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News Briefs
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NEWS BRIEFS Jul-20-2012
By Catholic News Service
U.S.
Federal judge dismisses Belmont Abbey College's suit against mandate
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (CNS) -- A federal judge has dismissed Belmont Abbey College's lawsuit against the Obama administration that had challenged the federal contraception mandate, but lawyers for the Benedictine college in Belmont say they will continue the fight. U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg of the District of Columbia dismissed Belmont Abbey's case July 18, saying that the college did not have standing to bring the case to court, nor could it demonstrate it had been harmed yet by the contraception mandate. The contraception mandate -- issued in August 2011 by the federal Department of Health and Human Services as part of the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act -- requires nearly all employers to provide free artificial contraception, sterilization and abortion-causing drugs coverage in their insurance plans. There is a narrow exemption for employers who object to providing these services on religious grounds, namely if they serve or hire people primarily of their own faith. The contraceptive mandate takes effect for new health plans and those that undergo significant changes Aug. 1, 2012 -- unless the narrow religious exemption applies or a one-year "temporary enforcement safe harbor" applies. Following an outcry over the contraceptive mandate from Catholic institutions across the country and the U.S. bishops this past spring, the Obama administration established the "safe harbor" period to allow those employers that do not provide contraceptives for religious reasons time to figure out how they will comply with the mandate. The "safe harbor" period expires Aug. 1, 2013. The mandate requiring individuals to get health insurance or face fines goes into effect Jan. 1, 2014.
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Denver prelates offer consolation in wake of Aurora shootings
DENVER (CNS) -- Archbishop Samuel J. Aquila of Denver and his auxiliary, Bishop James D. Conley, offered prayers and support to the victims, survivors and the community after a gunman killed at least a dozen people and wounded dozens more during a July 20 midnight screening of the movie "The Dark Knight Rises" in Aurora. "For those who were killed, our hope is the tender mercy of our God," the bishops said in a joint statement. "'Neither death nor life,' reflected St. Paul, 'can separate us from the love of God.' For those who were wounded -- physically, emotionally and spiritually -- our hope is in their recovery and renewal. To them we offer our prayers, our ears to listen, and our hearts to love. The road to recovery may be long, but in hope we are granted the gift of new life." Archbishop Aquila and Bishop Conley also prayed for the shooter. "We hope also for the perpetrator of this terrible crime, and we pray for his conversion. Evil ruled his heart last night," they said July 20. "Only Jesus Christ can overcome the darkness of such evil." James Holmes, 24, who had been a doctoral student at the University of Colorado before he dropped out, was arrested in connection with the mass shootings. Police said Holmes was still wearing a bulletproof vest in the movie theater's parking lot when he was apprehended. News accounts in the hours following the attack put the number of wounded variously at 38, up to 50 and as many as 59 late in the day. Archbishop Aquila, who was to celebrate an evening Mass for those affected by the shooting, and Bishop Conley said Regina Caeli Counseling Services of Catholic Charities in the archdiocese would offer counseling over the next few weeks to those who need it. "We look for opportunities to pray with our community," the bishops added. "And we continue to work to support families and communities in forming people of peace."
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Cardinal praises conscience provisions in House appropriations bill
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The chairman of the U.S. bishops' Committee on Pro-Life Activities praised lawmakers for including two conscience provisions in the House version of the 2013 appropriations bill for the federal departments of Labor and Health and Human Services. "Our government has a long history of respecting rights of conscience in health care, and the time is long overdue to reaffirm this laudable tradition in the face of today's growing threats," Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston said in a July 17 letter to members of the House Subcommittee on Labor/HHS. Cardinal DiNardo said the provision called the Abortion Non-Discrimination Act, which had 124 co-sponsors from both parties, "will reaffirm the basic principle that no health care entity should be forced by government to perform, participate in or pay for abortions." The other provision is the Respect for Right of Conscience Act, which Cardinal DiNardo said would "counter a policy that poses the most direct federal threat to religious freedom in recent memory," a reference to the "HHS mandate" requiring most religious organizations to include sterilizations and contraceptive coverage -- including those that could cause early abortions -- in their employee health care plans. The subcommittee was preparing to mark up the appropriations bill for eventual action by the House Appropriations Committee and then the full House. The Senate Appropriations Committee had done its own markup, first in subcommittee and then in full committee, June 12 and 14. "The endgame for a final appropriations bill is unknown at this time, but agreement between the two houses of Congress is likely to be late fall or early winter at the earliest," said a June 18 statement from Directors of Health Promotion and Education, a trade group.
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Denver's new archbishop says he will build on ministry of predecessors
DENVER (CNS) -- Catholics "must stand with the unborn child and proclaim to all persons the dignity of that unborn child," newly installed Archbishop Samuel J. Aquila of Denver said July 18. "Each and every one of us here was created in the same manner, and we must understand that truth that science itself reveals," he said in his homily during his installation Mass at the Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in downtown Denver. More than 400 priests, including 40 bishops and one cardinal, processed in to the cathedral basilica for the afternoon installation Mass. The bishops included Cardinal J. Francis Stafford, a retired Vatican official and former Denver archbishop; Philadelphia Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, who headed the Denver Archdiocese from 1997 until 2011; Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, apostolic nuncio to the United States; and Denver Auxiliary Bishop James D. Conley. Archbishop Aquila is the eighth bishop, and fifth archbishop, in the archdiocese's 125-year history. A native of California, he was ordained a priest for Denver in 1976 and for the past 11 years was bishop of Fargo, N.D. "Every time an abortion occurs a unique individual human being is snuffed out," Archbishop Aquila told the congregation. "Catholics can never stand for that, nor can we ever support that." From that respect for human life and dignity flows the church's support for traditional marriage, between one man and one woman, he continued. "As Christians we recognize that when God created man and woman for one another." It also means speaking to the religious liberty issues of the day and "proclaiming the dignity of the immigrant," he said.
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WORLD
Catholics need help experiencing interactive prayer, magazine says
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The church must offer people -- especially the young -- a spirituality that responds to their computer-driven desire for interactive experiences, said an influential Jesuit magazine. The Italian magazine, La Civilta Cattolica, said the church does not have to invent a new spirituality for a new generation. It just has to recognize that because of intensive computer and social network use people have changed, so the church must change the way it offers its spiritual treasures. The key, the magazine said, is to help people take the step from superficial interaction -- "surfing the net" and clicking on link after link -- to contemplation. First, people must recognize the need "to safeguard spaces that allow interiorization to develop." That means a bit of silence and being out of arm's reach of the computer or smartphone, the magazine said. But the church also must offer Catholics ideas of what to do with that quiet time, and the magazine started with something its Jesuit staff knows something about: the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, the founder of the Jesuits whose feast is July 31. The exercises, it said, offer a systematic formula for helping someone take the already-interactive experience of reading to a new level. For example, its suggestion for contemplating the birth of Jesus begins by asking the reader to "see with the imagination the road from Nazareth to Bethlehem, considering the length and breadth of it, whether it is a flat road or goes through valleys or over hills; and similarly to look at the place of the Nativity, to see how big or small it is, how low or high, and what is in it."
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Caritas official likes PEPFAR funding for HIV, hopes it can continue
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Holding this year's International AIDS Conference in Washington is recognition of the U.S. government's decision to grant visas to people who are HIV-positive, but it also is recognition of U.S. efforts to combat AIDS worldwide, said a top church official. In 2009, U.S. President Barack Obama signed the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Extension Act, ending a 22-year ban on the entry of people with the virus that causes AIDS. But Msgr. Robert J. Vitillo, special adviser on HIV and AIDS for Caritas Internationalis, said the conference also was an indication of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, PEPFAR, a massive funding surge initiated by President George W. Bush and continued, though at a lower level, by Obama. Both Bush and Obama will address the June 22-27 conference via videotaped messages. Funding from PEPFAR and the United Nations has made possible great strides in combating the disease. According to the U.N., some 8 million people received antiretroviral treatment last year, a 20 percent increase over 2010. That treatment can significantly prolong life by reducing the viral load in infected people. Yet almost 8 million others who are eligible for the treatment have no access to the medications. At the same time, global funding for AIDS work is flat-lining or declining. "This is a big worry, especially for us in church-based services. I remember 10 to 15 years ago the church couldn't even think about getting involved in antiretroviral treatment because we didn't have the funding and the cost of the medicines was too high. So our approach was mainly to help people die well and with dignity," Msgr. Vitillo said.
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What Catholics can learn during Islam's holy month
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which started July 20 in many countries, is a time of fasting, prayer and repentance, when Muslims distance themselves from worldly activities in an effort to align their lives more closely with God and his laws. According to the Vatican's point man for dialogue with Islam, Ramadan is also an opportunity for Catholics to learn from Muslims' example of obedience to the Almighty -- and thereby strengthen their own Catholic faith. Msgr. Khaled Akasheh runs the section for relations with Muslims at the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, an office founded by Pope Paul VI in 1964, during the Second Vatican Council. One of the most important aspects of Vatican II, Msgr. Akasheh told Catholic News Service, was that "the church accepted all that is right and beautiful in religions." The council thus fostered a culture in which theological disagreement did not mean disrespect for what others hold sacred. Even half a century later, however, many Catholics perceive a tension between the need to respect other religious traditions and Christ's call to bring his truth to all people. "Managing mission and dialogue is perhaps the major theological challenge" in communicating with other faiths, Msgr. Akasheh said. Catholic experts engaged in dialogue do not make any "explicit appeal to others to embrace our religion, but this doesn't mean that we are not faithful to our faith and our mission, because in dialogue we say what we are," he said.
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PEOPLE
Church's point man on AIDS: Too early to celebrate possible cure
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- More than 20,000 people are descending on the U.S. capital for the XIX International AIDS Conference, and Msgr. Robert J. Vitillo feels right at home. As the Catholic Church's point man on HIV and AIDS, he moves among the scientists, politicians and activists with ease, having worked for years to make sure that those involved in faith-based responses to the disease have their voices heard in the biennial gatherings. Yet, Msgr. Vitillo has not always been welcomed. In the early years of the pandemic, he was provided with a bodyguard at an AIDS conference in Europe. "A lot of the resistance to our participation has been based on misinformation and accepting some of the media's perspective on what the church says and does rather than what we actually say and do," said Msgr. Vitillo, special adviser on HIV and AIDS for Caritas Internationalis. "I meet people all the time who are shocked when they hear what the Catholic Church does in response to AIDS. They thought all we did was tell people they were terrible sinners. "The church has been there from the beginning of the response to HIV and AIDS. In fact, it was mainly church organizations that began to accept people who were dying of these very strange illnesses and infections before we even knew that it was caused by HIV or we had coined the terms AIDS. It's always been there, and it has responded very well, without stigma and discrimination," Msgr. Vitillo told Catholic News Service. In the days leading up to the July 22-27 conference, news of research into a vaccine for the virus, as well as rumors that a cure for AIDS is on the horizon, have focused media coverage on the science of the disease. Yet Msgr. Vitillo said it is too early to celebrate. "There has always been a tension in the field of HIV response because many people are looking for the easy solution. They did that when they tried to promote just the use of condoms, arguing that was the solution to everything. Thirty years on, the experts realize that we need many different approaches to prevention," he said.
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Fathers Fogarty, Cortes elected to head religious congregations
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Two religious congregations of men with membership in the U.S. have selected new leaders of their orders. The Congregation of the Holy Spirit, known as the Spiritans, elected Father John Fogarty, the Irish-born U.S. provincial, as superior general for the next eight years. The Marianists, formally known as the Society of Mary, chose Father Manuel J. Cortes Soriano, a Spaniard, for a second six-year term as superior general. The election of Father Fogarty, 60, took place at the congregation's 20th general chapter in Bagamoyo, Tanzania. Ordained to the priesthood on Sept. 27, 1981, he worked as a Spiritan in Ghana, Nigeria and Italy, as well as his native Ireland, before coming to the United States in 2005 to serve as director of the Spiritan Center at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh. In 2009, Father Fogarty was elected provincial of the newly merged U.S. province of the congregation. His second three-year term as provincial was to have begun June 16. With Father Fogarty's election as superior general, Father Jeffrey T. Duaime, first assistant, will assume the role of U.S. provincial. Father Duaime's ministry as a priest has included work in the Haitian missions, vocations work, congregational leadership and parish and school posts. He has been president of Holy Ghost Preparatory School in Bensalem, Pa., since 2002. The Spiritans have some 3,000 priests, brothers and lay members working in 60 countries.
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Peruvian archbishop decries harmful mining practices at Hill hearing
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- A coffin sat in mining and metallurgical company Doe Run's closed factory with Archbishop Pedro Barreto Jimeno's name on it. This is not the first death threat he has received in response to his vocal protests about the planned reopening of a highly toxic smelter in La Oroya, Peru, the archbishop said July 19 in Washington. The head of the Archdiocese of Huancayo, Peru, testified at a hearing of the Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, and Human Rights of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. The hearing, led by the subcommittee chairman Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., featured testimonies from Archbishop Barreto, an Oxfam Peru representative, an environmental researcher and a member of the La Oroya community. Also present were Reps. Karen Bass, D-Calif., and Russ Carnahan, D-Mo. The La Oroya smelting factory, which closed in 2009, has contaminated the region with toxic levels of lead, cadmium, and arsenic. Ninety-seven percent of children had dangerous levels of lead in their blood, researcher Fernando Serrano said during his testimony. He said only eight of the streams in the entire Mantaro watershed remain relatively uncontaminated. The watershed is the largest in Peru, and Serrano expressed fears that the country's crops and livestock also will be contaminated. Serrano, who is principal investigator of the St. Louis University School of Public Health, said levels of toxicity in the region could decrease with cleanup funding.
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New Spiritan superior says order renews emphasis on education
DUBLIN (CNS) -- The newly elected superior general of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit said the missionary order has renewed its emphasis on education as a tool of evangelization and as part of its commitment to empowering the poor. Speaking from Bagamoyo, Tanzania, near the end of the Spiritans' monthlong general chapter, Father John Fogarty, 60, said representatives of the 60 countries, where 2,800 priests, brothers and professed students serve, are negotiating a new global vision for Spiritan education. "We have never had a policy on education and so this represents a significant step forward for us," he told Catholic News Service in a telephone interview in mid-July. The former provincial of the recently merged U.S. province, who had just been re-elected for a second term in June before being selected to lead the congregation, explained that the commitment to education is "being driven" by the order's African members, who now make up more than 50 percent of the congregation. They were responding to the fact that many governments in sub-Saharan Africa have asked the church to get involved in education again, as educational standards have dropped since the nationalization of schools following independence from colonial rulers. The order has had a "growing sense that education is a very important aspect of empowering poorer people to take responsibility for their future in society and for shaping their own societies. This renewed emphasis is a recognition of education as a tool of liberation for the poor."
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