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News Briefs
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NEWS BRIEFS Mar-29-2011
By Catholic News Service
U.S.
Diocese stops accepting deacon candidates, will reassess program
WORCESTER, Mass. (CNS) -- The Worcester Diocese has stopped accepting new men into its permanent diaconate program, at least temporarily, Deacon Anthony R. Surozenski, director of the Office of Diaconate, said in mid-March. This will allow time to assess whether more deacons will be needed and whether assignments and funding will be available for them, he said. It also allows time for studying how to better apply national church norms to deacons' ministry and find ways deacons could help meet needs that they are not currently addressing, such as hospice and truck-stop ministries, he said. Currently, 32 men are at different stages in the five-year preparation program; they are to continue formation and be ordained as scheduled this year and through 2015, Deacon Surozenski said. "We don't know what the diocese is going to look like and what the needs are going to be," he said. "Parishes are merging, some parishes are closing, new parishes may be evolving. We have to take a look at the big picture for ministry service for deacons." He told The Catholic Free Press, the diocesan newspaper: "If all goes well, there should be 135 active priests by the year 2015 and there should be 98 deacons." There might be an additional 17 deacons officially retired but still serving. A deacon and a priest working with the diaconate nationally put the Worcester Diocese's situation in context. The United States has 17,165 permanent deacons, more than 50 percent of all the permanent deacons in the world, said Deacon Gerald W. DuPont, president of the National Association of Diaconate Directors.
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Activists sent to prison for Washington state weapons depot protest
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Five longtime peace activists were sentenced to prison terms of two to 15 months for symbolically disarming nuclear warheads at a U.S. Navy weapons depot in Washington state. The five, including two Jesuit priests, a Sacred Heart Sister and two grandmothers, were found guilty of a series of federal charges in December for entering a U.S. Navy weapons depot in Bangor, Wash., on All Saints' Day in 2009 in a biblically based protest against the country's nuclear weapons policy. Prior to sentencing Father Bill Bichsel, 82, of Tacoma, Wash., Father Stephen Kelly, 61, of Oakland, Calif., Sacred Heart Sister Anne Montgomery, 83, of Redwood City, Calif., Susan Crane, 65, of Baltimore and Lynne Greenwald, 61, of Tacoma, Wash., U.S. District Court Judge Benjamin Settles acknowledged the activists' efforts on behalf of peace. The judge admitted to a packed courtroom in Tacoma that prison terms would likely fail to deter similar actions by the defendants in the future, but said he was required to uphold the law and send them to prison to prevent anarchy, said Bill Quigley, a law professor at Loyola University New Orleans who helped the activists prepare their defense. Each of the defendants, who called themselves the Disarm Now Plowshares, read statements before being sentenced. Each said they felt personally responsible for disarming nuclear weapons to prevent suffering and death for people who would better benefit from improved social services and humanitarian aid, Quigley said.
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Answer attacks against church with truth of its doctrine, say speakers
NEW YORK (CNS) -- The most effective response to veiled attacks against the church is one that exposes misrepresentations, states the verifiable truth, explains genuine Catholic doctrine and provides examples from the lives of Catholic saints and martyrs, according to speakers at a Fordham University program. The speakers addressed the topic "Suspicion and Conspiracy: Defending the Reputation of Noble Individuals" March 21. Jesuit Father Joseph W. Koterski, a philosophy professor at Fordham, said Pope Benedict XVI thought very deeply about how to respond, or how not to respond, to indirect accusations against the church. He said the pope's 2006 encyclical "Deus Caritas Est" (God Is Love) is a model for Catholics to answer charges made using innuendo and suspicion, instead of those developed through traditional forms of scholarly argument that present actual evidence for the position taken. Father Koterski described psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, socialist Karl Marx and philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche as "masters of suspicion," because they attacked the church and its motives with innuendo and insinuation, rather than straightforward argument. He said Pope Benedict is "our German shepherd standing resolutely in the face of three German wolves."
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Panelists: Welcome immigrants or lose them to other faiths, secularism
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- With the bulk of U.S. population growth coming among Hispanics, the Catholic Church must get out ahead in welcoming Latino newcomers or they will become involved in other institutions and activities instead, cautioned panelists at a conference on immigration and the church. Some types of welcoming might include offering Mass in Spanish, creating an environment around parish property where immigrants without family will feel at home hanging around with friends there, or being able to rally support at Catholic universities for the DREAM Act, said Father Virgilio Elizondo, professor of pastoral and Hispanic theology at the University of Notre Dame's Institute for Latino Studies. "Immigrants bring with them a profound faith that God is with them," he said at a daylong conference on the pastoral, policy and social implications of immigrants in the Catholic Church. "Yet many are not made welcome in our churches." Father Elizondo was among panelists at the March 21 event co-sponsored by The Catholic University of America and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Just a few days later, the Census Bureau released data from the 2010 census showing that one in six Americans is Hispanic, their largest percentage of the population to date, up by 43 percent in a decade. And Latinos are a young demographic, making up 23 percent of the under-17 population, compared to 16 percent of the total U.S. population, according to the census. It showed that though most Latinos still live in just nine states as they have for generations -- Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, New Mexico, New Jersey, New York and Texas -- the Hispanic population more than doubled in nine others, primarily in the Southeastern region. Those include Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, Tennessee, South Carolina, Maryland and South Dakota.
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'Borgias' made more for ratings than for jabs at church, professor says
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The upcoming Showtime series "The Borgias" may be interpreted less as a swipe against the Catholic Church than the desire for the Showtime pay-cable channel to produce a follow-up in the same vein as "The Tudors," its racy predecessor. "They're going for the flamboyant, the exotic, the erotic," said Timothy Thibodeau, a history professor at Nazareth College in Rochester, N.Y., of Showtime. "Everybody's heard of Henry the Eighth," the central character in "The Tudors," Thibodeau added. While Rodrigo Borgia (who became Pope Alexander VI) is a figure "a lot of people have never heard of," he noted, "for most historians it's very well known." It's because of this, Thibodeau said, that leads him to doubt whether "The Borgias" "will present anything new that will stand the test of time." "The Borgias" debuts April 3 on Showtime. John Mulderig of Catholic News Service's Media Review Office, in a review of the premiere episode, said it "sometimes degenerates from an intriguing study in power politics -- however misplaced and lamentable -- to an obvious exercise in sensationalism." Jeremy Irons, who plays Pope Alexander, is "a magnificent actor, it may well be a great performance on his part," said Thibodeau, who for the past five years also conducted a seminar at Nazareth on how history is portrayed in film and television. The problem, he cautioned, is "taking on a historical role and being faithful" to all of its elements.
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WORLD
Rome expecting at least 300,000 pilgrims for John Paul's beatification
ROME (CNS) -- Church and local government organizers are planning to accommodate at least 300,000 people in St. Peter's Square and the surrounding area for Pope John Paul II's beatification Mass May 1. Msgr. Liberio Andreatta, head of Opera Romana Pellegrinaggi, the Vatican-related pilgrimage agency, told reporters March 29, "Rome is ready to welcome every pilgrim who wants to come. Earlier, newspapers published megalithic numbers and said every hotel is booked. That's not true." Father Cesare Atuire of Opera Romana Pellegrinaggi said as soon as Pope Benedict XVI announced the beatification date, travel agents and others booked large blocks of hotel rooms. Now that the beatification is just a month away, they have a more precise idea of how many rooms they will need and so they are freeing up the extras. In addition, he said, two campgrounds outside of Rome will be reserved for pilgrims who want to keep their costs to a minimum. The commuter trains, which usually do not run on weekends, will be on a special schedule to get them to the prayer vigil April 30 in Rome's Circus Maximus and to the Mass the next morning. Because the pope is the bishop of Rome and the pilgrims will spend most of their time in Rome, not at the Vatican, the Diocese of Rome is responsible for much of the cost of the event, Msgr. Andreatta said. The diocese is passing the collection basket to large Italian companies to come up with at least $1.7 million to cover the costs of handling 300,000 pilgrims for the beatification, Msgr. Andreatta said.
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Apostleship of the Sea responds to pope's requests to aid Japanese
VATICAN CITY (CNS) --The Apostleship of the Sea, the Catholic Church's official society for the pastoral care of seafarers, is answering the pope's call to bring help to the Japanese people affected by recent natural disasters and to remain united in prayer. Seafarers are one of the groups hit hardest by the tsunami and earthquake, Soon-Ho Kim, director of the Apostleship of the Sea (AOS) in Japan, told the Catholic news agency Fides. Kim, a Columban lay missionary, reported that more than 20,000 boats have been destroyed and 260 ports damaged in the wake of the March 11 earthquake and tsunamis that followed. Auxiliary Bishop Michael Goro Matsuura of Osaka told Fides March 28 that the AOS and the Japanese bishops are focusing their efforts on fishermen and other people who do not qualify for government aid. "It will take many programs and projects to rebuild the human, social and working environments of these people," Bishop Matsuura explained. "It will be a long-term process because still today people look at the sea with extreme fear." The AOS has launched a campaign to raise money for the rehabilitation of Japanese seafaring communities. Kim said humanitarian aid is the first step the AOS is taking, followed by establishing an efficient communication network to reach coastal towns. Later, the AOS plans to hold reconstruction projects, he told Fides.
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Pope calls for church effort to protect family in Latin America
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI called for a greater church effort to protect family rights and values in Latin America, citing new threats caused by cultural change and social instability. The pope said no effort should be spared in defending marriage as an institution founded on the indissoluble union of a man and a woman, in which human life is welcomed and protected from its very beginning. He made his remarks in a message to bishops of Latin America and the Caribbean who were meeting in Bogota, Colombia, March 28-April 1 to discuss pastoral programs on the family and human life. "One notes with sadness that homes are increasingly suffering from difficulties provoked by rapid cultural changes, by social instability, by migratory flows, by educational programs that trivialize sexuality and by false ideologies," he said. "We cannot remain indifferent in the face of these challenges," he said. The church's task, he said, is to reach out to people and lead them to discover that the church's teaching makes sense in view of the "project of love" that God has for every human being. A special effort is needed to reach younger generations and educate them in the values that dignify human existence, he said.
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Canadian bishops' election guide provides magnifying glass on issues
OTTAWA, Ontario (CNS) -- The Canadian bishops' 2011 federal election guide provides a magnifying glass to guide judgments about party platforms and candidates. It provides examples of Catholic moral and social teaching in five areas: respect for life and human dignity; building a more just society; the person and the family; Canada's role in world justice and peace; and a healthy environment. "Demanding the right to life for even the smallest among us -- the human embryo and the fetus -- since they, too, belong to the human family, while also providing assistance to pregnant women facing difficulties" is the first of six bullet points in the pro-life section. The bishops also stress protection for people at the end of life and care for people with disabilities, those who are sick, or who are poor and suffering. Under "building a more just society" the bishops call for poverty-reduction measures, echoing a recent interfaith declaration that called for a national strategy to reduce poverty. The guide specifically mentions ending child poverty, aiding the homeless and providing access to affordable housing. It calls for "ending excessive, unjustified spending," while at the same time "ensuring a basic income sufficient for the basics of food and housing." It also calls for "finding permanent solutions" to problems indigenous communities face.
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British politicians: Abortion counseling shouldn't be done by providers
MANCHESTER, England (CNS) -- Two British politicians are proposing legislation to prohibit organizations that provide abortions from offering abortion counseling to pregnant women. Nadine Dorries, a Conservative Party member of Parliament, and Frank Field, a former minister in Tony Blair's Labor government, said that on March 31 they will introduce two amendments to the Health and Social Care Bill aimed at removing financial conflicts of interest in the provision of abortions. They say that it is an "inappropriate relationship" when private abortion clinics offer both counseling and abortions because the clinics have a vested interest in procuring the abortions. Official figures from 2009 show that private clinics such as Marie Stopes International and the British Pregnancy Advisory Service netted about 60 million pounds ($96 million) to perform more than half of Britain's 189,000 abortions on behalf of the taxpayer-funded National Health Service. According to a March 29 statement by the two legislators, the first amendment would be to ensure "every woman considering an abortion has a right to independent pregnancy counseling before being referred to an abortion provider." Dorries said physicians often referred women for pregnancy counseling to the same private clinics that are paid to carry out abortions. "Women are being denied independent information upon which to base such a huge decision," she said in a statement.
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Pope appeals for suspension of fighting in Libya
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI appealed for a suspension of fighting in Libya and the immediate start of a serious dialogue aimed at restoring peace to the North African country. Speaking at his weekly blessing March 27, the pope said he was increasingly concerned at the news from Libya, where rebels supported by U.S. and European airstrikes have battled the forces of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi. "My fear for the safety and well-being of the civilian population is growing, as is my apprehension over how the situation is developing with the use of arms," the pope said. "To international agencies and to those with political and military responsibility, I make a heartfelt appeal for the immediate start of a dialogue that will suspend the use of arms," he said. Echoing the pontiff's call were the bishops of northern Africa, representing the church in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya. In a brief statement sent to the Catholic news agency Fides March 29, the bishops issued an "urgent appeal to find an end to this painful conflict, just and dignified for all." The statement, signed by Archbishop Vincent Landel of Rabat, Morocco, president of CERNA, the regional bishops' conference of North Africa, said the bishops recognized the "legitimate claim for freedom, justice and dignity" that people seek. "This demand translates into a desire to be recognized as responsible citizens with the opportunity to find a job that allows them to live decently, excluding all forms of corruption and cronyism," the bishops said.
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PEOPLE
Pakistan identifies murderers of late Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Rehman Malik, the Pakistani Minister of the Interior, announced March 26 that the government has identified those responsible for the 2007 murder of Benazir Bhutto, political leader and former prime minister of Pakistan. Christians in Pakistan are grateful for this revelation and insist that the government also continue searching for the murderers of the former minister for minorities, Shahbaz Bhatti, who was killed March 2. Bhutto advocated minorities' rights and recognized the Christian community as equals. Bhatti, the first Catholic to serve as minister for minorities, publicly spoke out against Pakistan's anti-blasphemy laws, which, experts have said, are being used to persecute religious minorities. Minister Bhatti's brother, Paul Bhatti, also a Catholic, was named the new "special adviser" for religious minorities March 24 by the prime minister of Pakistan. "Now, it is important to make the same commitment to not let the murderers of Minister Shahbaz Bhatti go unpunished," Paul Bhatti told the Catholic news agency Fides. As special adviser, Bhatti will have the same executive powers as a minister. He most recently served as director of the All Pakistan Minorities, a network created by Shahbaz Bhatti in 2002 to promote the defense of religious minorities.
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'Baby Joseph' responds well to operation; transfer expected soon
ST. LOUIS (CNS) -- Baby Joseph Maraachli, the 14-month-old Canadian boy who received a tracheotomy March 21 at SSM Cardinal Glennon Children's Medical Center in St Louis, is expected to soon be moved to Ranken Jordan, a St. Louis pediatric specialty hospital, before returning home. Doctors at Cardinal Glennon also have diagnosed Joseph with Leigh's disease, a progressive neurological disease. As of March 29, he remained in the pediatric intensive care unit at Cardinal Glennon. Hospital spokeswoman Mary Aita said a recovery time of seven to 10 days after a tracheotomy is normal. After he is discharged from Cardinal Glennon, he will stay at Ranken Jordan before being transported to his family home in Windsor, Ontario. Joseph was placed at the center of an end-of-life debate while he was receiving treatment at a hospital in London, Ontario. Born in January 2010, Joseph has had a history of health problems and finally was admitted last October to the London Health Sciences Centre. Hospital officials, who called the boy's condition fatal, wanted to take the child off his feeding tube and ventilator, allowing him to die. The parents refused. A statement from Cardinal Glennon said the tracheotomy was deemed "medically appropriate" after a thorough examination of the child and consultations with Joseph's parents and the medical center's ethics committee.
END
Copyright (c) 2011 Catholic News Service/USCCB. All rights reserved.
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