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News Briefs
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NEWS BRIEFS Oct-16-2009
By Catholic News Service
U.S.
Marriage not just a private matter, bishops say in proposed pastoral
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Hoping to reverse what they call "a disturbing trend" toward viewing marriage as "a mostly private matter" with personal satisfaction as its only goal, the U.S. Catholic bishops will debate and vote on a 57-page pastoral letter on marriage at their Nov. 16-19 meeting in Baltimore. The letter, called "Marriage: Life and Love in the Divine Plan," is another component in the bishops' National Pastoral Initiative for Marriage, which began in November 2004. "The vision of married life and love that we have presented in this pastoral letter is meant to be a foundation and reference point for the many works of evangelization, catechesis, pastoral care, education and advocacy carried on in our dioceses, parishes, schools, agencies, movements and programs," says the document's closing section, called a "commitment to ministry." The letter cites four "fundamental challenges to the nature and purpose of marriage" -- contraception, same-sex unions, easy divorce and cohabitation.
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Court still needs to weigh final angle of Bridgeport documents case
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The Supreme Court's decision not to continue a stay on the release to newspapers of Diocese of Bridgeport documents in settled sexual abuse cases doesn't quite close the door on the issue. Still pending is a separate petition asking the court to overturn the original ruling in favor of the newspapers. However, the high court's refusal to continue the stay is being seen by some court-watchers as an indication the diocese's efforts to keep the documents sealed has hit the end of its very long road. The Supreme Court Oct. 5 ended a stay that had temporarily blocked the release of the diocesan records related to sexual abuse cases to four newspapers that sued for access to them. Upholding lower courts, the Connecticut Supreme Court in May ordered the diocese to release 12,000 pages of depositions, exhibits and legal arguments in 23 lawsuits involving six priests. Most of the lawsuits were settled for undisclosed amounts in 2001, with the agreement that the individual settlements and the documents should remain sealed. But the Connecticut courts ruled that documents submitted to the court and the abuse victims as a part of pretrial proceedings could be turned over to the newspapers. The complex legal case has bounced among Connecticut's courts since 2002, when first The New York Times and then three other newspapers -- the Hartford Courant, the Boston Globe and The Washington Post -- sued for access to the material.
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Christ's mission called source, strength of church's care for migrants
MALVERN, Pa. (CNS) -- Those who care for migrants and refugees are not motivated "simply by good will or a commitment to justice," but by the fact that the Son of God was "a stranger in a foreign land" and reached out to the marginalized, Cardinal Justin Rigali of Philadelphia said in an Oct. 8 homily. Christ's mission "is the source and strength of our work on behalf of forced migrants and refugees, asylees and immigrants, and victims of human trafficking," the cardinal said. In his public ministry, Christ "sought out the marginalized and those who were on the outskirts," Cardinal Rigali said. "And he went even further: He suffered, died and was buried. He went down among the dead to seek out the lost and he rose again victorious." The cardinal gave the homily during a Mass in Malvern, in the Philadelphia Archdiocese, that was celebrated during a regional convening of Justice for Immigrants: A Journey of Hope, the U.S. bishops' campaign for comprehensive immigration reform. The campaign's goals are to educate the public and Catholic community about migration and immigrants; create political will for positive immigration reform; work for enactment of legislative and administrative reforms based on the bishops' principles; and organize Catholic networks to help qualified immigrants obtain the benefits of reform.
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Archbishop urges judges, lawmakers to protect future of human family
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (CNS) -- Alaskan judicial and political leaders attending the Red Mass Oct. 5 at Holy Family Cathedral in Anchorage were urged to protect the future of the human family. At the special Mass, celebrated annually in many U.S. cities, the church asks God's guidance for those in the work of adjudicating and governing. This year the Red Mass coincided with the Catholic Church's yearly celebration of Respect Life Sunday. The principal celebrant, Anchorage Archbishop Roger L. Schwietz, delivered a homily on marriage, the complementarity of man and woman, and the "wondrous gift of procreating human life." Leaders, lawmakers and judges, he said, must work to protect those blessings -- for the good of all humankind. U.S. District Judge H. Russel Holland, Alaska Attorney General Dan Sullivan and Frank Murkowski, who is Alaska's former governor and a former U.S. senator, were in the congregation for the archdiocese's second annual Red Mass. About a dozen local attorneys also attended.
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WORLD
Ecumenical quality control: Cardinal reviews 40 years of dialogue
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- When Cardinal Walter Kasper, the Vatican's chief ecumenist, tried to harvest the fruits of 40 years of dialogue with the mainline Protestant churches, he did it by the piece, not the bushel. The result is a 207-page book, "Harvesting the Fruits: Basic Aspects of Christian Faith in Ecumenical Dialogue," which celebrates abundant growth in understanding among Christians, but with a sharp sense of quality control. The book bears the cardinal's name as author, although others had a hand in the project: former and current members of the cardinal's Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, the cardinal-members of the council and theologians from other Christian communities. Four decades of official Catholic dialogues with the Anglican Communion, the Lutheran World Federation, the World Methodist Council and the World Alliance of Reformed Churches have led to recognition of a strong shared faith in Jesus Christ and the Trinity, the content of the creed and baptism, the book said. But it acknowledged serious differences in understanding and in practice regarding the meaning of ordination and who can be ordained, the question of authority in the church and who exercises it, and how Christian communities can determine what constitutes an authentic interpretation of Scripture. The book was presented at the Vatican Oct. 13.
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Cardinal urges Catholics, Hindus to work together for good of humanity
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- As the world's Hindus prepared to celebrate Diwali, the feast of lights, a Vatican official urged Hindus and Catholics to work together to dispel the darkness that keeps them from working together for the good of all humanity. "Let us all, as people of good will, join together to dispel every darkness that hinders a true vision of coexistence, religious harmony and integral development for each and every person," wrote Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue. Cardinal Tauran wrote to the world's Hindus in anticipation of their celebration of Diwali, a three-day religious festival that was to begin Oct. 17 in most parts of the world. The festival focuses on the victory of truth over lies, light over darkness, life over death and good over evil. The cardinal's letter, released by the Vatican Oct. 16, urged Hindus and Christians to work together to promote human development, not just economically and politically, but also spiritually and socially.
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Promoting right to life requires fighting world hunger, pope says
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Defending the right to life requires promoting and establishing food security, Pope Benedict XVI said. The current economic crisis has hit agriculture particularly hard, and governments and the world community must "make determined and effective choices" in investing in agriculture in the developing world, he said. His comments came in a written message Oct. 16, World Food Day. The text was addressed to Jacques Diouf, director-general of the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization. According to the FAO, more than 1 billion people are undernourished and one child dies every six seconds because of malnutrition. Those numbers have been on the rise because of soaring food prices, the global economic meltdown and a decline in aid and investment in agriculture, the U.N. agency said in a written report Oct. 14. The pope said combating hunger by guaranteeing that everyone has access to a sufficient and healthy food supply would be "a tangible manifestation of the right to life, which, even though it is solemnly proclaimed, remains too often far from its full realization."
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Groups say Canada must improve end-of-life care, not favor euthanasia
TORONTO (CNS) -- In response to a poll showing three-quarters of Quebec physician-specialists favor legalized euthanasia under certain conditions, Catholic groups say Canada must improve its end-of-life care. The groups were responding to a survey of the Quebec Federation of Medical Specialists, released Oct. 13, which found that a large majority of those polled support a bill allowing euthanasia that is pending in the House of Commons. According to the poll, only 20 percent of medical specialists said they "would definitely not" engage in euthanasia. Alex Schadenberg, executive director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, said in an interview that the survey's results are going in the "wrong direction." Instead of focusing on euthanasia, physicians should receive better palliative-care training, he said. "If you haven't improved end-of-life care, what kind of choice are you offering?" Schadenberg asked. Meanwhile, others cited the debate's ethical question. Moira McQueen, executive director of the Canadian Catholic Bioethics Institute, said it is important to remember that euthanasia is a "moral issue, more than anything else."
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Nigerian archbishop says synod includes 'self-examination'
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- In their wide-ranging discussion of political, social, economic and environmental issues, members of the Synod of Bishops for Africa kept asking themselves, "What can we do?" a Nigerian archbishop said. Archbishop John Olorunfemi Onaiyekan of Abuja told reporters Oct. 16 that the question led participants to do "a lot of self-examination" about the life of the church, its outreach to political leaders and other faith communities, and how to find more effective ways to end the injustices afflicting the continent. In particular, questions about environmental destruction and economic exploitation by multinational companies extracting Africa's natural resources were repeatedly raised at the synod, he said. "There are certain things which should just not be done," the archbishop said. The African bishops still are concerned that foreign companies are not paying a fair price for what they remove from the continent and they also object to the fact that the companies feel free to ignore the environmental safeguards they follow on other continents when they are mining or drilling in Africa. "Some of these multinationals operate with double standards," he said. "I can't see BP, Shell or Mobil doing what they are doing in the Niger Delta in the North Sea or in Texas."
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Peruvian bishops criticize proposal to legalize abortion in some cases
LIMA, Peru (CNS) - The Peruvian Conference of Bishops criticized a proposed change to Peru's criminal code that would legalize abortion in cases of rape or serious physical defects in the unborn child. "Life does not belong to us. It is God's possession and has been put in our care," Archbishop Hector Cabrejos Vidarte of Trujillo, the conference president, wrote in an Oct. 9 statement. "The first right that a person has is the right to life. ... No one has the right to give it to some and take it from others." The change, recommended by a congressional commission charged with a broader overhaul of the criminal code, also would increase the penalty for a woman who has an abortion from three to five years in prison and would criminalize artificial insemination against a woman's will. Abortion is illegal in Peru except when a woman's life is in danger or when continuing the pregnancy could cause her lasting physical or psychological harm. The country's health ministry has never issued a protocol regulating the practice of abortion in public health facilities, although some hospitals have their own protocols.
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Gala celebration raises $1.9 million for Canada's Salt and Light TV
TORONTO (CNS) -- A $1 million gift will allow Salt and Light TV, Canada's Catholic television network, to develop programming featuring the teaching of Pope Benedict XVI on interfaith relations. The gift, from the Hilary M. Weston Foundation for Youth, was announced during a gala event Oct. 14 at the Royal Ontario Museum that raised $1.9 million for the six-year-old network. Basilian Father Thomas Rosica, Salt and Light's executive director, also announced that the Knights of Columbus contributed $500,000 for programming and other services. The event, held in the midst of the museum's exhibits of the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Deuteronomy Ten Commandments Scroll, was the largest fundraiser in the network's brief history, Father Rosica said. "Since our birth in 2003 Salt and Light Television has become an important and influential voice of the church in Canada," Father Rosica told those gathered in one of the museum's halls. The gifts will allow the network to offer "the world the unambiguous message of the Gospel, the teaching of the church, a ray of hope and a dose of badly needed joy," Father Rosica said.
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PEOPLE
Sell the Vatican? Nigerian archbishop calls the idea 'stupid'
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Sell the Vatican to help the poor? U.S. comedian Sarah Silverman might think it's a great idea, but a Nigerian archbishop called the suggestion offensive and "stupid." Africans from poor countries admire the Vatican, and have no desire to dismantle it, Archbishop John Olorunfemi Onaiyekan of Abuja told reporters at a briefing on the Synod of Bishops for Africa Oct. 16. "The few poor people who come here have never said, 'Oh, why don't you sell this and give us money for food.' They always say, 'What a beautiful place.' They admire it ... maybe because man does not live by bread alone," the archbishop said. The poor of Africa certainly don't expect the Vatican to sell its art and buildings -- and anyway, "who's going to buy it?" he added. "I think the joke is not only offensive, but in bad taste and stupid. What they should be asking is: What is the Vatican doing about poverty in the world?" he said. Silverman, in a recent video monologue laced with profanity, jokingly called on Pope Benedict XVI to "move out of your house that is a city" and use the proceeds to feed the hungry.
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Bishops named for Duluth, Pueblo; Providence to get auxiliary bishop
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI has named new bishops for the Diocese of Duluth, Minn., and the Diocese of Pueblo, Colo., and has appointed an auxiliary bishop for the Diocese of Providence, R.I. He also accepted the resignation of Pueblo Bishop Arthur N. Tafoya, 76. The pope appointed Father Paul Sirba, a priest of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, to head the Duluth Diocese. He named Father Fernando Isern, a priest of the Miami Archdiocese, to succeed Bishop Tafoya as bishop of Pueblo. Pope Benedict also named Msgr. Robert C. Evans, a Providence diocesan priest, to be auxiliary bishop of the diocese. The changes were announced in Washington Oct. 15 by Archbishop Pietro Sambi, apostolic nuncio to the United States. The date for the episcopal ordination of Bishop-designate Sirba has not been announced. Bishop-designate Isern will be ordained a bishop and installed as head of the Pueblo Diocese Dec. 10. Because he succeeds another Hispanic bishop who retired, the number of active Hispanic bishops in the U.S. remains at 27. The episcopal ordination of Bishop-designate Evans is tentatively set for Jan. 5 in Providence.
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