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News Briefs
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NEWS BRIEFS Mar-17-2010
By Catholic News Service
U.S.
Bishops urge prayers, political courage as health debate winds down
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- In the final days of the national health reform debate, U.S. bishops called for political courage and for prayers that Congress would come up with legislation that would respect human life and dignity at all stages. "In moments of concern and crisis, Catholic tradition through the centuries has unfailingly urged the faithful to turn to the spiritual aids of prayer and fasting in order to draw closer to our Lord and his will," said Bishop Paul S. Loverde of Arlington, Va., in a letter calling Catholics to a day of prayer and fasting March 15. He said the prayers "for protecting the life, dignity, health and conscience rights of every human person in any legislation that Congress considers" should continue beyond March 15. In an opinion piece published online by The Washington Post March 16, the chairmen of three committees of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops rebuked the House Democratic leadership for "ignoring the pleas of pro-life and Hispanic members of their caucus" on abortion and immigration and criticized the Republicans for pledging "to do all they can to defeat the legislation by threatening to object to any improvements in the Senate bill, further complicating the process." The three were Bishop William F. Murphy of Rockville Centre, N.Y., who chairs the USCCB Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development; Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, chairman of the Committee on Pro-Life Activities; and Bishop John C. Wester of Salt Lake City, who chairs the Committee on Migration. Bishop Robert N. Lynch of St. Petersburg, Fla., one of two bishop-members of the Catholic Health Association's board of trustees, said recent statements by the leadership of the USCCB and CHA on health care reform put "two organizations within the church seemingly at loggerheads."
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Dependence on nuclear deterrence prevents disarmament, UN nuncio says
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Nuclear deterrence -- the concept that possessing nuclear weapons will thwart an enemy from attacking -- is preventing the much-needed goal of disarmament from being achieved, said the papal nuncio to the United Nations. Archbishop Celestino Migliore also told an audience hosted by the Woodstock Theological Center at Georgetown University March 16 that the conditions that prevailed during the Cold War and that provided the basis for the church's "limited toleration of nuclear deterrence" no longer exist. The nuncio's comments came during a panel discussion on nuclear deterrence, disarmament and human security that also featured Maryann Cusimano Love, associate professor of international relations at The Catholic University of America, and Douglas B. Shaw, an expert in nuclear nonproliferation and disarmament at George Washington University. Not hiding their views that nuclear disarmament is necessary in a world where the threat of a nuclear attack by rogue nongovernmental players is rising, the panelists outlined steps that the world's powers -- and its citizens -- can take to create a more peaceful and secure planet. Panelists cautioned against citizen apathy, urged the formation of worldwide networks to push for nuclear disarmament and counseled that religion can play an important role in achieving the eventual goal of dismantling all nuclear weapons. They called for new international treaties that specify the depth of weapons cuts, especially between the United States and Russia, the world's foremost nuclear powers.
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Study finds Latinos who leave their churches are choosing no faith
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- A new analysis of religious identification data finds that contrary to popular belief, U.S. Latinos are not leaving behind Catholicism for Protestant churches, but instead are becoming more secularized, affiliating themselves with no faith at all. A study released March 16 by the Institute for the Study of Secularism in Society and Culture at Trinity College, a secular liberal arts school in Hartford, Conn., reported that although Latinos remain predominantly Catholic, those who have left the church since 1990 have shifted more than expected toward secularism as they become more Americanized. It also reported on shifts of the Latino population away from the Northeast and to Southern states, and from urban to suburban communities, among other information. The study compared changes in the Latino population's responses to questions about faith between 1990 and 2008.The analysis of the American Religious Identification Survey of 2008 echoes many of the findings of previous studies of Latinos and their faith, such as that the influx of Latino immigrants continues to be a factor in maintaining the size of the Catholic population in the United States. "Over the 18-year period, the influx of 9 million Latino Catholics accounted for most of the 11 million additions to the U.S. Catholic population and, as a result, Latinos comprised 32 percent of all U.S. Catholics in 2008 compared to 20 percent in 1990," it said. Among Latinos, 66 percent in 1990 said they were Catholic, compared to 60 percent in 2008. The study by Juhem Navarro-Rivera, a research fellow, and professors Barry Kosmin and Ariela Keysar noted that just as in the general U.S. population, Latinos became less identified with Christianity between 1990 and 2008, down from 91 percent to 82 percent. Those who said they identify with no faith grew from 6 percent in 1990 to 12 percent in 2008, they found.
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Nuns say vote for Senate health bill would be 'life-affirming'
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The leaders of more than four dozen U.S. congregations of women religious are urging members of Congress to "cast a life-affirming 'yes' vote" on the Senate's version of health reform legislation. "Despite false claims to the contrary, the Senate bill will not provide taxpayer funding for elective abortions," they said in a letter delivered to all members of Congress March 17. "It will uphold long-standing conscience protections and it will make historic new investments -- $250 million -- in support of pregnant women." Their letter came two days after the U.S. bishops restated their objections to provisions in the measure they said would expand federal funding of abortions. Cardinal Francis E. George of Chicago, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said March 15 that the bishops were "not quibbling over technicalities" and that the bill deliberately omitted "the necessary language that could have taken this moral question off the table."
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Status of women improving but many still face hardships, nuncio says
UNITED NATIONS (CNS) -- The status of women around the world has improved in the last 15 years with better educational opportunities, less discrimination and more laws against domestic violence, but women continue to suffer, Archbishop Celestino Migliore said March 8. The progress of women also can be seen in their promotion as "key to eradicating poverty and fostering development" and the growth of their participation in civil society, the Vatican's U.N. nuncio told leaders of the world body. But women and girls remain victims of various forms of violence, including "female feticide and infanticide," and account for a significant number of those infected by HIV/AIDS, he said. They also make up the majority of those who are trafficked across international borders and sexually exploited, he said. Archbishop Migliore's statement was delivered during a session of the Commission on the Status of Women, a body of the U.N. Economic and Social Council. Commission members met March 1-12 for a 15-year review of the implementation of the Declaration and Platform for Action approved at the 1995 U.N. conference on women in Beijing. They also reviewed the outcome of the 23rd special session of the General Assembly held in 2000 on women and "gender equality, development and peace for the 21st century."
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WORLD
Pope asks Irish to read his letter on abuse crisis with open heart
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI asked Irish Catholics to read his pastoral letter on the sexual abuse crisis "with an open heart and in a spirit of faith." Addressing Irish visitors at his weekly general audience March 17, St. Patrick's Day, the pope said he had written the letter as "a sign of my deep concern" over "this painful situation." He used his audience to announce that he would sign the letter March 19, the feast of St. Joseph, and send it "soon after." "My hope is that it will help in the process of repentance, healing and renewal," he said. In December, the pope had said he would write the letter in the wake of the scandal that followed publication of an independent report that faulted the church for its handling of 325 sex abuse claims in the Archdiocese of Dublin in the years 1975-2004. The report said bishops sometimes protected abusive priests, and were apparently more intent on protecting the church's reputation and assets than on helping the victims. Pope Benedict called all the bishops of Ireland to the Vatican in February, discussing both the scandal as well as the potential content of his letter. At his audience, he said that "the church in Ireland has been severely shaken as a result of the child abuse crisis."
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Vatican sets up commission to study alleged apparitions at Medjugorje
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- At the request of the bishops of Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Vatican has established an international commission to study the alleged Marian apparitions at Medjugorje, a small Bosnian town. The commission will be led by Cardinal Camillo Ruini, retired archbishop of Rome, and will operate under the direction of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican announced March 17. Commission members will include cardinals, bishops, theologians and other experts, said Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman. He said the commission would have about 20 members, but he did not say if or when their names would be published. However, Father Lombardi said the commission is unlikely to make any statements. Their work and recommendations, if any, will be turned over to the doctrinal congregation.
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Visitation of Legionaries draws to a close; papal decision to follow
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- As the Vatican-ordered apostolic visitation of the Legionaries of Christ draws to a close, Roman Curia cardinals were preparing to examine the findings of the investigators and present recommendations to Pope Benedict XVI. At issue is how the sexual improprieties by the Legionaries' late founder, Father Marcial Maciel Degollado, will affect the future of the religious order. The Legionaries have welcomed the visitation as part of a "process of purification," while critics have said it should lead to a dissolving of the order in its present form. The five bishops who conducted the investigation, including Denver Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, are expected to meet with top Vatican officials toward the end of April to hand in and discuss their report, said Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, March 16. He said Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican secretary of state, was coordinating the follow-up work on the visitation, and that two other Vatican officials would also be involved: U.S. Cardinal William J. Levada, head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and Cardinal Franc Rode, head of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life. Father Lombardi said the cardinals, in light of the visitation results, would recommend to the pope what measures to take. The spokesman said there was no timetable for final decisions, which will be made by the pope.
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PEOPLE
Poet to receive the University of Notre Dame's 2010 Laetare Medal
NOTRE DAME, Ind. (CNS) -- Dana Gioia, poet and former chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, will receive the University of Notre Dame's 2010 Laetare Medal during the university's May 16 commencement ceremony. "In his vocation as poet and avocation as arts administrator, Dana Gioia has given vivid witness to the mutual flourishing of faith and culture," said Holy Cross Father John Jenkins, president of Notre Dame. "By awarding him our university's highest honor we hope both to celebrate and participate in that witness." Gioia -- the first poet to receive this honor -- has published three full collections of poetry, including "Interrogations at Noon," which won the 2002 American Book Award. He also has published eight smaller collections of poems, two opera libretti and numerous translations of Latin, Italian and German poetry. He writes essays and reviews for the New Yorker and Atlantic magazines, The Washington Post Book World, The New York Times Book Review and Slate. His 1992 book -- titled "Can Poetry Matter?" -- is often credited for helping revitalize the place of poetry in American public life. From 2003 to 2009, Gioia served two terms as chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, where he worked to strengthen support for public funding of arts and arts education, champion jazz as a uniquely American art form, promote Shakespeare readings and performances nationwide, and distribute NEA grants more widely.
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Cardinal Brady apologizes for role in Irish clergy abuse crisis
DUBLIN, Ireland (CNS) -- Cardinal Sean Brady of Armagh, Northern Ireland, apologized during a St. Patrick Day homily for his role in the case of a priest accused of sexual abuse. The cardinal said March 17 during Mass at St. Patrick Cathedral in Armagh that he wanted to "apologize to all those who feel I have let them down." "I want to say to anyone who has been hurt by any failure on my part that I apologize to you with all my heart," he said. "Looking back, I am ashamed that I have not always upheld the values that I profess and believe in," he continued. The apology came after the cardinal acknowledged March 14 that he never told police about statements from victims that he collected about a pedophile priest in 1975. "This week a painful episode from my own past has come before me," Cardinal Brady said during the Mass which was broadcast throughout the country. "I have listened to reaction from people to my role in events 35 years ago."
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New Web site, book explore life of Blessed Mary MacKillop
PERTH, Australia (CNS) -- The Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart launched a new Web site revealing never-before-seen images of their co-founder, Blessed Mary MacKillop, readings of her final letters and virtual tours of her tomb and her last home, Alma Cottage in South Australia. The order also announced the publication of a third volume of Blessed MacKillop's letters, which reveal the homesickness, illness and even arguments experienced by the sisters when establishing the congregation in New Zealand. Josephite Sister Annette Arnold developed the interactive site -- www.marymackillop.org.au -- with Fraynework Multimedia, an Australian company created under the auspices of the Sisters of Mercy. The company takes its name from Mother Ursula Frayne, who established the Sisters of Mercy order in Australia in 1846. The book, "Mary MacKillop on a Mission -- to Her Last Breath," was published by the congregation which Blessed MacKillop co-founded in South Australia in 1866.
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