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May
8, 2006 
VOL.
44, NO. 9Oakland,
CA
 |
Ongoing
violence in Iraq CNS PHOTO/REUTERS/Kareem Raheen |
 |
Remembering
Chernobyl CNS PHOTO/REUTERS/Ivan Chernichkin |
Middleman
convicted in murder of U.S.-born nun
SAO PAULO, Brazil (CNS) -- It took less than one day for five men and
two women to convict Amair Feijoli da Cunha of hiring two gunmen to murder
U.S.-born Sister Dorothy Stang on a deserted dirt road in Brazil’s
Amazon region.
Da Cunha was sentenced to 27 years in prison for the Feb. 12, 2005, murder,
but due to a plea bargain arrangement with prosecutors, the middleman
will only spend 18 years in jail.
The verdict was celebrated by more than 200 peasants who had waited for
hours outside the courthouse in Belem. Inside the courtroom, Sister Dorothy’s
family members and human right activists also celebrated the ruling.
During the trial, da Cunha confirmed that two local farmers asked him
to hire gunmen to kill the nun. The two killers were sentenced to 27 years
and 18 years, respectively.
The two men accused of masterminding the assassination remain in jail
and have not yet been tried.
Sister Dorothy was a native of Dayton, Ohio, but had lived in the Amazon
region for nearly four decades and was a naturalized Brazilian. She worked
closely with the Brazilian bishops’ Pastoral Land Commission in
favor of land rights for the poor and for sustainable development in the
region. Because of her work, she had been receiving death threats for
nearly four years.
Collection
yields 300 tons of discarded electronics
MARQUETTE, Mich. (CNS) -- Encouraged by their bishop, Catholics joined
thousands of others in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula who turned in
more than 300 tons of old and broken computers, televisions, cell phones
and other electronic waste April 22 during an Earth Day campaign.
“I don’t think anybody dreamed there would be this kind of
response,” said Bishop Alexander K. Sample of Marquette about the
second annual Earth Keeper Clean Sweep. “It’s wonderful, it’s
incredible -- if you provide people with an opportunity to do something
good with the environment, they will respond.”
Bolivian
president asks church to help poor nation
LA PAZ, Bolivia (CNS) -- Bolivia’s first indigenous president said
the church plays a critical role in supporting the revolutionary changes
he seeks for South America’s poorest country.
“The participation of the church is important in the transformations
we’re fighting for. Be they Catholics or evangelicals, it’s
important that they apply Christianity,” said
President Evo Morales, an Aymara indigenous leader who took office in
January, has quickly shaken up Bolivian politics. He has vowed to end
corruption and inefficiency. He has appointed Cabinet ministers from Bolivia’s
indigenous and poor communities, angering many of the country’s
traditional elites. He is working to preserve the right of Bolivian farmers
to continue to cultivate coca, as well as to nationalize Bolivia’s
reserves of gas and oil.
Americans
don’t grasp extent of abortion law
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Thirty-three years after Roe v. Wade, most Americans
still do not understand the 1973 Supreme Court decision that legalized
abortion in nearly all circumstances, according to poll results released
April 25.
Although 65 percent of respondents to a recent survey said they were very
familiar or somewhat familiar with Roe v. Wade, only 29 percent were able
to select the most accurate description of the decision from among four
options.
Fifty percent chose an incorrect description, saying Roe made abortion
legal only in the first trimester (18 percent), only in limited circumstances
(17 percent) or only in the first and second trimester (15 percent).
Priests’
morale reported high despite abuse crisis
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The morale of U.S. priests is high despite the hurt
and anger they feel over the crisis of clergy sexual abuse of minors,
a prominent priest-psychotherapist said.
Father Stephen J. Rossetti, president of St. Luke Institute in Silver
Spring, Md., and author of the recent book “The Joy of Priesthood,”
said a survey of nearly 1,300 priests in 16 dioceses that he conducted
on the effects of the abuse crisis on priestly morale showed that 80 percent
of priests say their own morale is good, but only 38 percent think the
morale of their fellow priests is good.
Venezuelan
bishops seek probe into priest’s death
CARACAS, Venezuela (CNS) -- The Venezuelan bishops’ conference asked
police to pursue an investigation into the apparent murder of a conference
official. Father Jorge Pinango Mascareno, undersecretary of the bishops’
conference, was found dead in a Caracas hotel early April 24, about 48
hours after he was missing.
Vicente Alamo, deputy director of police forensics, confirmed that an
autopsy showed Father Pinango died from forced suffocation.
Underground
Chinese bishop closely watched
HONG KONG (CNS) -- An underground bishop in northern China was recently
released from more than five months of detention but is being closely
watched.
Local Catholic sources said Bishop Julius Jia Zhiguo of Zhengding was
returned to his church in Wuqiu village, in Hebei province, April 19.
A local Catholic who met the 70-year-old prelate after his release said
two officials are stationed at the church and Bishop Jia is under 24-hour
surveillance.
Spokane
ordered to redo its abuse settlement plan
SPOKANE, Wash. (CNS) -- The Spokane Diocese has to restructure its settlement
offer to people claiming that they were abused as minors by clergymen,
ruled U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Patricia Williams. She said the $45.7 million
plan did not treat all claimants fairly because it favored one group over
another. Another hearing on the matter has been set for May 15.
On Feb. 1, the diocese offered the settlement to 75 claimants. Since then
the diocese has received more than 100 other claims, which it is reviewing
to see if there is enough evidence to justify the claims.
Nun
who worked with ex-cons found murdered
BUFFALO, N.Y. (CNS) -- Sister Karen Klimczak, a Sister of St. Joseph who
was murdered April 14 at the Buffalo home where she ministered to ex-convicts,
“gave her life in service to her God, her church and the community
she loved,” said Bishop Edward U. Kmiec of Buffalo.
Police have charged Craig M. Lynch with the murder. Lynch, who was released
from Wyoming Correctional Facility in January, lived at Bissonette House,
a residence for former prison inmates founded and directed by Sister Karen.
Police said Lynch, 36, attacked Sister Karen, 62, as she interrupted a
burglary.
St.
Elizabeth Ann Seton is patron of Maryland
BALTIMORE (CNS) -- Maryland has a new heavenly protector. St. Elizabeth
Ann Seton, the first U.S.-born saint and a founder of what would become
the Catholic school system in the United States, has been named the official
patroness of Maryland by the Vatican.
The idea for the special designation came from Paul and Janet Vater, parishioners
of Mother Seton Church in Germantown, Md., located in the Archdiocese
of Washington, who asked Cardinal Keeler to seek the title from Rome.
Mexican
priest arrested for murder of mistress
MEXICO CITY (CNS) -- Police in a Mexico City suburb arrested a Catholic
priest for allegedly murdering his pregnant mistress on Easter. Authorities
said Father Cesar Torres Martinez, 42, confessed to strangling 22-year-old
Veronica Andrade Salinas after she confronted him over the pregnancy and
demanded money after a pre-dawn Easter Mass at a parish just east of Mexico
City.
After a deadly struggle, the priest dismembered Andrade’s body with
a kitchen knife and dumped the remains in a plastic bag outside a local
cemetery.
