" for humanity in creating people male or female and has a negative impact on the centrality of traditional marriage and of motherhood and fatherhood, he said. The new Western gender model, he said, "allows woman to reach an equality of social power with man and for the individual to 'choose' their sexual orientation," making homosexuality "a culturally acceptable choice." The ideology influences culture and politics, and puts pressure on lawmakers to pass legislation favorable to "contraceptive and abortive services as well as homosexuality," he said.
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Genetically modified crops call for caution, bishop tells synod
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Africa should be cautious in its approach to genetically modified agriculture "even if it promises economic salvation" for the impoverished continent, a bishop from Cameroon said. Bishop George Nkuo of Kumbo said Oct. 7 that because the long-term impact of such new technology on human and environmental health is still not clear, "we in Cameroon suggest that Africa should not rush blindly to embrace it." Speaking at the Synod of Bishops for Africa, Bishop Nkuo emphasized that poverty poses "one of the great obstacles to justice, peace and reconciliation" and is "the single greatest cause of hunger" in Africa. Increased food production using better agricultural methods on the continent is key to pulling its people out of extreme poverty, he said. But while new discoveries in science must be part of the solution, Bishop Nkuo said, serious questions regarding the safety of the new GMOs (genetically modified organisms) need to be addressed. On the other hand, he said, the new methods promise that "not only will the quality of life for the poorest people be improved, but they will also begin the process of economic development" so important to Africa.
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Archbishop Chaput rejects cardinal's upbeat appraisal of Obama speech
ROME (CNS) -- Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Denver has taken issue with a retired Vatican official's positive assessment of President Barack Obama's speech last May at the University of Notre Dame. In an essay published by the Italian newspaper Il Foglio Oct. 6, Archbishop Chaput said Swiss Cardinal Georges Cottier, the papal theologian under Pope John Paul II, had been overly generous in his appraisal of the president's words. In his speech, Obama expressed commitment to reducing the number of abortions and guaranteeing conscientious objection rights for health workers. Cardinal Cottier said in July that the president had moved in the direction of finding "common ground" with the church, and that "his words go in the direction of diminishing the evil." Archbishop Chaput, noting that many U.S. bishops had objected to the president's appearance at the Indiana university, suggested that Cardinal Cottier might have deferred to the judgment of local pastors. "Regrettably and unintentionally, Cardinal Cottier's articulate essay undervalues the gravity of what happened at Notre Dame. It also overvalues the consonance of President Obama's thinking with Catholic teaching," Archbishop Chaput wrote. The English text of his article was published on the Web site of Il Foglio.
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Outgoing Canadian nuncio expresses sorrow over charges against bishop
TORONTO (CNS) -- Canada's outgoing papal representative offered words of "deep sorrow and emotion" over the recent arrest of retired Bishop Raymond J. Lahey on child pornography charges. Giving the homily during an Oct. 7 Mass for Toronto theology students, Archbishop Luigi Ventura invited students and faculty members to "prayer, silence and hope" that the church can overcome such sins. Without mentioning Bishop Lahey by name, Archbishop Ventura reassured those at the Mass that the Canadian Catholic Church was working to "establish safe environments and protect children and young people." Archbishop Ventura, who is being transferred as apostolic nuncio to France, said, "The church in Canada bears the wounds together with the victims of a tragic past and has made and continues to make systematic efforts to prevent the repetition of such abuses and exploitation." He added, "Yet we can never underestimate the destructive power of sinfulness and evil that tears apart the fabric of our community. God's grace will overpower these forces." Bishop Lahey, who abruptly resigned as bishop of Antigonish, Nova Scotia, for "personal reasons" Sept. 26, was arraigned five days later in Ottawa on charges of possessing and importing child pornography.
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PEOPLE
Pope meets Palestinian leader, discusses Middle East conflict
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in a private audience Oct. 8 at the Vatican. During the meeting in the papal library, the two men discussed the problems in the Middle East and the need to find "a just and lasting solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in which the rights of all are recognized and respected," said a statement from the Vatican press office. Mutual respect and the support of the international community will be an important part of any agreement, the statement said. The situation of the dwindling Christian community in Palestine was also discussed, along with the contribution the region's Christians make "to social life and to peaceful coexistence among peoples," the Vatican statement said. Reporters heard the pope ask Abbas, in English, about his meeting in New York last month with U.S. President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Reporters did not hear the Palestinian's reply.
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Congolese bishop leaves synod to care for parish attacked by rebels
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- While members of the Synod of Bishops for Africa were discussing ways to promote peace and solidarity on the continent, a Congolese bishop told the assembly he had to go home to care for one of his parishes that had been attacked. Archbishop Francois Xavier Maroy Rusengo of Bukavu told the assembly he would leave Oct. 9 because his parish in Ciherano had been attacked. "While we are talking in this meeting, the pastoral workers in my archdiocese are being attacked by enemies of peace," he said. "One of our parishes was set on fire Oct. 2, some of the priests were mistreated and others were taken hostage by uniformed men who demanded a large ransom, which we were forced to pay." Agence France Presse, the French news agency, reported that a kidnapped priest and seminarian were freed Oct. 3 after payment of a $5,000 ransom. Archbishop Maroy Rusengo told the synod that rebels want to silence the Catholic Church which is "the only support for a people who are terrorized, humiliated, exploited and dominated."
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Bishop Saltarelli, retired head of Wilmington Diocese, dead at 77
WILMINGTON, Del. (CNS) -- Bishop Michael A. Saltarelli, the New Jersey-born priest who guided the people of the Diocese of Wilmington through 12 years of significant growth and unprecedented challenges, died early Oct. 8 in Christiana Hospital, where he had been staying since undergoing colon surgery Sept. 29. He was 77 and had been treated for cancer and heart disease since retiring as the eighth bishop of Wilmington in July 2008. Plans for his funeral were not immediately announced. "Bishop Saltarelli loved the Lord, loved the church and loved the Diocese of Wilmington, and the people of the diocese returned that love," said Bishop W. Francis Malooly, his successor, in a statement. "He was a wonderful shepherd to his flock and a great friend to me." During Bishop Saltarelli's tenure the diocese expanded from 164,000 to 233,000 Catholics, including thousands of Hispanic immigrants from Mexico, Guatemala and elsewhere. The bishop responded to the population shift by authorizing the creation of three new parishes and two regional Catholic elementary schools and the closing or merging of six underpopulated schools in and around Wilmington.
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