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July
3, 2006 • VOL. 44, NO. 13 • Oakland, CA
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Repentance
in Boston CNS PHOTO/GEORGE MARTELL/ARCHDIOCESE OF BOSTON |
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Death
penalty ended CNS PHOTO/MAX ROSSI/REUTERS |
Interfaith
coalition addresses unfair detention
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- “National security” is not a good enough
reason to systematically detain refugees, asylum seekers and undocumented
migrants, said Catholic, Jewish and Muslim leaders of the new International
Coalition on the Detention of Refugees, Asylum Seekers and Migrants. The
coalition, which includes human rights and faith-based organizations,
was formed to study detention policies, assist detainees and lobby for
changes in detention practices.
Cardinal Renato Martino, president of the pontifical councils for Justice
and Peace and for Migrants and Travelers, said, “There are real
concerns about detention becoming a systematic policy to which many countries
resort, more as a rule than as an exception, and justify the policy by
so-called national security concerns.”
Even
Saddam should not be put to death
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- No one should be put to death, not even former Iraqi
President Saddam Hussein, said Cardinal Paul Poupard, president of the
pontifical councils for Interreligious Dialogue and for Culture. “The
Catechism of the Catholic Church, the Church itself and the pope reaffirm
that every person is a creature of God and that no one but the creator
can claim to be the lord of the life and death of another,” he said.
Canadian
diocese pays for abuse, sues insurance
TORONTO (CNS) -- A Newfoundland diocese is on track to pay a $13 million
(US$11.6 million) settlement to victims of clergy sexual abuse, although
money from its insurance companies has not yet come through, said Bishop
Douglas Crosby of St. George’s. The diocese filed a suit with the
Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador June 7, seeking payment from
six insurance companies, which have so far refused to provide any part
of the compensation other than the legal costs.
Bishop Crosby said regardless of the outcome of the lawsuit with the insurance
companies, the diocese is committed to fulfilling all the terms of the
settlement.
Court
ruling should spur mediation in abuse cases
SPOKANE, Wash. (CNS) -- Spokane Bishop William S. Skylstad said a federal
judge’s ruling that parishes in the diocese are not owned by the
bishop should spur mediation efforts to settle clergy child sex abuse
claims. The June 15 decision by U.S. District Judge Justin Quackenbush
overturned U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Patricia Williams’ ruling that
the bishop owned parish assets and they could be sold to pay claims against
the diocese by people who say they were abused as minors by priests.
Vatican
lawyer downplays ruling in child abuse case
PORTLAND, Ore. (CNS) -- A federal judge’s ruling that the Vatican
may not have immunity in a clergy child sex abuse lawsuit is far from
a major victory for the plaintiff, said the Vatican’s lawyer in
the case. The ruling in Portland by U.S. District Judge Michael W. Mosman
is significant but hardly the “titanic victory” some reports
have claimed it to be, said Jeffrey Lena, who represents the Vatican.
The Vatican has appealed the ruling to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
What Mosman’s ruling means is that the civil suit has not been entirely
dismissed during this early stage of the case when even facts of jurisdiction
have not been determined, said Lena, based in Berkeley, Calif.
U.S.
cautioned to respect human rights of detainees
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The United States must be careful not to adopt the
attitude of “the ends justify the means” in its treatment
of detainees, warned the chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee
on International Policy.
“A respect for the dignity of every person, ally or enemy, must
serve as the foundation of the pursuit of security, justice and peace,”
Bishop Thomas G. Wenski of Orlando, Fla., said in a letter to U.S. Secretary
of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. Bishop Wenski asked Rumsfeld to ensure that
the Defense Department upholds the highest ethical standards and U.S.
commitments to observe international law.
Polish
cardinal supports inquiry of informer priests
WARSAW, Poland (CNS) -- Polish Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz of Krakow has
apologized for priests who were informers for the communist secret police
and promised to “uncover the whole truth” about clergy collaboration.
A Krakow archdiocesan commission has urged local priests to atone publicly
if they had been communist informers..
Episcopal
Church elects woman bishop to preside
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The U.S. Episcopal Church elected Bishop Katharine
Jefferts Schori of Nevada, 52, over six other candidates to become the
Episcopal Church’s new presiding bishop. She takes office in November,
when Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold’s term ends. A former professional
marine biologist, Bishop Jefferts Schori has been an Episcopal priest
since 1994 and bishop of the Nevada Diocese since 2001.
In her early childhood she was Catholic, but with her parents she joined
the Episcopal Church when she was about 9.
Knights
of Columbus set new records for donations
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (CNS) -- The Knights of Columbus set new records for
charitable giving and volunteer service hours in 2005, fueled in part
by the massive response to the hurricanes that struck the southern United
States. The Connecticut-based international Catholic men’s group
set total contributions to charity at all levels at $139,711,619, nearly
$4 million more than the previous year.
Arizona
gives tax break for private schools
PHOENIX (CNS) -- A new Arizona law will allow corporations to earmark
part of their state tax money for funding private school scholarships,
providing more students with the opportunity to receive a Catholic education.
The Arizona Corporate Tax Credit, set to begin in July, lets corporations
claim a dollar-for-dollar income tax credit for contributions made to
a student tuition organization.
The corporate tax credit law has a $5 million cap statewide each fiscal
year for five years. There is no cap per corporation. There are more than
50 student tuition organizations, known as STOs, vying for a piece of
the newly available funds.
Pillars
replace barricades in St. Peter’s Square
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Before the hot June sun began beating down on St.
Peter’s Square June 20, workers were guiding heavy red granite pillars
into place on the border between the Vatican and Italy. The pillars, joining
their gray granite ancestors, are part of an “urban decoration”
scheme meant to improve the one really ugly element of St. Peter’s
Square: a fence composed of flimsy metal barricades.
Cardinal
warns against partisan politics threat
LOS ANGELES (CNS) -- Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick sharply warned the
U.S. bishops June 15 that “the intense polarization and bitter battles
of partisan politics may be seeping into (the) broader ecclesial life
of our Catholic people and maybe even of our (bishops’) conference.”
The cardinal said, “We are called to teach the truth, to correct
errors and to call one another to greater faithfulness. However, there
should be no place in the body of Christ for the brutality of partisan
politics, the impugning of motives, or turning differences in pastoral
judgment into fundamental disagreements on principle.”
