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News Briefs
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NEWS BRIEFS Jun-15-2012
By Catholic News Service
U.S.
US to stop deporting young adults under DREAM Act-like orders
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Repeating over and over that "it's the right thing to do," President Barack Obama announced June 15 that effective immediately, the U.S. will stop deporting certain young people who are in the country illegally because they were brought to the United States as minors. The action -- taken under existing law that allows for prosecutorial discretion -- effectively creates an administrative version of the DREAM Act, legislation that enjoys popular, bipartisan support but has long languished in Congress. "It makes no sense to expel talented young people who for all intents and purposes are American," said Obama at a news conference from the White House Rose Garden. The new policy will make the system "more fair, more efficient and more just," he said. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said in a memo announcing the change that immigration laws "are not designed to be blindly enforced without consideration given to the individual circumstances of each case. Nor are they designed to remove productive young people to countries where they may not have lived or even speak the language. Indeed, many of these young people have already contributed to our country in significant ways. Prosecutorial discretion, which is used in so many other areas, is especially justified here." But Congress still needs to act, Obama said, and the sooner the better, because the changes are only a temporary fix. Among those hailing the announcement was Archbishop Jose H. Gomez of Los Angeles, chairman of the U.S. bishops' Migration Committee. The young people to whom the action would apply "are bright, energetic, and eager to pursue their education and reach their full potential," said Archbishop Gomez's statement. He echoed Obama's point about needing more permanent action by Congress. "The action by the president today is no substitute for enactment of the DREAM Act in Congress," he said.
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Catechism of the Catholic Church goes online with browser-based e-book
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The Catechism of the Catholic Church now has more of a presence in the increasingly popular world of e-books. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has made the catechism available as a browser-based e-book at www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/what-we-believe/catechism/catechism-of-the-catholic-church/index.cfm. The catechism is a compendium of Catholic beliefs structured around the four pillars of faith: creed, sacraments, commandments and prayer. The USCCB announcement about the latest e-book format comes at a time when more active readers are moving to e-books from traditional formats. A Pew study conducted in February shows 21 percent of adults say they read an e-book in the past year, compared with 17 percent in December 2011 who said they had done so. Additional research shows that overall e-book owners are more likely to read than those who read via print formats. In late 2011, the USCCB accommodated that trend by releasing the e-book edition of the catechism through Amazon, iTunes and the USCCB online bookstore. Why make it available through browsers? "Providing the catechism in this particular electronic format will make this foundational resource even more accessible to people," explained Bishop John C. Wester of Salt Lake City. "It is free to anyone who has access to the Internet."
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Can farm bill break the pattern of paralysis in Congress?
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Both houses of Congress have been working on a new farm bill, as the current farm bill expires Sept. 30. That would seem to leave a lot of time for the bill to get through Congress, even one as polarized as this one is. But not so fast. The number of working days Congress has this year will be reduced sharply because of the time needed to campaign in a presidential election year. That works not only against the bill, but against the elected officials who -- in a time before attack ads, anyway -- liked to trumpet their legislative achievements. And the look of the final farm bill is still up for grabs. Sens. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., and Pat Roberts, R-Kan., had worked out the basics of a new farm bill late last year as part of the "supercommittee" deficit reduction talks. But when the supercommittee failed to come up with a plan, the farm bill had to be shelved. But Stabenow and Roberts came back with a bill that cuts federal outlays by more than $23 billion over the next 10 years, including $4 billion in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program -- formerly known as food stamps -- but even more cuts in direct payments to farmers. In their place would be a crop insurance program that would pay farmers when crops fail or when prices sag. The House Agriculture Committee has developed its own farm bill, but the full House hasn't yet put it on its docket, perhaps waiting to see if the Senate can pass a version that would go to a House-Senate conference committee to hammer out the final details of the package. Work on the measure has been slow, admitted Ferd Hoefner, policy director for the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, of which the National Catholic Rural Life Conference is a member. "I think it's precarious right now but still possible," Hoefner said. "It's McConnell's call," he added, referring to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., "but he hasn't been too forthcoming about how he wants to call it." Hoefner blames the current Senate slowdown on GOP-offered amendments "on everything from Pakistan to state taxes. ... You name it, they've got an amendment for it."
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CHA urges expanded religious exemption, says government must pay
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The Catholic Health Association, a major supporter of President Barack Obama's health reform law, is urging the government to expand its definition of religious employers who are exempt from the requirement to provide contraceptives and sterilization free of charge to their employees. In comments filed June 15 with the Department of Health and Human Services, the top three CHA officials also said the Obama administration should provide and pay for the contraceptives itself if it insists that they must be provided at no cost to women. The five-page comments were signed by Sister Carol Keehan, a Daughter of Charity who is CHA president and CEO; Robert V. Stanek, who recently completed a term chairing the CHA board; and Joseph R. Swedish, the chairman for 2012-2013. The three said the administration's proposed "accommodation" that would allow nonexempt religious employers to provide the contraceptives through a third party "would be unduly cumbersome and would be unlikely to meet the religious liberty concerns of all of our members and other church ministries." They said the current definition of a religious employer in the HHS rules raises "serious constitutional questions." To be exempt from the contraceptive mandate, a religious organization "has the inculcation of religious values as its purpose; primarily employs persons who share its religious tenets; primarily serves persons who share its religious tenets; and is a nonprofit organization" under specific sections of the Internal Revenue Code.
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Leader of new priests' association says it aims to offer clergy support
ST. LEO, Fla. (CNS) -- The fledgling Association of U.S. Catholic Priests was formed to offer a national support group not before available to many priests and to promote "fulfilling the confirmed agenda" of the Second Vatican Council, according Father David Cooper. "Vatican II said dialogue is at the heart of the church. Our greatest concern is, 'How do we move forward?'" explained the priest, who is the association's chairman. He and 26 fellow priests, mostly from the Midwest, met and founded the organization at St. Mary of the Lake University in Mundelein, Ill., Aug. 27, 2011. The group named a small leadership team, and named as its chairman Father Cooper, who is 68 years old and was ordained for the Milwaukee Archdiocese in 1970. From there, the organization sent surveys and other information to priests nationwide, and their membership grew from that original 27 to the current 640, representing 107 of the country's 195 dioceses, and 26 religious orders. Father Cooper talked about the group's beginnings in an interview in Florida during the association's first national assembly. Held June 11-14 at St. Leo University, the gathering had as its theme "Vatican II Lives: Keeping Alive the Vision and Passion of the Council." About 200 priests attended. The mission and vision of the association are the same as the assembly theme, Father Cooper told Catholic News Service. Members also aim "to support one another as fellow priests, to further and develop our professional life, and to have the ability to speak with one voice," he added.
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WORLD
Mass confusion: Misunderstanding at root of 'liturgy wars'
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Half a century after the start of the Second Vatican Council, the reform of the liturgy initiated there has not lost its power to stoke controversy. On June 13, after years of on-again-off-again talks with the traditionalist Society of St. Pius X, which effectively broke from Rome almost 25 years ago to protest the teachings of Vatican II and subsequent changes to the Mass, the Vatican announced that the traditionalists had been formally offered terms of reconciliation. But the following day, the SSPX announced that unresolved "doctrinal difficulties" might lead it to prolong negotiations yet again. Prominent among the outstanding issues it cited was the form of the Mass introduced by Pope Paul VI. Even among the vast majority of Catholics who have accepted the Mass in its current form, debates often occur over aspects of worship that include choices in sacred music, the correct manner of receiving Communion, and, in the English-speaking world, the revised translation of the Mass, which was introduced last year. Yet according to one distinguished scholar, such disputes are largely rooted not in the liturgical texts themselves, but in contemporary misunderstandings about the very nature of Catholic worship. Benedictine Father Jeremy Driscoll is a professor at Rome's Pontifical Athenaeum of San Anselmo and the author of a guidebook for non-experts, "What Happens at Mass." A zealous debunker of what he regards as false dichotomies and oppositions, Father Driscoll rejects a common complaint that the reform has turned the Mass into a communal meal at the expense of its traditional sacrificial dimension, or that it places excessive importance on the faithful instead of focusing on God. "Sacrifices are meals," he says. "That's the way in which one participates in sacrifice."
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Irish archbishops tell Vatican report on Rome seminary contained errors
DUBLIN (CNS) -- Four Irish archbishops said they told the Vatican that a report on an apostolic visitation to the Pontifical Irish College in Rome contained factual errors. The archbishops told The Irish Times newspaper that an initial report on the visitation, given to them by the Vatican, "contained some serious errors of fact, including named individuals. Attentive to the importance of applying due process, and respecting the rights of those named in this initial report, the trustees made a detailed and considered response to the Holy See." The Irish Times reported that the archbishops' response to the Vatican said the visitation report "would appear to prioritize its own view of orthodoxy, priestly identity, separation and devotion" and its "harsh judgments on staff members" were "unsupported by evidence." A spokesman for the Irish bishops told Catholic News Service June 15 there would be no further comment from the archbishops, who were attending the 50th International Eucharistic Congress in Dublin. The January 2011 visitation to the Irish College was led by New York Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan at the request of Pope Benedict XVI, part of the church's response to the sexual abuse crisis in the Irish church. As part of the months-long visitation, the Vatican also appointed apostolic visitors to Ireland's four archdioceses and religious orders, and Cardinal Dolan also led visits to seminaries in Ireland. The Irish Times reported June 15 that it had obtained a copy of Cardinal Dolan's report, which allegedly criticized "the atmosphere, structure, staffing and guiding philosophy" of the Rome-based Irish seminary. Cardinal Dolan refused to comment on the veracity of the claims, insisting that the apostolic visitation process was confidential. "While obviously others do not consider themselves bound by the promised confidentiality -- so necessary and understandable to assure a fair and honest gathering of information (and) requested by the Apostolic See -- I certainly do," Cardinal Dolan told The Irish Times.
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Cardinal Burke optimistic on reconciliation with SSPX
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- A senior Vatican official voiced optimism about reconciliation talks with the traditionalist Society of St. Pius X, while acknowledging the longer-term challenge of bringing the breakaway group under papal leadership. "I believe that the reconciliation will take place, and then we have to devote ourselves to consolidating it and helping it to go forward," Cardinal Raymond L. Burke told Catholic News Service June 15, two days after Bishop Bernard Fellay, superior general of the SSPX, met with Vatican officials. At that meeting, according to statements by both sides, the Vatican presented Bishop Fellay with an evaluation of the society's positions on a series of doctrinal questions and a draft document proposing that the SSPX become a personal prelature, effectively an international diocese under the direct authority of the pope. But an SSPX statement also said that unresolved "doctrinal difficulties" with the teachings of the Second Vatican Council and the Catholic Church's subsequent liturgical reform could lead to a "new phase of discussions" over how to end nearly 25 years of separation. Cardinal Burke, prefect of the Supreme Court of the Apostolic Signature and a former archbishop of St. Louis, said his talks with SSPX clergy and lay members have indicated that the "great majority" desire full communion with Rome and Pope Benedict XVI. "The pope is their pope, in the sense that they see him as the pastor of the universal church," Cardinal Burke said. "They see their situation as anomalous, (in) that they believe in him as the successor of St. Peter and yet they're not under his care."
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PEOPLE
Pope names new bishop for Moncton, New Brunswick
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI named Bishop Valery Vienneau of Bathurst, New Brunswick, to be the new archbishop of Moncton. The Vatican announced June 15 that Pope Benedict had accepted the resignation of Archbishop Andre Richard, who will reach the usual retirement age of 75 June 30. Archbishop Vienneau, 64, had led the Diocese of Bathurst since 2002. Born in Cap-Pele, he earned degrees in philosophy and in education from the University of Moncton and taught in public schools for nine years. He later entered the seminary, studying in Ottawa, and was ordained to the priesthood in 1982 for the Archdiocese of Moncton. He served in parish ministry and as a university chaplain until 2000, when he was appointed to lead a reorganization of several parishes and to train members of parish pastoral teams. Archbishop Richard leaves the archdiocese after appointing former Supreme Court Judge Michel Bastarache to finish conducting a conciliation process with sexual abuse victims in the archdiocese within a year. The victims allegedly were abused by the late Father Camille Leger between 1957 and 1980. Father Leger, who died in 1990, was never convicted of any crimes.
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Priest named head of Australia ordinariate just before ordination
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- One hour before the Mass at which he was to be ordained as a Catholic priest, Father Harry Entwistle, 71, was named by Pope Benedict XVI as the first head of the personal ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross, a jurisdiction for former Anglicans in Australia. Father Entwistle, who was ordained an Anglican priest in England in 1964, immigrated to Australia in 1988, joined the Traditional Anglican Communion in 2006 and was later named Australia's Western regional bishop. The Traditional Anglican Communion is a worldwide group of Anglicans that separated themselves from the Anglican Communion led by the archbishop of Canterbury. The Vatican announced his appointment as head of the ordinariate June 15, just one hour before his ordination Mass was set to begin in St. Mary's Cathedral, Perth. Father Entwistle is married and has two grown children. Also June 15, as had been announced previously, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith formally erected the personal ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross.
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Head of Cross Catholic Outreach gets Notre Dame alumni group's award
BOCA RATON, Fla. (CNS) -- Jim Cavnar, president of Cross Catholic Outreach and an alumnus of the University of Notre Dame, received the Rev. Louis J. Putz C.S.C Award from Notre Dame's Senior Alumni Association. Cavnar received the annual award this year for his "exemplary dedication to improving the lives of people in poverty." He started Cross Catholic Outreach in 2002 with co-founder Brian Schutt. The relief and development organization operates under the Diocese of Palm Beach. The agency initially helped people in Haiti and now includes outreach to Africa, Asia and Latin America. It now provides food, clothing, shelter, medicine and other aid to people in more than 40 countries. It has given nearly a billion dollars of aid to the poor since its founding 10 years ago. Working with priests, missionaries and churches ensures that 96 percent of donations are used for program services, according to a news release. Cross Catholic Outreach suggests specific international projects to donors. It administers the money they donate and provides donors with progress reports on the project and a final report when the work is completed. Cavnar said he was familiar with the award's namesake from his time as a Notre Dame undergraduate.
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Interfaith workers' rights advocate to get 2012 Pacem in Terris award
DAVENPORT, Iowa (CNS) -- A woman who leads an interfaith organization committed to improving wages, benefits and conditions for low-wage workers will be honored with the 2012 Pacem in Terris Peace and Freedom Award. Kim Bobo, executive director of Interfaith Worker Justice, will receive the award Sept. 16 in Christ the King Chapel at St. Ambrose University in Davenport. The award commemorates Pope John XXIII's 1963 encyclical letter, "Pacem in Terris" ("Peace on Earth"). Previous award recipients include the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Dorothy Day, Blessed Teresa of Kolkata, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Cesar Chavez, Lech Walesa and Msgr. Marvin Mottet. "Kim Bobo, as the national authority on the injustice of wage theft, calls people of all faiths to join together in defense of the 'inalienable dignity of workers,'" said Kent Ferris, facilitator of the Pacem in Terris Coalition. "She shows the world that education, organization and advocacy are means of achieving the common good," added Ferris, director of Social Action and of Catholic Charities for the Davenport Diocese. Bobo, 57, began working for systemic change while employed with Bread for the World. She later worked as a trainer for Midwest Academy, which engages people in social change through a strategic, results-oriented approach to social action and organization building.
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Priest who briefed Blessed John Paul II on Polish-Americans dies at 85
DETROIT (CNS) -- Msgr. Walter Ziemba, who helped introduce the future Pope John Paul II to Polish-Americans and helped him to know them, died June 8 at age 85. His funeral Mass was celebrated June 12 at the Shrine Chapel of Our Lady of Orchard Lake on the campus of the Orchard Lake Schools. Burial was in Holy Sepulcher Cemetery in suburban Southfield. Msgr. Ziemba was one of the first people to recognize Cardinal Karol Wojtyla of Krakow, Poland, as a potential future pope. In an interview with The Michigan Catholic, Detroit archdiocesan newspaper, he recalled turning to a colleague as they left their first meeting with the Polish cardinal in 1968, and remarking, "This man is papabile," which is to say capable of becoming pope. As rector of SS. Cyril & Methodius Seminary and president of St. Mary's College in Orchard Lake, Msgr. Ziemba was among the key Polish-American clerics who briefed the future pope on the pastoral needs of Polonia, the Polish diaspora in North America. But he also got to know him personally, traveling with him and hosting him on two visits to Orchard Lake before his election as pope. Msgr. Ziemba first met the then-archbishop of Krakow when he extended an invitation to attend a conference on the Orchard Lake campus. Cardinal Wojtyla's American trip turned into a pastoral visit to the Polish diaspora in the United States and Canada. "I traveled with him 17 days in 1969 -- we were in 16 cities in 17 days," Msgr. Ziemba recounted.
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