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News Briefs
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NEWS BRIEFS Oct-27-2009
By Catholic News Service
U.S.
Children with special needs deserve chance at life, archbishop says
PHOENIX (CNS) -- Children with special needs deserve a chance at the full range of what life has to offer, Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Denver told the Phoenix Catholic Physicians Guild. "Studies show that more than 80 percent of unborn babies diagnosed with Down syndrome now get terminated in the womb. They're killed because of a flaw in one of their chromosomes -- a flaw that's neither fatal nor contagious, but merely undesirable," he said in an Oct. 16 address to the group. While some doctors deliver the news of "an increased likelihood" of Down syndrome "with sensitivity and great support" for the woman, he added, "too many others seem more concerned about avoiding lawsuits, or managing costs, or even, in a few ugly cases, cleaning up the gene pool." He focused on the situation of children with Down syndrome as a way, he said, to talk about "the kind of people we're becoming" and the "struggle within the American soul." Archbishop Chaput said, "In practice, medical professionals can now steer an expectant mother toward abortion simply by hinting at a list of the child's possible defects. And the most debased thing about that kind of pressure is that doctors know better than anyone else how vulnerable a woman can be in hearing potentially tragic news about her unborn baby."
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New international statement focus of Catholic-Oriental Orthodox talks
RIVERDALE, N.Y. (CNS) -- The new statement of the international dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Oriental Orthodox churches and the fostering of vocations were the main topics of discussion at the annual national dialogue between the two communions. Paulist Father Ronald G. Roberson, associate director of the U.S. bishops' Secretariat of Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs and a member of the international Oriental Orthodox-Roman Catholic dialogue, presented the new international agreed text, "Nature, Constitution and Mission of the Church," at the dialogue, held Sept. 30-Oct. 1 in Riverdale. The document outlines broad areas of consensus on such topics as the church as communion, the attributes of the church, the bishops and apostolic succession, the nature of councils, and the mission of the church. It also identifies points that need further study. "Full communion is the ultimate goal of the ecumenical work of all our churches," the document says.
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Bishops respond to Rep. Kennedy's criticism of health care stance
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (CNS) -- Bishop Thomas J. Tobin of Providence and Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan of New York strongly criticized remarks by Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I., about the U.S. bishops' role in the health reform debate. In an interview with Cybercast News Service Oct. 22, Kennedy said the bishops were fanning "the flames of dissent and discord" by insisting that health reform not include abortion funding. "I can't understand for the life of me how the Catholic Church could be against the biggest social justice issue of our time, where the very dignity of the human person is being respected by the fact that we're caring and giving health care" to the millions of people who are currently uninsured, Kennedy said in the interview. Bishop Tobin called his comments "irresponsible and ignorant of the facts" in an Oct. 23 statement and said the congressman "owes us an apology." "The bishops of the United States are indeed in favor of comprehensive health care reform and have been for many years," the bishop said. "But we are adamantly opposed to health care legislation that threatens the life of unborn children, requires taxpayers to pay for abortion, rations health care, or compromises the conscience of individuals." Archbishop Dolan commented on the controversy Oct. 26 in his blog at www.ny-archdiocese.org, calling Kennedy's remarks "sad, uncalled for and inaccurate."
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Israeli occupation takes terrible human toll, say Holy Land women
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories has separated families and cost people their homes, jobs and dignity, said three women from the Holy Land who visited Washington. They "threw me out like rubbish," said Sharihan Hannoun, a Palestinian Muslim from East Jerusalem, referring to the day Israeli police kicked her family out of their home as part of a plan to create a new Jewish settlement in the area. The only thing she could take with her was the house key. The Israeli police "kicked us out on the second of August at 5 a.m.," Hannoun said, noting that her family was left on the streets. Hannoun told participants in a conference on the Holy Land that Israeli police told her family the authorities were allowed to take their home "because you are Palestinian and we can take any houses we want ... without any papers ... because we are Israeli." Jala Basil Andoni, a Christian Palestinian from Bethlehem, West Bank, echoed Hannoun's story when she addressed participants in the Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation conference in Washington Oct. 24. Andoni talked about being kicked out of her university dormitory in Amman, Jordan, in 1967 during the Six-Day War so the building could be used as a makeshift hospital.
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New York Foundling celebrates 140 years of service with a homecoming
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The New York Foundling is more than an organization working to protect society's most vulnerable children; it's a family, said one attendee at a homecoming event for what is one of America's oldest and largest child welfare agencies. The agency, started by the Sisters of Charity in 1869 to care for children abandoned in the wake of the Civil War, celebrated its 140th anniversary and hosted its first homecoming Oct. 9-12 to unite former "foundlings," another term for abandoned children, and their families and friends in New York City. Bill Baccaglini, executive director of the Founding, told Catholic News Service in a telephone interview that talking to people and listening to their stories was one of the most moving and enjoyable parts of the homecoming. He said the agency prides itself on staying relevant to the times and keeping its commitment to making sure everyone touched by the Foundling feels a part of its family. Over the years, according to a press release, the agency has expanded its programs to care for struggling families, protect children from abuse and neglect, help teen mothers and developmentally disabled people, provide educationally enriching child care and preschool, and support the community.
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Saints' relics seen as giving Catholics connection to church's heroes
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (CNS) -- St. Francis of Assisi's tunic, St. Elizabeth of Hungary's skull and St. Anthony's tongue and lower jaw. All are relics, personal objects of religious importance thoughtfully cared for and venerated as a physical gateway to the saints and God. Tracy Giliberto, co-creator of the Web site FishEaters, a comprehensive repository of information about the Catholic faith and instructions on the church's traditions, explained the place of relics in modern society. "It's funny to me how a culture that is filled with autograph hounds and those who clamor to be around those glittered with stardust can consider the Catholic veneration of relics as a joke," Giliberto told the Rhode Island Catholic, newspaper of the Providence Diocese. "A lovely dish is just a lovely dish, but one owned by your great-grandmother is a treasure. We pay $20,000 for a $200 jacket worn by Jacqueline Kennedy, faint at Beatles concerts, engage in riotous behavior to get our hands on one of Elvis' scarves, but when a relic of St. Catherine is mentioned, people snicker," she said. Giliberto said she helped create the FishEaters Web site -- www.fisheaters.com -- to help lifelong Catholics deepen their understanding of the faith and to help converts and those curious understand how and why Catholics worship in the ways they do.
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WORLD
Pope will travel to northern Italy in May to see Shroud of Turin
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI will join hundreds of thousands of pilgrims traveling to northern Italy in 2010 to see the Shroud of Turin, which many believe is the burial cloth of Christ. The Vatican and the Archdiocese of Turin announced Oct. 27 that Pope Benedict will visit the city May 2. "As the first act of his visit, the Holy Father will pause for personal prayer before the holy shroud," the archdiocese said. Earlier in the year, the archdiocese had announced the shroud would be on public display April 10-May 23, 2010, offering members of the public their first opportunity to see the shroud since it underwent major cleaning and restoration in 2002. The work involved removing 30 fabric patches and a fabric backing, known as the Holland Cloth, sewn onto the shroud in 1534 after a fire. The Archdiocese of Turin operates a Web site -- www.sindone.org -- with information about the shroud, the current state of scientific studies on the cloth and information for tourists, which will include the possibility of making a reservation online to view the shroud during the exposition period.
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Caritas AIDS adviser says faith-based groups need more recognition
PERTH, Australia (CNS) -- Governments are bypassing faith-based organizations that do the bulk of the work with AIDS victims while spending billions of dollars on AIDS relief, said Caritas Internationalis' special adviser to the United Nations on HIV and AIDS. U.S. Msgr. Robert Vitillo, in Australia to address local Caritas and health care workers, told The Record Catholic newspaper Oct. 26 that governments need to recognize faith-based organizations that are not receiving the funding to carry out their essential work. He said that, while the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has committed US$10 billion to support programs for these diseases over the past two years, only 5 percent of those funds from the international financing institution have gone to faith-based organizations. "Government agencies often bypass faith-based organizations even though they're doing the bulk of the work," he added. This is despite the fact that, in Africa, up to 70 percent of health care is delivered by faith-based organizations, he said.
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Archbishop: Claims of new Knock apparitions could mislead the faithful
DUBLIN, Ireland (CNS) -- A Catholic bishop in western Ireland has warned that recent claims of new apparitions at a renowned Marian shrine "risk misleading God's people and undermining faith." Archbishop Michael Neary of Tuam, the archdiocese where the famous Knock shrine is located, added: "For this reason such events are to be regretted rather than encouraged." However, a Dublin-based clairvoyant, Joe Coleman, reacted angrily to the archbishop's statement, insisting that he was among thousands of people who witnessed an apparition at Knock Oct. 11. "While it may be difficult for someone of the archbishop's stature to comprehend such events, the reality is that thousands of people have now borne witness to such apparitions during September and October of this year," Coleman said in a statement. "Many of these people have photos, videos -- images are even on YouTube -- and yet the people who disbelieve the most are the clergy," he said. He has urged people to gather at Knock for another vision he predicts will occur Oct. 31. The tiny town of Knock became a popular pilgrimage site after local people claimed to witness a vision of Mary outside the parish church Aug. 21, 1879. The vision was later authenticated by church authorities.
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PEOPLE
Lubbock bishop applauds mercy shown by widow of murder victim
LUBBOCK, Texas (CNS) -- On July 9, 2007, while unloading groceries in his garage, Don McCullough noticed a young man hurrying along the sidewalk and perspiring on the hot day. McCullough called out and offered the stranger a bottle of the water he was carrying in his grocery sack. Alonzo Lewis took the water, left, then returned. He robbed and killed Don McCullough, stabbing the 73-year-old retired Air Force colonel more than 30 times. McCullough's wife, Margaret Mary, heard the commotion and called 911. When Lewis, now 27, was arrested at his workplace, holding some of McCullough's property, the local media reported widespread shock and outrage. More than two years later, Margaret Mary McCullough confronted her husband's murderer and the story, once again, caused an uproar. This time, however, it wasn't shock and outrage. It was astonishment and awe. She told Lewis that she has forgiven him. Lewis pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole in mid-September. The county district attorney offered the deal after speaking with McCullough's family. After learning of the kindness she extended to her husband's killer, Bishop Placido Rodriguez of Lubbock wrote a letter to Margaret Mary McCullough, thanking her for the witness given by her family.
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Notre Dame professor emeritus wins astronomical society's top prize
NOTRE DAME, Ind. (CNS) -- Michael J. Crowe, who taught at the University of Notre Dame for nearly 50 years, has been named winner of the 2010 LeRoy E. Doggett prize for historical astronomy by the American Astronomical Society. Crowe, who was chairman of the university's liberal studies program and founding chairman of the graduate program in the history and philosophy of science, will receive the award and deliver the plenary address at the society's 2010 meeting Jan. 4 in Washington. The Doggett prize is awarded biennially to an individual "whose long-term efforts and lifetime achievements have had significant impact on the field of the history of astronomy." Crowe, the Rev. John J. Cavanaugh professor emeritus in the humanities in Notre Dame's liberal studies program, is the author of several texts that have become widely used in college courses on the history of science. He also is the author of "A History of Vector Analysis" and "The Extraterrestrial Life Debate, 1750-1900: The Idea of a Plurality of Worlds From Kant to Lowell," which the American Astronomical Society called "an indispensable resource that is unlikely to be surpassed for a long time to come."
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Parishioners reflect on pastor slain in stabbing
CHATHAM, N.J. (CNS) -- Father Edward Hinds touched many people during his 35 years of priestly life, the last six of which were spent as pastor of St. Patrick Parish in Chatham in the Paterson Diocese. His brutal murder in the rectory of St. Patrick Church Oct. 22 stunned the diocese and the nation. As parishioners, friends and brother priests mourned his sudden loss, they also remembered him fondly. When Marie Ryan, consultant for the diocesan Office of Respect Life, thinks about Father Hinds, she remembers him as more than her family's pastor; she remembers him as a dear friend who would stop by and visit. "He would knock on the door to my home and just say hello," said Ryan, who lives a few houses away from the church. "He became part of our lives and in turn we became part of his." The body of the priest, who was stabbed 32 times, was found Oct. 23. The parish janitor, Jose Feliciano, 64, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder. Prosecutors said Oct. 25 he had confessed to the murder. According to his written affidavit, he was arguing with the priest in the rectory the evening of Oct. 22, took a kitchen knife and stabbed the priest. CNN reported that Morris County Prosecutor Robert Bianchi said the two men were arguing over Feliciano's continued employment.
END
Copyright (c) 2009 Catholic News Service/USCCB. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed.
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