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News Briefs
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NEWS BRIEFS Mar-15-2010
By Catholic News Service
U.S.
South Carolina cathedral gets steeple after more than a century
CHARLESTON, S.C. (CNS) -- The Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Charleston has a new look with the addition of a steeple -- the first for the cathedral since the original church burned down in 1861. Hundreds of people gathered on the cathedral lawn March 8 to watch as Charleston Bishop Robert E. Guglielmone blessed the new addition from an elevated work platform before the steeple was raised skyward. The bishop said the cross on top of the steeple was a sign of the Christian presence in the community that would serve as a reminder of that presence to all. Buttresses were lifted into place the next day and finishing touches were completed early the following week. A major restoration of the cathedral's exterior began in 2007, 100 years after the restored church was completed. The cathedral was built without a steeple in 1907 because it would have been too costly.
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CHA backs health bill; bishops reiterate objection to abortion wording
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- "Despite the good" that proposed health reform legislation "intends or might achieve," concerns about the abortion wording in the Senate-passed bill compel the U.S. bishops to "regretfully hold that it must be opposed until these serious moral problems are addressed," Cardinal Francis E. George of Chicago said March 15. The statement from the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops came soon after the head of the Catholic Health Association called on House members to quickly pass the Senate legislation and make changes later. A House vote on the health reform legislation was expected by March 20, with Senate and House action to follow on a separate bill containing a set of "fixes" proposed by President Barack Obama. Sister Carol Keehan, a Daughter of Charity who is CHA president and CEO, said in a March 13 statement that the Senate bill isn't perfect but would "make the lives of millions more secure, and their coverage more affordable." She told Catholic News Service March 15 that she considered the Senate language "an acceptable way to prevent federal funding of abortion," even if it might not be the best way or the preferred way. Cardinal George said in his statement that the USCCB concerns were "not quibbling over technicalities."
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WORLD
Irish cardinal defends actions in handling allegations against priest
DUBLIN, Ireland (CNS) -- Cardinal Sean Brady of Armagh, Northern Ireland, chairman of the Irish bishops' conference, insisted he will not resign after it was revealed that he failed to report allegations of child abuse by a priest to the police in 1975. Speaking with reporters March 14, Cardinal Brady said it was not his responsibility at the time to report the allegations involving Norbertine Father Brendan Smyth to the police. "Even today the appropriate person to do that is the designated person (within his order). I was not that person," he said. "But I insist again I did act, and act effectively, in that inquiry to produce the grounds for removing Father Smyth from ministry and specifically it was underlined that he was not to hear confessions and that was very important," Cardinal Brady said. "The responsibility for his behavior as a priest rested with his religious superior," he added. The allegations surrounding Father Smyth involved a group of teenagers who told then-Father Brady that the priest had abused them. At the time, Cardinal Brady insisted that the complainants swear an oath of secrecy and not discuss what happened with anybody other than an approved priest.
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Church officials defend celibacy, reject link to sex abuse by priests
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- As the Year for Priests moves into its final phase, a chorus of Vatican officials and experts has defended priestly celibacy and rejected the idea that celibacy has anything to do with sexual abuse by priests. The latest to take on critics of celibacy was Manfred Lutz, chief of psychiatry at a German hospital and a consultant to the Congregation for Clergy. Speaking at a theological convention on the priesthood in Rome March 12, Lutz said people who view celibacy as "unnatural" fail to understand the positive value of self-control in human sexuality. "Science now tells us that there is no correlation between celibacy and pedophilia," Lutz told an audience of about 700 priests at the Pontifical Lateran University. The assumption that celibacy represents a warning signal for psychosexual imbalance is also wrong, said Lutz, who helped organize a Vatican conference on sex abuse in 2004. On the contrary, he said, it's the wider society that misunderstands sexuality and that promotes an "idolatry of the body" that has left millions of people unhappy. Lutz said there was no question that celibacy "is certainly not something for weak characters." The commitment to celibacy usually falters in a priest when his spiritual life weakens, or when he becomes too focused on himself. For that reason, it may be a good idea to have priests live in communities when possible, he said.
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Visiting Lutheran parish, pope says sin is root of Christian divisions
ROME (CNS) -- Human sinfulness has fractured the unity that should mark the Christian community, so Christians have a responsibility to work and pray to heal their divisions, Pope Benedict XVI said during a visit to a German Lutheran church in Rome. "A Christian cannot live and be fully Christian without community, but we must recognize that we have destroyed this 'us,' we have divided the one path into many paths and, in that way, we have harmed our witness," the pope said March 14 during a prayer service in German. The evening service took the form of a Liturgy of the Word with the Lutheran pastor, the Rev. Jens-Martin Kruse, preaching about the reading from Second Corinthians and Pope Benedict preaching about the Gospel passage from St. John. Although he had a prepared text, Pope Benedict set it aside and instead picked up on themes Rev. Kruse had explored in his homily. The Lutheran pastor spoke about the Gospel call to be joyful and hopeful even in the midst of a life often marked by divisions, trials and pain. Pope Benedict said that when Jesus tells his disciples that the person who loves his life will lose it, but the one who loses his life will find it, "he wants to accent the fact that we cannot pretend that this life we are living belongs only to us, that I can be concerned only with having many things for myself."
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Catholics pray for peace after Lahore bombings kill 60, injure 100
LAHORE, Pakistan (CNS) -- Prayers for peace were offered at a Mass and at prayer services in Lahore March 14, two days after a series of deadly bombings left 60 people dead and 100 injured. Seven small explosions hit the Punjab provincial capital March 12, hours after twin suicide attacks killed bystanders and nine soldiers at a major bus stand, reported the Asian church news agency UCA News. Authorities said the incidents were the biggest militant attacks in Pakistan in 2010. The blasts damaged five houses rented by nine Catholic families. Ceilings collapsed and windows shattered, injuring 35 members of the families. Franciscan Father Abid Habib, regional coordinator of the Justice and Peace Commission of the Catholic religious major superiors, condemned the blasts after a prayer service originally planned to mark the second anniversary of the death of Chiara Lubich, founder of the Focolare movement. "This is sickening. The innocent continue to be victims of terrorists and the government seems unwilling to fight them. They are trying to evade their responsibility and are blaming foreign involvement," he told UCA News.
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Peace requires elimination of corruption, injustices, pope tells Sudan
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Corruption, ethnic tensions, indifference and injustice must be tackled to bring lasting peace to Sudan, Pope Benedict XVI told the country's bishops. "Treaties and other agreements, indispensable building blocks in the peace process, will only bear fruit if they are inspired and accompanied by the exercise of mature and morally upright leadership," the pope said. Meeting the bishops of Sudan March 13 at the end of their "ad limina" visits to the Vatican, Pope Benedict praised their work in promoting peace, reconciliation, economic justice and human rights through the rule of law. He also thanked them for their tireless efforts in assisting the poor and helping them achieve a life of dignity and self-respect. Sudan's two-decade-long war ended with a peace treaty that was signed between the Muslim-dominated government and the Sudanese People's Liberation Movement in January 2005. Pope Benedict said, "The effects of violence may take years to heal, yet the change of heart which is the indispensable condition for a just and lasting peace must even now be implored as a gift of God's grace."
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Tensions mount between Catholic Church, liberal Mexico City government
MEXICO CITY (CNS) -- Mayor Marcelo Ebrard was witness to four same-sex marriages March 11 in Mexico City's old government building, the first such unions in the country and the first ones under new laws approved in the Mexican capital. The Mexico City Archdiocese, meanwhile, expressed disappointment. Father Hugo Valdemar Romero, archdiocesan spokesman, said in a statement March 11, "It's clear that Mr. Marcelo Ebrard is responsible for the approval and execution of these laws that are destructive to the family and he doesn't conceal his aversion to the churches and the majority of people he governs, who profess the Christian faith and reject the perversion of their most cherished values." The disagreement escalated tensions between the archdiocese and the local government. During the last three years Mexico City also decriminalized abortion during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy -- and paid for abortions performed in public hospitals -- and liberalized euthanasia laws. Political observers say current church-state relations are marked by political parties and candidates courting church support even though Catholic leaders have said they don't take sides.
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Pope urges young people to follow their dreams, grow in love, faith
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI urged young people to follow their dreams, dedicate their talents to the common good, and grow in love and faith. The pope told the world's young Catholics to not let life's difficulties lead to discouragement. "Instead nurture in your heart great hopes for fraternity, justice and peace. The future is in the hands of those who know how to seek and find strong convictions in life and hope," he said in his message for World Youth Day 2010. The Vatican and most dioceses around the world will mark World Youth Day on Palm Sunday, March 28. In his message, released in Italian and French by the Vatican March 15, the pope asked young people to build a more just and fair world. Changing the world for the better does not have to mean "performing heroic or extraordinary acts, but allowing your talents and potential to bear fruit and committing yourself to constantly growing in faith and love," he said. The theme the pope chose for the 2010 celebration was from Jesus' encounter with the rich young man in St. Mark's Gospel: "Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
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PEOPLE
Diocese opens inquiry into possible miracle credited to Bishop Baraga
MARQUETTE, Mich. (CNS) -- Nearly 60 years after his cause for canonization began and more than 140 years after his death, an alleged miracle attributed to the intercession of Bishop Frederic Baraga is under investigation. Bishop Alexander K. Sample of Marquette announced the investigation March 10, with the inquiry process formally opening March 12 at diocesan headquarters. Father Ronald Browne, diocesan moderator of the curia, said the case involved a patient who was believed to have a liver tumor but who showed no signs of the tumor after a stole that had belonged to Bishop Baraga was placed on the patient's abdomen and prayers were said for the bishop's intercession. The tumor "showed up on various tests, including a CT scan and an ultrasound," but was not found in exploratory surgery after the prayers to Bishop Baraga, Father Browne said, adding that the patient "reported that the pain went away" at the touch of the stole. The priest released no other details about the patient but the diocese said the supposed miracle took place in Michigan's Upper Peninsula region.
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