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August
6, 2007 • VOL. 45, NO. 14 • Oakland, CA
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Slain
in Afghanistan CNS PHOTO/KOREA POOL,REUTERS |
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Freed
from captivity CNS PHOTO/REUTERS |
Pope says war is ‘useless
slaughter’
LORENZAGO DI CADORE, Italy (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI called for an end
to the “useless slaughter” of war and asked that “the
rule of law” replace the recourse to weapons.
When people succumb “to the temptations of evil” and launch
violent conflicts and wars, “this stupendous garden that is the
world” is opened up to hell, he said. The pope made his appeal for
peace July 22 before reciting the noonday Angelus prayer with thousands
of pilgrims gathered in the main square of this northeastern Italian town
nestled in the Dolomite Alps, where the pope spent his July 9-27 vacation.
Bishops to meet with Congress
on Iraq war
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The U.S. bishops have agreed to meet with a group
of Catholic House Democrats to discuss how to pursue the goal of a “responsible
transition” to end the war in Iraq. They also reiterated their call
for members of Congress and the Bush administration to break the political
stalemate in Washington and “forge bipartisan policies on ways to
bring about a responsible transition and an end to the war.”
“The current situation in Iraq is unacceptable and unsustainable,”
wrote Bishop Thomas G. Wenski of Orlando, Fla., chairman of the bishops’
Committee on International Policy, in a July 17 letter to Rep. Tim Ryan,
D-Ohio.
Wenski’s letter was a response to a June 28 letter Ryan wrote to
Bishop Wenski and Bishop William S. Skylstad of Spokane, Wash., USCCB
president. Ryan’s letter, sent on behalf of himself and 13 other
Catholic House Democrats, urged the bishops to increase their involvement
in efforts to end the war in Iraq.
Stem-cell research still a hot
topic in Congress
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- As the U.S. Senate considers whether to try to override
the presidential veto of a bill permitting federal funding of embryonic
stem-cell research, a new bill in the House of Representatives would promote
stem-cell research and clinical trials that do not involve the destruction
of human embryos.
The Patients First Act, introduced by Republican Rep. J. Randy Forbes
of Virginia and Democratic Rep. Dan Lipinski of Illinois, is supported
by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, according to Richard M. Doerflinger,
deputy director of the USCCB Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities, because
“it will promote stem-cell research that is helping patients now
in clinical trials, or showing real benefits in animal trials.
“The hype and public debate over embryonic stem cells has unfortunately
diverted attention away from medical research that is already working,
using stem cells that pose no moral problem,” he added.
Hebrew Catholics assoc.moves
to St. Louis
ST. LOUIS (CNS) -- The designation Hebrew Catholic may seem incongruous.
But not to David Moss, president of the Association of Hebrew Catholics.
Moss, 65, and his wife, Kathleen, 62, recently moved the organization’s
U.S. headquarters to St. Louis and the association has planned a number
of programs to better explain its message.
“Hebrew is the ethnicity. Our religious observance is Catholic,”
said Moss. “There are tens of thousands of Jews in the Catholic
Church. ... (The association was formed because) it is time once again
for the Jews who entered the Church to come together and live out their
eternal calling, their vocation to give collective witness to the truths
that God has revealed -- first in the Old Covenant, written in the Old
Testament, and then the truth of the New Covenant, the New Testament,”
he said.
The Association of Hebrew Catholics was begun in 1979 in Israel by two
Hebrew Catholics -- Father Elias Friedman, a Discalced Carmelite friar,
and Andrew Scholl, a Holocaust survivor.
Charities hires priest to work
on racial equality
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Precious Blood Father Clarence Williams has been chosen
as Catholic Charities USA’s new director of racial equality and
diversity initiatives. He has been director of black Catholic ministries
in the Archdiocese of Detroit for the last 12 years.
Father Williams is the author of the new book, “Racial Sobriety:
Becoming the Change You Want to See,” as well as “Racial Sobriety:
A Journey From Hurts to Healing” and “Recovery From Everyday
Racisms.” A Cleveland native, he was the first African-American
from that diocese to be ordained.
Catholic universities chosen
for Fulbright
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Jesuit-run Xavier University in Cincinnati and Vincentian-run
DePaul University in Chicago have been selected to participate this fall
in a new exchange program aimed at promoting interfaith cooperation and
community action among diverse groups.
The two Catholic universities are among only 10 universities chosen nationwide
to take part in the Fulbright Interfaith Community Action Program, created
by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural
Affairs. The program will provide a multinational group of religious leaders,
scholars and community leaders from diverse backgrounds with a semester-long
U.S. exchange period.
Tribunal clears priest who confessed
to abuse
BOGOTA, Colombia (CNS) -- A Colombian Catholic Church tribunal has cleared
a priest who confessed to sexually abusing seminarians -- including some
in the United States -- decades ago.
The Ecclesiastical Tribunal of Bogota ruled July 23 that both the Church’s
and the civil court’s statutes of limitations had expired, “totally
exempting” Father Efrain Rozo Rincon from prosecution. The tribunal
also found that Father Rozo deserved a “presumption of innocence.”
The tribunal praised Father Rozo for “promoting for almost 50 years
a modern and active apostolate with students and youths through sports”
and pointed out that “there have not been formal accusations of
incorrect behavior in this court.”
Last October, Father Rozo confessed on tape to U.S. lawyers representing
his nephew, Ernesto Rozo, who sued the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, where
some of the alleged abuses occurred. Father Rozo was assigned to Los Angeles
and worked at Loyola Marymount University, 1967-69. Father Rozo admitted
to abusing a seminary student and his nephew 40 years ago. In the U.S.
civil case, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles agreed to compensate Ernesto
Rozo.
Alabama Catholic school to be
in exchange
SPANISH FORT, Ala. (CNS) -- St. Benedict Catholic School in Elberta has
been selected to host a native Chinese teacher for the 2007-08 academic
year as part of a new effort to bring the Mandarin language and Chinese
culture to young Americans. The teacher, Wang Zhenghai, is expected to
arrive Aug. 12.
The school is the first Catholic elementary school in the nation and the
only school in Alabama to be selected by the College Board for the exchange.
Conference investigates elected
bishop of Beijing
HONG KONG (CNS) -- The government-sanctioned Bishops’ Conference
of the Catholic Church of China has begun its investigation of the elected
bishop candidate for the Beijing Diocese. Beijing-born Father Joseph Li
Shan, 42, received the most votes in the July 16 diocesan election for
a candidate to succeed the late Bishop Michael Fu Tieshan of Beijing.
Father Paul Sun Shang’en, who has been in charge of diocesan affairs
since Bishop Fu died April 20, told the Asian church news agency UCA News
July 19 that the diocese has reported the election result to the bishops’
conference for its approval. When asked if the diocese would also apply
to the Holy See, he responded that this would be difficult, because China
and the Vatican have no official diplomatic relations.
