|
|
|
|
News Briefs
|
NEWS BRIEFS Jan-25-2012
By Catholic News Service
U.S.
Youths' joy is 'greatest evidence' Jesus rose from dead, priest says
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- A Washington pastor told 17,000 exuberant teenagers and young adults gathered at a pro-life rally and Mass in the Verizon Center Jan. 23 that he wondered if they knew "what an encouragement you are. I am so glad for your joy ... your joy is the greatest evidence Jesus rose from the dead," said Msgr. Charles Pope, pastor of Holy Comforter-St. Cyprian Parish, said in his homily. The Mass and rally that morning, he said, were "about praising God and thanking him for the gift of life." Msgr. Pope noted that crowds at the Verizon Center normally cheer for hockey and basketball games and rock concerts, and he challenged them to offer a louder cheer for God. The spirited crowd responded with a loud sustained roar. The annual Youth Rally and Mass for Life there and a second rally and Mass for another 10,000 young people at the D.C. Armory were sponsored by the Archdiocese of Washington and each year precede the March for Life. All of the pro-life events mark the anniversary of the Supreme Court's 1973 Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion. At Verizon, the crowd offered a huge ovation for Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, apostolic nuncio to the United States, who smiled and thanked them for witnessing to God's gift of life. "I share your enthusiasm and your spirit," he said. "You are alive with hope and love, and you are alive with the life of Christ. Stay always that way!" Washington Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl, main celebrant at the Verizon Center Mass, smiled as he processed into the arena, preceded by about a dozen other bishops, nearly 180 priests and 30 deacons. "I welcome you as we renew our commitment to the value and dignity of all human life," the cardinal said. Acknowledging the large crowd, he said, "There would be even more if it weren't for the fact we had great storm warnings, and schools and bus lines were closed. ... I think the Lord did that to say to us, 'For decades you've been persevering -- continue to persevere.'"
- - -
Question of authority main impediment to unity, says Episcopal priest
GARRISON, N.Y. (CNS) -- Ultimate authority is the major impediment to Christian unity, greater than the real and profound differences between churches regarding priestly celibacy and the ordination of women, according to the longtime ecumenical officer for the Episcopal Diocese of New York. "Obviously, our Lord is the final authority, but the question of how we perceive God's will for us is not an easy thing," said the Rev. Paul B. Clayton Jr., speaking Jan. 22 at Graymoor during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. He said the Catholic Church has spent one and a half millennia developing the doctrine that gives universal and immediate jurisdiction to the bishop of Rome, while Orthodox, Anglican, Lutheran and Protestant churches make decisions through the action of councils and reject papal claims. "I believe the basic ecumenical question now is how we take up (Blessed) John Paul II's challenge to find a common vision of primacy in the church," he said. Rev. Clayton was the guest preacher at Sunday Mass and spoke to Catholic News Service afterward. He was one of seven ordained men and women invited to address groups at Graymoor during the worldwide observance of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity Jan.18-25. Graymoor is the headquarters of the Franciscan Friars and Sisters of the Atonement. The week is organized by the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and the Faith and Order Commission of the World Council of Churches. Since 1968, the two groups have met to choose a theme and prepare texts and resources for the observance. The theme for this year was, "We will all be changed by the victory of our Lord, Jesus Christ."
- - -
Tie with CRS helps Villanova University make connections to world
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- When the Villanova Wildcats beat the Seton Hall Pirates 84-76 in men's basketball Jan. 18, it wasn't just a hard-fought victory in the tough Big East conference. The game also was a win for the people of the Republic of South Sudan, the world's newest nation, thanks to a partnership between Villanova University and Catholic Relief Services. Billed as "Playing for Peace," the game gave student ambassadors an opportunity to showcase the struggles the people of South Sudan are experiencing as they work to build a nation from the rubble of a decades-long civil war. Jennifer Joyce Kissko, an assistant professor in the university's Center for Peace and Justice Education, said the event offered the chance to present an important concern to a wider audience that extended beyond the Villanova community. "It means a lot to use athletics as a vehicle. We thought we could engage people's attention for social justice," she told Catholic News Service. The event was more than a year in planning, Kissko said, adding that she hopes it will become an annual event that helps focus the campus on the important work of CRS somewhere in the world. Players from both squads wore special T-shirts in pre-game warm-ups that read "Playing for Peace" on the front and "Stay with Sudan" across the back. Augustinian Father Peter M. Donohue, Villanova's president, read a brief statement at halftime about the university's efforts on behalf of South Sudan. Fans received a handout as they entered the arena offering background on the country and ideas on how to get involved. Father Donohue introduced several of lost boys from Southern Sudan who were driven from their tribal villages and separated from their parents during the height of their country's civil war; one was a recent Villanova graduate. Several South Sudanese diplomats made the trip to Philadelphia for the game and also were introduced to the crowd.
- - -
WORLD
Consecrated life means living for God, others, pope says at audience
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Consecrated life entails giving oneself completely to God and living for others, Pope Benedict XVI said. Speaking at his weekly general audience Jan. 25, the pope continued his catechesis on Christian prayer, looking at the Last Supper, when Jesus instituted the Eucharist and the ministerial priesthood. The pope said Jesus prayed for God's intercession for his disciples, who, like himself, "do not belong to the world." Consecration also entails going on missions, the pope said, as Jesus told God, "As you sent me into the world, so I sent them into the world. The consecrated person exists for others, is given to others," and no longer lives for oneself, the pope said. "For the disciples it will be to continue Jesus' mission, to be given to God in order to be in mission for everyone," said the pope. The pope prayed that all Christians follow suit and "open our own prayers to the needs of our neighbors and the whole world." Jesus also prayed that his disciples "may all be one," as the pope recalled the closing of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, which ended Jan. 25.
- - -
Canada to host Ukrainian Catholic synod as part of 100-year celebration
OTTAWA, Ontario (CNS) -- When 35-year-old Ukrainian Catholic Bishop Nykyta Budka arrived in Canada in 1912, Ukrainian Catholic parishes, missionaries and monasteries were scattered across Canada, particularly on the prairies. This year, Canada's Ukrainian Catholics mark the 100th anniversary of their first bishop, who laid the groundwork for a united Ukrainian Catholic Church in Canada, gathering the scattered clergy, religious brothers and sisters and laypeople. The anniversary will be marked with events that are historically significant in themselves, said Ukrainian Catholic Archbishop Lawrence Huculak of Winnipeg, Manitoba. For instance, Canada will host the annual worldwide synod of Ukrainian Catholic bishops in Winnipeg, Sept. 9-16. Archbishop Huculak said Canada's hosting of the synod comes "as an affirmation of Bishop Budka's life and the life of Ukrainian Catholics in Canada" who came for economic or political reasons to make better lives for themselves. The Ukrainian Catholic major archbishop, Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, will attend the synod and visit Winnipeg and Canada's other eparchies: Toronto; Saskatoon, Saskatchewan; New Westminster, British Columbia; and Edmonton, Alberta. Blessed Budka was beatified in 2001. Archbishop Huculak said that, until the bishop arrived, there was very little church organization or structure to oversee the people establishing parishes. Although there were some clergy and some religious orders, there was not much coordination. But Blessed Budka's arrival did not mean "everything fell into place overnight," Archbishop Huculak said, noting how difficult it must have been to communicate or to travel in sub-zero weather. "It's quite awe-inspiring how he could carry out his ministry in this country and in the conditions he found himself," the archbishop said.
- - -
Evangelization can never be just a marginal concern, pope says
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Evangelization must never be a marginal concern for the church, Pope Benedict XVI said. From bishops to religious and the lay community, "All elements of the great mosaic of the church must feel themselves strongly called on by the Lord's mandate to preach the Gospel, so that Christ may be proclaimed everywhere," the pope said in his message for World Mission Sunday. The annual observance will be marked Oct. 21 at the Vatican and in most countries. In his message, released in Italian Jan. 25 at the Vatican, the pope said there is a "renewed urgency" for the missionary mandate even as the church celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council's Decree on the Church's Missionary Activity ("Ad Gentes"). That urgency is based on the increasing number of people around the world who still have not heard the Gospel message and the growing secularism seen in traditionally Christian countries, he said. "It's necessary to renew enthusiasm for sharing the faith so as to promote new evangelization in traditionally Christian communities and countries that are losing their reference to God, and to help them rediscover the joy of believing," the pope said. "We need to recover the same apostolic zeal of the early Christian communities who, small and defenseless, were still capable of spreading the Gospel through proclamation and witness," he said.
- - -
Congo's bishops: Elections 'stained,' council must acknowledge errors
KINSHASA, Congo (CNS) -- Months after Congo's general elections, the nation's bishops continue to speak out about the legitimacy of the results. "We believe that the electoral process is stained by serious irregularities which raise questions about the published results," the bishops' conference said in mid-January. "We call on the organizers to have the courage and honesty to draw the necessary conclusions." The bishops called on members of the National Electoral Council to "have the courage to question their own practices, or if not, step down." In December, the government said incumbent Joseph Kabila won the presidential race with nearly 49 percent of the vote, but pressure has intensified on Congolese electoral officials to step down and on the government to cancel the announced victory. At least 40 deputies and seven senators have called for cancellation of the elections as widespread fraud has been unveiled bits at a time since the Nov. 28 polls. This includes revelations that certain provincial governors were complicit in the setting up of fraud networks, put in place to stuff ballot boxes, cheat semi-literate voters, create a climate of fear and then falsify the vote count. The church's national justice and peace commission fielded 3,000 lay observers to rural polling stations. The bishops' conference and Cardinal Laurent Monsengwo of Kinshasa have issued statements on the legitimacy of the process, and Cardinal Monsengwo has since been the target of a defamation campaign for his remarks.
- - -
PEOPLE
Chaplain says Mexican officials committed sacrilege at prison chapel
MEXICO CITY (CNS) -- A prison chaplain in northern Mexico accused soldiers and police of committing sacrilege as they tore apart his chapel during an early morning raid meant to uncover drugs and weapons. Father Robert Coogan, an American priest based in Saltillo, Mexico, 190 miles southwest of the Texas border at Laredo, said soldiers and police burst into the Christ the Prisoner Chapel, "broke open the tabernacle and threw the hosts to the ground and walked on them." Father Coogan said in an email to Catholic News Service: "The prison has been searched before, but the soldiers or police never committed sacrilege." Bishop Raul Vera Lopez of Saltillo expressed his displeasure with the Jan. 24 raid and sacrilege, saying in a statement issued the same day, "No possible explanation exists that justifies what happened. We're deeply outraged by these acts because, in addition to attacking the faith of the majority of the Mexican people, they violate the rights of religious freedom," said the statement distributed by the Diocese of Saltillo. Bishop Vera has promised to celebrate Mass Jan. 27 outside the prison for those wishing to protest the sacrilege.
END
Copyright (c) 2012 Catholic News Service/USCCB. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed.
CNS · 3211 Fourth St NE · Washington DC 20017 · 202.541.3250
|
|
|
|
