|
|
|
|
News Briefs
|
NEWS BRIEFS Oct-23-2009
By Catholic News Service
U.S.
Archbishop Dolan appointed moderator of Jewish affairs for USCCB
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan of New York has been named moderator of Jewish affairs for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, succeeding Cardinal William H. Keeler, retired archbishop of Baltimore, in that role. Cardinal Francis E. George of Chicago, USCCB president, made the appointment, which is effective Nov. 11 and is for five years. In announcing the appointment Oct. 23, Cardinal George noted the New York Archdiocese's "long history of cooperation and friendship between Catholics and Jews." "Since the Second Vatican Council, important strides in this relationship have been made through dialogue and collaboration in countering racism, anti-Semitism and other offenses against human dignity," Cardinal George said in the letter of appointment. "Our episcopal conference, through the leadership of your predecessors in New York, and especially through the tireless and generous service of Cardinal William Keeler, has sought to contribute to the work of reconciliation between the church and the Jewish people after centuries of mutual estrangement," he told Archbishop Dolan in the letter.
- - -
Bishop criticizes 'slavishly literal' English translation of missal
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Bishop Donald W. Trautman of Erie, Pa., former chairman of the U.S. bishops' liturgy committee, sharply criticized what he called the "slavishly literal" translation into English of the new Roman Missal from the original Latin. He said the "sacred language" used by translators "tends to be elitist and remote from everyday speech and frequently not understandable" and could lead to a "pastoral disaster." "The vast majority of God's people in the assembly are not familiar with words of the new missal like 'ineffable,' 'consubstantial,' 'incarnate,' 'inviolate,' 'oblation,' 'ignominy,' 'precursor,' 'suffused' and 'unvanquished.' The vocabulary is not readily understandable by the average Catholic," Bishop Trautman said. "The (Second Vatican Council's) Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy stipulated vernacular language, not sacred language," he added. "Did Jesus ever speak to the people of his day in words beyond their comprehension? Did Jesus ever use terms or expressions beyond his hearer's understanding?" Bishop Trautman made his remarks in an Oct. 22 lecture at The Catholic University of America in Washington, as part of the Msgr. Frederick R. McManus Lecture Series. Msgr. McManus, a liturgist, served as a peritus, or expert, during Vatican II.
- - -
Crunch time nears for health reform, but hurdles remain for Catholics
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The push is on to get a health reform bill through Congress, and some longtime Catholic supporters of a more accessible and affordable American health system are hoping they are not going to have to push back. In both the House and Senate, members and staffers are working to combine multiple committee-passed versions of health reform legislation -- two in the Senate, three in the House -- into bills that could be taken to the floor. Officials of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops are working behind the scenes to improve the bills to put them in line with the vision of American health care that the bishops have been encouraging for decades. "We continue to have concerns about the treatment of the poor and immigrants" in the bills, Richard Doerflinger, associate director of the USCCB Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities, told Catholic News Service Oct. 21. "But the abortion issue is the one that is most intractable to us." The bishops' message on abortion and conscience rights in health care has been clear, despite some claims that they have changed their position or don't really understand current law. "Our position has been very consistent," Doerflinger said. "It's always been that (the final health reform) bill must maintain the status quo on abortion and conscience rights. It should not be used as a vehicle for expanding or changing federal policies."
- - -
New name for Life Cycle Institute reflects its mission, history
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The Life Cycle Institute at The Catholic University of America in Washington has changed its name to the Institute for Policy Research & Catholic Studies to more effectively convey the institute's history and mission, said its director, Stephen Schneck. The new name, which became official Oct. 19, "underscores its great work and research since 1974," Schneck, also an associate professor of politics, said in a statement. For 25 years the institute has been about "research in service" to policy and to the university's academic disciplines and its religious mission, he said, adding that the new name "crystallizes" its "long history and conveys our mission now and for the future." The academic think tank is composed of 40 fellows, most of them faculty members. Their areas of expertise include Catholic studies, religion, Catholic politics, the policy process, life issues, the economy, poverty, health, housing, social justice, peace, the environment and education. Over the years, the institute has sponsored and organized research, analyzed public policy, published national studies, worked closely with lawmakers and policymakers, hosted numerous symposiums, debates and lectures, and promoted and developed its own cadre of students and young researchers.
- - -
WORLD
Synod message decries corruption, appeals for cooperation in Africa
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The greed, corruption and unjust economic structures fomenting conflict and poverty in Africa must be overcome through the united cooperation of all people of good will, said the Synod of Bishops for Africa. In their final message to the world, the 275 members of the synod also said condoms will not alleviate the scourge of HIV and AIDS and insisted on respect for religious freedom in predominantly Muslim communities. Poverty, misery, war and chaos are most often caused by the decisions and actions of "people who have no regard for the common good" and who often take advantage of "a tragic complicity and criminal conspiracy of local leaders and foreign interests," said the synod's message. A preliminary version was released Oct. 23. The bishops praised those who have used their role in public office for the common good. But the bishops criticized the "many Catholics in high office (who) have fallen woefully short in their performance in office." The bishops called on these leaders to repent or resign from political office "and stop causing havoc to the people and giving the Catholic Church a bad name."
- - -
Cardinal says media has ignored work of African bishops' synod
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Three weeks of intensive discussion among African bishops about the challenges they face in their poor and often war-torn countries have been largely ignored by the media, a South African cardinal said. Cardinal Wilfrid Fox Napier, archbishop of Durban and a co-president of the Synod of Bishops for Africa, also has complained that news about Africa in newspapers and on television in the rest of the world is usually bad news, and that positive stories are rarely reported. The Vatican's daily newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, asked Cardinal Napier Oct. 23 whether sufficient attention had been given to the synod; he replied, "Absolutely not. It's been very little." Some Catholic newspapers and radio stations across Africa covered the synod, which was to close Oct. 25, but "as far as the rest of the media is concerned, I don't think they are doing much," the cardinal said. "Spiritual or religious things are not reported, unless they are controversial," he said. "In that case," he added, "they are sure to be published!"
- - -
Caritas asks for millions of dollars in aid for Sudanese crisis
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Caritas Internationalis launched an appeal for $ 3.4 million in aid to feed 35,000 Sudanese people who have suffered through violent conflict and years of drought. "Violence in South Sudan is now worse than in Darfur," said Alistair Dutton, Caritas' humanitarian director, in an Oct. 21 statement. Earlier in this decade, Darfur, in western Sudan, was the site of an armed conflict that killed hundreds of thousands of people and displaced millions. "If the current peace deal unravels, we will be headed toward a major catastrophe," Dutton said. Sudan is recovering from 22 years of civil war that ended in 2005 with a comprehensive peace agreement between the northern-based government and separatist forces in the South. Caritas said that an upsurge of violence in the southern state of Western Equatoria has forced 68,000 people from their homes. The Vatican-based umbrella organization of Catholic charities said it plans to bring aid to 25,000 people who are in need of immediate care. Violence in the region has worsened since the arrival of members of the Lord's Resistance Army, a militia force formerly based in Uganda, Caritas said.
- - -
As some protest, Catholic-Orthodox dialogue discusses role of papacy
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- In the midst of a protest by a small number of Orthodox monks and faithful, the official Catholic-Orthodox dialogue commission met in Cyprus Oct. 16-23. The meeting of the Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue Between the Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church focused on a key factor in the ongoing division between Catholic and Orthodox: the role of the pope as bishop of Rome. The protesters -- who were arrested Oct. 20, the third day of their demonstration -- claimed that the ongoing dialogue between the two churches was aimed at getting the Orthodox to submit to papal authority. According to a statement released by the dialogue commission Oct. 23, the commission's Orthodox members discussed "the negative reactions to the dialogue by certain Orthodox circles and unanimously considered them as totally unfounded and unacceptable, providing false and misleading information." The Orthodox delegates "reaffirmed that the dialogue continues with the decision of all the Orthodox churches and is pursued with faithfulness to the truth and the tradition of the church," said the statement released in Cyprus and at the Vatican.
- - -
Hong Kong Catholics urge Obama to press China to free dissidents
HONG KONG (CNS) -- Hong Kong Catholics urged U.S. President Barack Obama to press China to release all prisoners of conscience when he visits the country in November. The Hong Kong diocesan Justice and Peace Commission helped present a petition at the U.S. consulate Oct. 23, asking Obama to "live up to the objective of the Nobel Price Prize and the duties it entails." Obama has been named as this year's Nobel Peace Prize winner. The petition urged Obama, scheduled to travel to Beijing and Shanghai Nov. 15-18, to ask Chinese President Hu Jintao to release all prisoners of conscience. It specifically called for the release of Liu Xiaobo, a prominent Beijing writer and the honorary president of the Independent Chinese PEN Centre, who was detained last December and was formally arrested in June. He has been accused of "inciting subversion of state power" because he helped draft a document asking the government to improve its political system and human rights situation. The petition presented at the consulate also urged Obama to respond to a U.S. congressional resolution, passed Oct. 1, calling for Liu's immediate release.
- - -
Bishops, government partner to get more Brazilians tested for HIV
BRASILIA, Brazil (CNS) -- A new partnership between Brazil's Catholic bishops and the federal Ministry of Health is designed to get more Brazilians into clinics to be tested for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Church and government officials are counting on church volunteers to reach the poorest Brazilians, people usually missed in official government campaigns. The campaign was launched Oct. 23 in Brasilia under the slogan "Declare Your Love to Yourself." It will mobilize 13,000 church AIDS ministry volunteers to raise awareness about the importance of getting tested for HIV. AIDS ministry volunteers work in 142 of 272 dioceses in Brazil. Another 260,000 volunteers from the Catholic children's ministry and 80,000 from the health ministry will work on the campaign. The church also will sponsor print, radio and TV ads in the campaign, which will begin in five state capitals before extending across Brazil. "We want to put our pastoral networks, with their tendrils throughout the country, in the service of life," said Auxiliary Bishop Dimas Lara Barbosa of Rio de Janeiro, general secretary of the Brazilian bishops' conference.
- - -
Catholic officials protest court ruling to teach about abortion rights
BOGOTA, Colombia (CNS) -- Catholic officials are protesting a mid-October court decision requiring all schools to teach students about abortion rights. "We Catholic educators are not going to teach this; we're going to teach respect for life," said Auxiliary Bishop Juan Cordoba Villota of Bucaramanga, secretary-general of the Colombian bishops' conference. "We emphatically reject this pronouncement. We will not disobey any orders, but ... they cannot obligate us to do this." Colombian law allows abortion when a pregnancy threatens a woman's life, when the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest and when the fetus has a severe genetic malformation. Two years ago, Catholic leaders protested the court decision that legalized abortion in those cases. A court official was quoted by El Tiempo newspaper as saying that schools were not required to promote abortion, but must enable students to avoid an unwanted pregnancy and make "informed decisions" if they found themselves in one of the situations in which abortion is permitted.
- - -
PEOPLE
Key post: US archbishop will help shape the world's episcopate
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI's naming of U.S. Archbishop Raymond L. Burke to the Congregation for Bishops was a small but significant appointment that could have an impact on the wider church for many years to come. The congregation's members generally meet every two weeks to review candidates for vacant dioceses and make their recommendations to the pope -- recommendations that carry a lot of weight. Precisely for that reason, the Congregation for Bishops is known as one of the most important Roman Curia agencies. Membership on the congregation is a five-year appointment, which could be renewed until a prelate's 80th birthday. It would not be an exaggeration to say that Archbishop Burke, 61, will be helping to shape the episcopate, not only in the United States but also around the world. Formerly the archbishop of St. Louis, Archbishop Burke was named in 2008 as head of the Vatican's highest tribunal, known as the Supreme Court of the Apostolic Signature.
- - -
Philippine archbishop says kidnapped priest never far from his mind
NEW YORK (CNS) -- While visiting New York to take part in an Oct. 17 celebration of Filipino faith, community and culture, Archbishop Romulo G. Valles of Zamboanga, Philippines, kept a concerned ear open to news from home about a kidnapped Irish missionary. Columban Father Michael Sinnott continued to be held by unknown kidnappers, the Filipino military believed, in the country's Lanao del Norte Province, an area where armed Muslim separatist groups are active. Father Sinnott, 79, has a heart condition and was abducted without his medication Oct. 11. The Asian church news agency UCA News reported Oct. 22 that the Diocese of Pagadian, Philippines, had sent a messenger to the area where the priest might be held in an effort to get him vital medication. A church spokesman for the search effort said the messenger also would try to ascertain whether Father Sinnott, who suffers from a heart condition, is alive. "I spoke with his bishop the morning after he was kidnapped," Archbishop Valles told Catholic New York, newspaper of the New York Archdiocese. "The news was the priest was sighted in three instances alive. We pray that is the case."
- - -
Bishop Ziemann, who resigned as Santa Rosa bishop in 1999, dies at 68
TUCSON, Ariz. (CNS) -- Bishop G. Patrick Ziemann, who resigned as head of the Diocese of Santa Rosa, Calif., in July 1999 after admitting a homosexual relationship with one of his priests, died Oct. 22 at age 68. He died at Holy Trinity Benedictine Monastery in St. David, Ariz., near Tucson where he had gone to live after his resignation. He had pancreatic cancer, which had spread to his liver. A funeral Mass for the bishop was to be celebrated at the monastery Oct. 28. He was to be buried in California, his home state. "He became a great friend of the community and we were impressed with his humility," Benedictine Father Henri Capdeville, the monastery's superior, told Catholic News Service Oct. 23. "We do our own cleaning here and he asked to be on dishes and (did that) for nine years." He may never be forgiven by people, the priest added, but "he made reparation by giving nine years to our community and the Lord. ... It deepened his spirituality."
END
Copyright (c) 2009 Catholic News Service/USCCB. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed.
CNS · 3211 Fourth St NE · Washington DC 20017 · 202.541.3250
|
|
|
|
