|
|
|
|
News Briefs
|
NEWS BRIEFS Nov-3-2009
By Catholic News Service
U.S.
Bishops to weigh test-tube to deathbed issues, finish work on missal
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Life issues from the test tube to the deathbed are on the agenda for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' fall general assembly. The Nov. 16-19 meeting in Baltimore also will include what the bishops hope will be their final consideration of action items related to the Roman Missal and debate and vote on a lengthy document offering support to married couples and affirming that true marriage can only involve a man and a woman. The meeting agenda also will feature a preliminary report on the causes and context study on clergy sexual abuse of minors conducted by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice and a report by the National Religious Vocation Conference on a recent study of religious vocations. The bishops will hear the final presidential address by Cardinal Francis E. George of Chicago, who is beginning the third year of his three-year term as USCCB president, and will choose chairmen-elect for five committees.
- - -
High court declines to take diocese's appeal on releasing documents
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (CNS) -- The Bridgeport Diocese said it was disappointed that the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear its petition asking the court to overturn a ruling by the Connecticut Supreme Court requiring the diocese to release documents from long-settled abuse cases. "The court reviews only about 80 cases out of more than 10,000 cases presented, and regularly reminds the public that it must decline to review many cases that were wrongly decided by the lower courts. Unfortunately, ours was one of those cases," said a Nov. 2 diocesan statement. "We continue to believe that the constitutional issues presented, including the First Amendment rights of religious organizations and the privacy rights of all citizens, are significant and important for the court to consider," it said. The statement said the diocese is now working with the Connecticut courts to assure the materials are "appropriately unsealed." "This legal proceeding always has been about the future, not the past," the statement said. "The information and essential facts contained in the documents at issue stem from misconduct occurring primarily in the 1960s and 1970s. Details about these cases have been well-covered in the public domain through more than 200 media reports." In May, the Connecticut Supreme Court ordered the diocese to release 12,000 pages of depositions, exhibits and legal arguments in 23 lawsuits involving six priests. Four newspapers had sued for access to the documents.
- - -
Family Rosary announces start of 2010 'Try Prayer! It Works!' contest
EASTON, Mass. (CNS) -- Entries are being accepted for the 15th annual "Try Prayer! It Works!" national contest sponsored by Family Rosary to encourage children to express their faith through art, poetry and prose. This year's theme is "The Family That Prays Together Stays Together," which focuses on the faith of Holy Cross Father Patrick Peyton, who was known as the "rosary priest" and coined that phrase. The contest asks entrants to use creativity to depict their thoughts and feelings about how their families pray together, according to an announcement on the contest. "Father Peyton understood that faith is important in helping brothers and sisters and mothers and fathers to grow together and remain strong in this modern world that is so often confusing and frightening," said Holy Cross Father John Phalen, president of Easton-based Holy Cross Family Ministries, parent organization of Family Rosary. The contest is open to students in kindergarten through 12th grade who attend a Catholic school, are enrolled in a religious education program or are active in a parish or other Catholic organization. Applications can be downloaded from the Web site at www.hcfm.org/tryprayer. All entries must be postmarked by Feb.1.
- - -
North American Orthodox-Catholic leaders respond to Ravenna document
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Several key questions in an ongoing Catholic-Orthodox dialogue were left unaddressed in a 2007 statement by a joint commission studying Catholic-Orthodox relations, said a statement issued by the North American Orthodox-Catholic Theological Consultation. Despite the questions left unanswered, the 2007 document "awakens hope" that "further challenging ecclesiological issues," including "the question of the role of the bishop of Rome in the communion of all the churches," would be addressed in the years ahead. The North American Orthodox-Catholic Theological Consultation's statement was issued Oct. 24 in Washington. It had been studying the joint commission's document, known as the "Ravenna document" after the Italian city where it was released, over the past two years. Much of the Ravenna document focused on conciliarity -- an Orthodox principle that places final authority in representative councils -- and authority for the church at the local, regional and universal level. "One serious question not addressed in this document ... deserves attention in future reflections," the North American consultation said. "What is the status of the local parish? The local church, presided over by a bishop, today can encompass hundreds of local eucharistic assemblies and perhaps thousands of square kilometers."
- - -
WORLD
Respect for life includes welcoming migrants, Vatican officials say
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Catholics' respect for human life and dignity must be clear in the way they welcome migrants and refugees, offer them pastoral care and lobby their governments for fairer treatment of people on the move, Vatican officials said. Archbishop Antonio Maria Veglio, president of the Pontifical Council for Migrants and Travelers, said globalization is not only an economic phenomenon. It also has an impact on the movement of people, and people must be the focus of Christian attention, he said. "We know as Christians that life's core is fundamentally spiritual and that the challenge is how to promote and safeguard every human person," focusing particularly on the most vulnerable, including migrants who leave home in search of a better life and refugees forced to flee violence or oppression, the archbishop said Nov. 3. The archbishop spoke at a Vatican press conference previewing the Sixth World Congress on the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Refugees, which his office is convoking Nov. 9-12 at the Vatican.
- - -
Latin American flash point: Are presidential term limits good or bad?
GUATEMALA CITY (CNS) -- Three days after Nicaragua's Supreme Court lifted presidential term limits, allowing President Daniel Ortega to run for re-election, the country's archbishop denounced the decision on national television. The ruling "creates tensions and could divide the Nicaraguan family. It could lead to confrontations, hatred and resentment," Managua Archbishop Leopoldo Brenes Solorzano said on nationwide TV in October. Archbishop Brenes' statement reflects the dispute in Latin America surrounding the issue of presidential term limits. Several countries have done away with or extended term limits, allowing popular presidents to seek re-election. In October, Nicaragua joined Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia and Peru, among others, who have changed their laws to allow presidents to seek longer terms. The question over whether the changes are in the people's interest has become a flash point in the region, dividing populaces and church leaders. Supporters have described the moves as necessary reforms that allow presidents the time to make needed policy changes. Detractors have depicted them as dangerous power grabs by autocratic-minded presidents. "The reactions have been very mixed. It really depends on the place and the popularity of the president," said David Kane, Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns' associate for Latin America and economic justice. "But the issue is certainly portrayed as being very contentious."
- - -
Indian priest's kidney donation to Hindu man leads to new federation
TRICHUR, India (CNS) -- Twenty-four-year-old Ramya Krishnan spent weeks of sleepless nights after doctors told her she needed at least 160,000 rupees ($3,400) to meet the cost of her kidney transplant. "Though my father is willing to donate his kidney and all the tests have been completed, we do not have any money to meet the expenses" of the transplant surgery, Krishnan told Catholic News Service. "I did not know what to do. Then I read a report in the newspapers about the launch of the Kidney Federation of India. So, I decided to attend this meeting," said Krishnan, who was abandoned by her husband three years ago when he discovered she was suffering from renal failure. Krishnan was thrilled when she was told that she will be given 200,000 rupees by the organizers of the Kidney Federation of India, which launched Oct. 30 in the presence of more than 3,000 people, hundreds of whom suffer from kidney failure. The unique gathering was the fruit of the unprecedented gesture of Father Davis Chiramel donating his kidney to a Hindu Sept. 30. Father Chiramel's decision to save the life of 48-year-old Gopinathan Chakkamadathil, an electrician living within the boundaries of St. Francis Xavier Parish in Vadanappilly -- made headlines and stirred the public conscience, leading to the launch of the kidney federation.
- - -
PEOPLE
Blessed Sacrament nun found murdered at New Mexico convent
GALLUP, N.M. (CNS) -- Authorities were awaiting results of an autopsy Nov. 3 to determine the exact cause of the death of Blessed Sacrament Sister Marguerite Bartz, who was found dead in her Navajo convent two days earlier. The 64-year-old sister's body was discovered in the convent at St. Berard Church by a colleague when she failed to show up for Sunday Mass. FBI and state police authorities believe she was murdered. However, an FBI spokesman declined to say how Sister Marguerite died. Darrin Jones, the agent, told Catholic News Service that an automobile Sister Marguerite had been using was discovered Nov. 3. Details about its discovery were not made available. It had been missing since her body was found. Navajo is located near Arizona, about 40 miles northwest of Gallup. It is in the Diocese of Gallup, which covers part of northern Arizona and northern New Mexico. Sister Marguerite had ministered at the parish since 1999, handling religious education and pastoral ministry duties.
- - -
Cardinal Rode defends apostolic visitation of US nuns
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Cardinal Franc Rode, head of the Vatican office overseeing religious orders, said he requested an apostolic visitation of women's religious orders in the United States to help the sisters and to respond to concerns for their welfare. "This apostolic visitation hopes to encourage vocations and assure a better future for women religious," the cardinal said in a statement released Nov. 3 by the Vatican. Cardinal Rode, prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, said his statement was in response to "many news accounts" and inquiries about the visitation, which was announced in January. Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan of New York posted an article on his blog Oct. 29 listing what he called examples of anti-Catholicism in The New York Times, including an Oct. 21 column regarding the apostolic visitation. Calling the column by Maureen Dowd "intemperate and scurrilous," Archbishop Dolan said the investigation of U.S. women religious "is well worth discussing and hardly exempt from legitimate questioning," but he objected to the writer using "every anti-Catholic caricature possible" to illustrate her point that the nuns are being picked on by the Vatican.
- - -
Oregon doctor lives out his faith, notion of health reform at clinic
PORTLAND, Ore. (CNS) -- In a converted Mexican restaurant, a small-town Catholic doctor lives out his notion of health care reform -- and his faith. Dr. Michael Grady, 59, runs the McClaine Street Clinic, next to a grocery story in a shopping center in Silverton, a city of 10,000. The clinic serves patients so poor they qualify for the state health plan or Medicaid. Many doctors in private practice don't accept patients with such insurance, because reimbursement rates are so low. Grady, a member of St. Paul Parish, wants his clinic to be a "medical home" for patients, a place where they and their health conditions are well-known and where they can see a steady team of health providers for preventive care. Thirty years of research show that health outcomes improve and costs drop when patients have a defined primary care provider, as opposed to having to visit emergency rooms and multiple clinics only after their situation has become dire. A physician for 33 years, Grady is assembling a full array of providers at McClaine Street: a nurse practitioner, nurses who do immunizations and mental health workers. Someday he would like to have a dietician and a social worker to help manage patients' health in a coordinated way.
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
|
|
|
|
