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News Briefs
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NEWS BRIEFS Aug-29-2011
By Catholic News Service
U.S.
Dialog newspaper to print biweekly, add online stories, videos
WILMINGTON, Del. (CNS) -- The Diocese of Wilmington will continue publishing The Dialog as a biweekly newspaper that will also expand its communications mission to the Internet with stories and video reports, Bishop W. Francis Malooly announced in August. Last April, when the diocese cut jobs and services to help pay a $77.4 million settlement to survivors of abuse by priests, The Dialog was slated to cease publication in the fall. "We were fortunate enough to receive a gift of $150,000 to assist in The Dialog's budget for this first year," the bishop said. "This, plus the money set aside by the diocese for a new communications plan and our intent to continue securing advertising revenue in the new newspaper, will fund its operation." The bishop's Aug. 8 decision to keep The Dialog in business follows the recommendation of a special committee formed last spring to suggest a diocesan communications plan after the paper was closed. That committee urged the diocese to improve its use of electronic media and to produce a printed publication as well, noting The Dialog was a "very active, solid" means of informing and evangelizing every Catholic household, according to Msgr. J. Thomas Cini, vicar general. The committee's report emphasized the need for a paper and enhanced communication in the diocese to counter misinformation and rumors during a critical time for the church in the wake of bankruptcy, the sex abuse scandal and recent closings of schools. The diocese has also retained a consultant, Daniel Medinger, president of Advertising Media Plus, to assist in the expansion of The Dialog coverage in new media. Starting in October, The Dialog's new print edition will be delivered biweekly to parishes for distribution in churches. Circulation by mail will end. The paper will start a new website for Dialog stories and publish more information than can be included in its print editions.
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WORLD
At Angelus, pope greets new US seminarians
CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy (CNS) -- Just four days after arriving in Rome, the new seminarians at the Pontifical North American College had their first glimpse of Pope Benedict XVI. The 76 new men from 52 different dioceses -- four Australian dioceses, one Canadian and 47 U.S. dioceses -- joined 2,000 other pilgrims in the courtyard of the papal villa at Castel Gandolfo for the recitation of the Angelus Aug. 28. The North American College is sponsored by the U.S. bishops. Students live at the college and receive spiritual and pastoral training there while attending one of the pontifical universities in Rome. After reciting the Marian prayer, the pope singled out the students for a special greeting. "Dear seminarians, do not be afraid to take up the challenge in today's Gospel to give your lives completely to Christ. Indeed, may all of us be generous in our commitment to him, carrying our cross with faith and courage," he said. In his main audience talk, the pope spoke about the Gospel story of Peter insisting that Jesus should not have to suffer and die, and Jesus rebuking him, "Get behind me, Satan." Jesus told Peter, "You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do," and he told him that being a disciple means taking up the cross and following him.
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Cradle Catholics haven't done enough to evangelize, pope says
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Cradle Catholics haven't done enough to show people that God exists and can bring true fulfillment to everyone, Pope Benedict XVI told a group of his former students. "We, who have been able to know (Christ) since our youth, may we ask forgiveness because we bring so little of the light of his face to people; so little certainty comes from us that he exists, he's present and he is the greatness that everyone is waiting for," the pope said. The pope presided at a Mass Aug. 28 in Castel Gandolfo, south of Rome, during his annual meeting with students who did their doctorates with him when he was a professor in Germany. Austrian Cardinal Christoph Schonborn of Vienna, a regular participant in the Ratzinger Schulerkreis (Ratzinger student circle), gave the homily at the Mass, but the pope made remarks at the beginning of the liturgy. The Vatican released the text of the pope's remarks Aug. 29. Pope Benedict highlighted the day's reading in Psalm 63 in which the soul thirsts for God "in a land parched, lifeless and without water. He asked God to show himself to today's world, which is marked by God's absence and where "the land of souls is arid and dry, and people still don't know where the living water comes from."
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Pope asks Nigerian terrorists to end violence, embrace life, dialogue
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- In the wake of a deadly suicide bomb attack on U.N. offices in Nigeria, Pope Benedict XVI made an urgent appeal for terrorists to renounce violence, choose dialogue and have respect for human life. In two identically worded telegrams -- one to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, and one to Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan -- the pope appealed "to those who choose death and violence to embrace, instead, life and respectful dialogue." The telegrams, written by the Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, on behalf of the pope, were released to journalists by the Vatican Aug. 27, the day after the attack. The pope "was distressed to learn of the terrorist attack upon the United Nations offices in Abuja and of the terrible loss of life among both local citizens and United Nations' personnel," the telegrams said. An attacker drove a car laden with explosives through security gates and into the U.N. complex, leaving at least 23 people dead and 81 others wounded. The pope said his prayers were with all those who were killed in the attack and asked that mourners and the injured be blessed with "courage and strength."
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Priest says security must be 'functional' for Pakistani pilgrimage
MARIAMABAD, Pakistan (CNS) -- A priest has called on security agencies to provide "functional" security for travelers during this year's annual pilgrimage to the national Marian shrine in Mariamabad. Millions of pilgrims are expected to visit the shrine in Punjab province; organizers fear ongoing threats of terrorism, reported the Asian church news agency UCA News. "The (metal detector) gate posted at the entrance of the shrine stopped functioning on several occasions last year," said Father Ashraf Gill, head of security for the event, which is scheduled Sept. 9-11. "The continual power cuts made it worse, making millions of pilgrims vulnerable." He said he is holding meetings with police officials to discuss security arrangements, while parishes around the country have begun arranging tour buses to transport pilgrims. The threat of terrorism has led organizers to enlist additional assistance. "Two hundred youths and 30 women will be deployed at various locations to look for suspicious activity. Posters have also been distributed around churches announcing a ban on cooking pots, weapons and drugs in church compounds," the priest said. A cameraman for a Christian television station said that, last year, the metal detector was not functioning at all. "I crossed several times during recording, but there was never any warning beep. Though I informed the priests in charge, we stayed silent to avoid panic," said the cameraman, who asked not to be named.
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PEOPLE
Baltimore archbishop named to head Knights of Holy Sepulcher
BALTIMORE (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI appointed Archbishop Edwin F. O'Brien of Baltimore as pro-grand master of the Equestrian Order (Knights) of the Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem, based in Rome. The appointment was announced simultaneously in Rome and in Washington Aug. 29. The order is a chivalric organization dedicated to promoting and defending Christianity in the Holy Land, supporting the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem and responding to the needs of Catholics in the region. Its origins date back to the First Crusade, when its leader, Godfrey de Bouillon, liberated Jerusalem. He succeeds U.S. Cardinal John P. Foley, who resigned and retired in February as head of the international order for health reasons. Cardinal Foley returned to Philadelphia to live permanently earlier this year after having served in Vatican posts since 1984. It is not known when Archbishop O'Brien will take up his new post in Rome. Though he ceases to be archbishop of Baltimore effective with the appointment, the pope named him as apostolic administrator of the archdiocese until his successor is named. "It has been a singular privilege to serve as archbishop of Baltimore," Archbishop O'Brien said. "It is with a heavy heart that I will be departing. ... I pray that I will carry out the will of God and that of (the pope) in preserving the faith in the Holy Land." In a statement released Aug. 29, Cardinal Foley said, "I could not be happier that he is my successor," citing Archbishop O'Brien's "experience and splendid dedication as priest and archbishop."
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Toronto's retired Cardinal Ambrozic dies at 81
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI offered condolences to Catholics in the Archdiocese of Toronto after their retired archbishop, Cardinal Aloysius Ambrozic, died Aug. 26 at the age of 81. "I recall with gratitude the cardinal's dedication and service to the church in his adopted country," Canada, the pope said in a telegram sent Aug. 27 to Archbishop Thomas Collins of Toronto. "I join you and all who mourn him, including the members of the late cardinal's family, in commending his noble soul to the infinite mercy of God, our loving father," the pope wrote. The late cardinal was a priest for 56 years, bishop for 35 years and served as archbishop of Toronto from 1990 to 2006. His funeral Mass was scheduled for Aug. 31 in St. Michael's Cathedral in Toronto. Born in 1930 in Gaberje, Slovenia, his entire family fled to Austria in 1945 and spent the next three years in refugee camps. The family immigrated to Canada in 1948, and, the Vatican newspaper said, the experience had such a lasting impression that he was "always on the frontlines in the defense of the rights of immigrants and refugees."
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