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April
17, 2006
VOL.
44, NO. 8Oakland,
CA
 |
Excavation
reveals CNS PHOTO/JASON LANGE |
 |
Catholic
in Knesset CNS PHOTO/DEBBIE HILL |
Calls
for new probe in cardinal’s death
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The 1993 murder of a Mexican cardinal was drug-related,
warranting a reopening of the investigation by Mexican authorities, said
Washington Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick at a congressional hearing.
He also asked the U.S. government, which is holding several Mexican suspects
and witnesses in the case, to aid Mexican authorities in the investigation.
Cardinal Juan Posadas Ocampo of Guadalajara, Mexico, was “a martyr
in the war against drugs,” said Cardinal McCarrick. The initial
Mexican ruling that Cardinal Posadas was accidentally killed in a crossfire
between rival drug gangs was “a travesty of justice,” said
the U.S. cardinal.
A House subcommittee has been pressuring the U.S. Justice Department to
explain why it does not want to allow Mexican authorities to question
the Mexican suspects and witnesses it is holding or to turn them over
to Mexican authorities.
Nazi
brutality helped pope decide on vocation
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- In a meeting with young people, Pope Benedict XVI
said he decided to become a priest after witnessing the brutality of the
Nazi regime in his native Germany. While his vocation came naturally to
him, the pope said he had to seriously ask himself about priestly celibacy
and had doubts about whether he could be a simple pastor to simple people.
The pope’s reflections, the most personal since his election to
the papacy a year ago, came during a question-and-answer session April
6 with some 40,000 Rome youths in St. Peter’s Square. Pope Benedict,
fielded questions from young people on topics like science and faith,
sexuality and marriage and the development of his own vocation.
Pope
drops tradition of Holy Thursday letter
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Dropping a tradition of his predecessor, Pope Benedict
XVI did not issue a letter to the world’s priests on Holy Thursday.
No reason was given as to why the pope had decided to discontinue the
practice begun by Pope John Paul II in 1979.
Notre
Dame to continue ‘The Vagina Monologues’
NOTRE DAME, Ind. (CNS) -- The president of the University of Notre Dame
has given permission for continued performances on campus of “The
Vagina Monologues,” a controversial play that explicitly discusses
women’s sexuality. Holy Cross Father John I. Jenkins favored the
inclusion of panel discussions after future performances in which Catholic
teachings on human sexuality are presented as part of a discussion of
the issues in the play.
The permission for future performances drew immediate criticism from Bishop
John M. D’Arcy of Fort Wayne-South Bend who said he was “deeply
saddened by the decision.” He had previously asked that performances
be ended.
Father Jenkins announced his decision April 5 statement after a 10-week
review of whether the play should continue to be performed annually on
campus.
New
ecumenical forum is historic first in U.S.
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Christian Churches Together in the USA -- the broadest,
most inclusive ecumenical movement in U.S. history -- was officially founded
during a March 28-31 gathering near Atlanta. Its founding 34 Christian
churches and national organizations represent more than 100 million Americans.
Twenty-two additional churches and organizations are participating as
observers or are in the process of deciding about joining, and more than
30 others are in conversation with Christian Churches Together.
Cardinal William H. Keeler of Baltimore will represent the Catholic Church
as one of its five co-presidents. Christian Churches Together is intended
as a forum of ecumenical dialogue and witness involving the participation
of representatives from all five major Christian families of churches
in the United States: Catholic, Orthodox, historic Protestant, evangelical/Pentecostal,
and historic racial/ethnic.
Tortured
refugee wins damage award in Miami
MIAMI (CNS) -- A federal judge in Miami has ordered a former Honduran
military officer to pay $19 million in damages to Oscar Reyes, a retired
editor, and his wife in a torture case when the couple lived in their
native Honduras.
The judge ruled that retired Col. Juan Lopez Grijalba, who headed Honduran
military intelligence in 1982 when Oscar and Gloria Reyes were kidnapped
from their home by military operatives, was legally responsible for the
actions that resulted in the torturing of the couple.
Reyes then was director of the journalism school at the University of
Honduras. Several other plaintiffs joined in the lawsuit and Lopez Grijalba
was ordered to pay a total of $47 million in damages. Chances of the plaintiffs
receiving any of the damages are slim. In 2004, the U.S. government deported
Lopez Grijalba to Honduras.
‘Correction’
urged for bishops who refuse audits
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The National Review Board that monitors church efforts
to deal with clergy sexual abuse of minors has called for “strong
fraternal correction” of the bishops of the two dioceses that declined
to participate in last year’s diocesan compliance audits.
Bishop Fabian L. Bruskewitz of Lincoln, Neb. said he did not participate
in the audit called for by the U.S. bishops’ charter because the
charter is “only an advisory document,” not “a law of
the Catholic Church.”
