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News Briefs
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NEWS BRIEFS Jan-8-2010
By Catholic News Service
U.S.
White House protest new to March for Life activities, Roe anniversary
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Pro-life activists flocking to the nation's capital for the 37th March for Life Jan. 22 will be buoyed by recent polls that say they are among the majority of Americans who identify themselves as pro-life. Organizers of the massive demonstration also have scheduled -- for the first time in its history -- a two-hour rally at Lafayette Park, across from the White House, the evening before the march, in an effort to demonstrate their commitment to the pro-life movement to President Barack Obama. Billed as a mini-rally because the permit limits the gathering to 3,000 demonstrators, organizers say they planned the White House event to bring the "life principles to the president of the United States." Tens of thousands from all over the U.S. travel each year to the nation's capital for the Jan. 22 anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court's 1973 Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion. As usual, the main event will begin with a noon rally Jan. 22 on the National Mall, followed by a march along Constitution Avenue that will end at the U.S. Supreme Court. From there, participants are urged to meet with members of Congress to lobby on abortion-related issues.
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Demographics program helps parish connect with members
WASHINGTON, Pa. (CNS) -- Managing a parish the size of Immaculate Conception in Washington, just outside of Pittsburgh, takes serious planning. The parish is huge with 3,308 families in a geographic area covering 286 square miles. After years of attempting to expand its outreach to parishioners by creating small groups and building a stronger sense of community, the parish has found what Father William Feeney, pastor, calls the perfect tool. It is the MissionInsite program, a Web-based demographic system. The program is designed to provide substantial information based on census figures about communities within a parish's boundaries, enabling it to provide focused ministry and outreach. Pittsburgh's diocesan Department of Envisioning Ministry became associated with MissionInsite a year ago and offers it free to all parishes. The department is helping several parishes to implement it and create "neighborhoods" or smaller faith communities within their parishes. Immaculate Conception has completed its initial steps, forming 14 regional neighborhoods, each with a coordinator and a name with a Marian theme. "Our goal is to expand our outreach to people in need," he said, noting that the program "will help us to more readily be aware of what's going on."
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WORLD
Officer says security worked perfectly on eve woman knocked pope down
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Safety procedures worked perfectly and security personnel performed excellently the night Pope Benedict XVI was knocked down by the same woman who had attempted to get close to him a year before, a chief security officer said. Salvatore Festa, the prefect in charge of coordinating the work of several branches of Italian security which protect the pope, said despite careful security measures, "it's also clear that there are many other factors that come into play and many times these are random and unpredictable." His comments were published Jan.7 in the Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano. The visitors who entered St. Peter's Basilica all had been thoroughly screened for weapons and potentially dangerous objects, "and I can guarantee that not even a straight pin got in there without proper authorization," Festa said. Domenico Giani, director of Vatican security services, immediately intervened to prevent the woman from harming the pope, Festa said. Susannah Maiolo, 25, jumped a security barrier at the start of the Dec. 24 liturgy as Pope Benedict processed into St. Peter's Basilica. As Vatican guards tackled her, Maiola grabbed the pope's vestments, causing him to lose his balance and tumble to the floor.
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Cardinal Kasper expresses solidarity with Copts after attack in Egypt
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Vatican's chief ecumenist sent a letter of support to the Coptic Orthodox patriarch, Pope Shenouda III, expressing his solidarity after a Christmas attack on Egyptian Coptic Christians. Seven people died in a drive-by shooting in the southern Egyptian town of Nag Hammadi as they were leaving the Virgin Mary Church after Christmas Eve services. Coptic Christians, who use the Alexandrian calendar, celebrated Christmas Jan. 7. Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, wrote to express his concern and closeness to Pope Shenouda and the Coptic Christian community. "With sadness I have heard the tragic news of the death and injury of several Coptic Christians after a Christmas midnight Mass in Nag Hammadi," the cardinal wrote. "Please know that I am united in prayer with Your Holiness and with the Coptic Christian Community at this time." Cardinal Kasper also said Christians must stand up for one another and work together for peace, justice and reconciliation.
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First Nations officials hope Olympic partnership brings changes
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (CNS) -- The 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games can be "transformational" for First Nations peoples, said Tewanee Joseph, chief executive officer of the Four Host First Nations Society, which has partnered with the Vancouver Olympic Committee to host the competitions in Vancouver and Whistler. "Aboriginal participation will be the defining element of these games, the high-water mark by which all future games will be measured," Joseph added. "For the first time in Olympic history, First Nations are full and active partners and hosts." The games also will be opportunity to showcase indigenous culture and entrepreneurial spirit to visitors across Canada and around the world, he added. Rennie Nahanee, Vancouver Archdiocese's First Nations Ministry coordinator, said the Aboriginal Pavilion being constructed on the Queen Elizabeth Theatre Plaza in downtown Vancouver will honor the past and give a glimpse into the future of native peoples. For the 17 days of the Olympics, the $3.5-million site within walking distance of BC Place and GM Place will be the focus for First Nations and the venue for traditional performances.
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PEOPLE
First American Indian prelate, Bishop Donald Pelotte, dies at age 64
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Retired Bishop Donald E. Pelotte of Gallup, N.M., 64, the first American Indian bishop in the United States, died Jan. 7 at a Florida hospital. He had been head of the Gallup Diocese for 18 years before resigning because of health problems in 2008. In July 2007 the bishop was severely injured in an incident at his Gallup home, spending months afterward in neurological hospitals and rehabilitation centers in Arizona, Texas and Florida. According to the Albuquerque Journal newspaper, Gallup diocesan spokesman Lee Lamb said his death was not related to those injuries. He had been hospitalized since Dec. 27 at Holy Cross Hospital in Fort Lauderdale, near where he had lived since retirement. No further details were released. Bishop Pelotte was named coadjutor of Gallup in 1986 at the age of 40 and became head of the diocese in 1990 upon the retirement of Bishop Jerome Hastrich. Bishop Pelotte was born April 13, 1945, in Waterville, Maine. His father, Norris Pelotte, was Abenaki and his mother, Margaret, was of French-Canadian descent. A prayer service for the bishop was scheduled for Jan. 13 at Sacred Heart Cathedral in Gallup where a funeral Mass was to follow the next day.
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Pro-life Catholic congressman advocates for 'left-behind parents'
TRENTON, N.J. (CNS) -- In scores of news photographs documenting David Goldman's legal quest to bring his young son home to New Jersey from Brazil, U.S. Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., was a frequent presence. Sometimes he appeared solemn-faced and off to the side at press conferences while a distraught Goldman pleaded for the return of his 9-year-old son, Sean. Other times he was in front of the microphone, advocating for Goldman's parental rights. The boy was taken to Brazil five years ago by his mother and kept there even after her death by her wealthy second husband through a convoluted series of legal maneuvers. Father and son finally were reunited on Christmas Eve. For Smith, who is Catholic, it was a process that was "enveloped in prayer." Helping to reunite David and Sean Goldman is but the latest application of Matthew 25, Smith said. "What you do for the least of our brethren includes the family, the left-behind parent," he explained. On July 16, Smith introduced the International Child Abduction Prevention Act, aimed at ensuring compliance with the 1980 Hague Convention on the civil aspects of international child abduction. "We're going to pass the legislation," he said. "We're serious about it."
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