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December
11, 2006
VOL.
44, NO. 22Oakland,
CA
 |
Grief
in Lebanon |
 |
Maryknoll
orphanage |
L.A.
Archdiocese settles 45 sex abuse cases
LOS ANGELES (CNS) -- The $60 million settlement of 45 cases in which clergy
had been accused of sexual abuse is “fair and just,” Cardinal
Roger M. Mahony of Los Angeles said Dec. 1. The archdiocese said its share
of the settlement was about $40 million, with the remainder covered by
insurance companies or religious orders.
In a statement, the cardinal also termed the settlement “a positive
step forward in the Church’s efforts to promote healing and reconciliation
for those who have suffered abuse by members of the clergy.”
He also made a personal apology to all victims of abuse by a priest, religious
or deacon in the archdiocese. “The sexual abuse of minors is both
a sin and a crime, and there is no place in the priesthood for those who
have abused children,” he added.
Pediatrician
given $1 million Opus Prize
NOTRE DAME, Ind. (CNS) -- Dr. Zilda Arns Neumann, a 63-year-old pediatrician
in Brazil, has received the $1 million Opus Prize from the University
of Notre Dame president. In 1983 she founded Pastoral da Crianca (Pastoral
of the Child) to address the health issues of women, children and families.
Utilizing the country’s strong Catholic infrastructure and made
up of more than 264,000 volunteers, Pastoral da Crianca promotes faith
and knowledge with an emphasis on the community as family.
Pope
saddened by illicit Chinese ordinations
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI was deeply saddened by the Nov.
30 ordination of a Chinese bishop without Vatican approval, an act that
can further fracture the Catholic community in mainland China.
The Vatican said officials found out at “the last minute”
about plans to ordain Father Wang Renlei, 36, as coadjutor bishop of Xuzhou,
China, at the diocese’s Sacred Heart of Jesus Cathedral. Still,
Vatican officials did what they could “so that this act, which would
have produced a new laceration in the ecclesial community, would not come
about,” the Vatican said in a Dec. 2 statement. The new bishop and
the bishops who ordained him face automatic excommunication if they acted
of their own free will.
Bishops
call for peace after president is sworn in
MEXICO CITY (CNS) -- The Mexican bishops have called for peace and reconciliation
between Mexico’s political factions and citizens following the contested
swearing-in ceremony of Mexican President Felipe Calderon.
They also called for progress in relieving poverty, combating organized
crime, reducing corruption and improving education. Cardinal Norberto
Rivera Carrera of Mexico City said Dec. 3 the new president needs help
if these problems are to be solved. “It’s the work of all
Mexicans; a president of the republic can’t just wave a magic wand
to transform our reality,” he said following Mass in the Metropolitan
Cathedral in Mexico City. “It requires us all.”
Computer
games designed for religious education
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Two Catholic publishers have announced the launch
of new educational video and computer games designed to make learning
about the Catholic faith and the Bible more fun.
“Classroom Jeopardy! Catholic Edition” -- developed in cooperation
with the makers of the award-winning television show -- is now available
from the Pflaum Publishing Group. “Gospel Champions,” a new
series of educational computer games based on the Gospel readings, resulted
from a partnership of Catholic publisher Silver Burdett Ginn Religion
with Third Day Games. The games can be used in traditional Catholic classrooms
or in parish religious education, catechist formation and confirmation
programs or for retreats, community events, family game nights, church
festivals or fundraising activities.
Vouchers
barred in Maine religious schools
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- A ruling upholding a school voucher program’s
exclusion of religious schools was allowed to stand Nov. 27 by the Supreme
Court. By declining to review Maine’s voucher law, the court let
stand a bar on vouchers being used at religious schools. Prior to 1980,
students in small Maine towns with no high schools could use tuition vouchers
to attend the secondary school of their choice, including religious ones.
In 1980 the state attorney general said the policy violated the U.S. Constitution’s
Establishment Clause separating church and state, and in 1983 the state
Legislature codified the decision, eliminating religious schools from
the program.
Currently about 17,000 Maine students in 145 small towns use vouchers
to attend public and private high schools in the state and out of state.
The Maine Supreme Judicial Court in April ruled the restrictions are constitutionally
valid because they stem from the Legislature’s desire to comply
with the Constitution, not from religious hostility.
Polish
bishops to probe communist infiltration
WARSAW, Poland (CNS) -- The Polish bishops’ conference has launched
a historical commission to investigate the infiltration by communist agents
in the Church. Auxiliary Bishop Piotr Libera, general secretary of the
Polish bishops’ conference, said the bishops would approve “competent
experts” to help the commission, which will be chaired by a former
constitutional court judge. The commission will rely on Poland’s
National Remembrance Institute, which controls access to former police
files..
Philbin
wins $50,000 for Catholic school
NEW YORK (CNS) -- Cardinal Hayes High School in the Bronx has an extra
$50,000 to put into its current capital campaign, thanks to TV talk-show
host Regis Philbin, the school’s best-known alumnus. Philbin was
a guest on “Celebrity Jeopardy” and answered the winning question
in the “Final Jeopardy” round.
Court
asked to rehear case on contraceptives
ALBANY, N.Y. (CNS) -- Claiming that New York’s highest state court
erred on several counts in upholding a state mandate that would require
religious organizations to provide contraceptive prescription coverage
for their employees, eight Catholic and two Protestant groups have asked
the New York Court of Appeals to rehear the case. The court’s Oct.
19 decision also failed to consider that the “practical impact”
of the legislation could be the opposite of the law’s intended effect,
by providing an incentive for religious employers to cancel prescription
coverage altogether, the groups said. motion said.
Islamic
studies find niche at Catholic colleges
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Demand for university classes on Islam has increased
in recent years and Catholic colleges are keeping pace by offering individual
courses and seminars on Islam, advanced degree programs in Islamic studies,
and campus centers aimed to promote Muslim-Christian understanding.
Some campuses are also providing a prayer room or campus mosque so Muslim
students can pray five times a day. At Georgetown University in Washington,
Muslim students also can speak regularly with an imam since the school
became the first American university to hire a full-time Muslim chaplain
seven years ago.
Although there are no accurate figures on the number of Muslim students
at Catholic colleges, the numbers have gone up in recent years, according
to administrators who have seen more students participate in campus-sponsored
associations for Muslim students.
Santa
Rosa bishop to undergo counseling
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Bishop Daniel F. Walsh of Santa Rosa agreed Nov. 20
to enroll in a diversion counseling program in lieu of facing possible
criminal charges for his delay in reporting allegations that one of his
priests sexually abused a minor. Bishop Walsh publicly apologized for
failing to report the alleged abuse to authorities immediately and said
he would accept “whatever punishment is imposed.”
Bethlehem
hospital is beacon of hope
Holy Family Hospital of Bethlehem, designated by Pope John Paul II as
one of his top 100 projects of the new millennium, is a beacon of hope
for Palestinian women in desperate need of healthcare.
Considered the pre-eminent provider of medical services in the Holy Land,
the hospital treats poor and destitute mothers and babies of the Bethlehem
region. It is the only obstetrical/gynecological facility in the region
that can handle the complicated medical conditions of women living in
extreme poverty and under the shadow of political strife.
Women in high risk pregnancies can also receive long-term care there.
The facility, which serves some 22,000 woman and children each year, has
the only neo-natal intensive care unit in the area.
