Retired bishop new president in Paraguay
Winning candidates for vice president and president
in Paraguay, Federico Franco, left, and retired Catholic Bishop Fernando
Lugo Mendez, celebrate their victory in front of the Pantheon of the
Heroes in Asuncion April 20. Their victory ended more than 60 years
of one-party rule. Lugo had nearly 41 percent support, a lead of 10
percentage points over ruling party candidate Blanca Ovelar.
CNS PHOTO/JORGE ADORNO/REUTERS
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Homeless occupy basilica
Children play cards inside the Basilica of Our
Lady of Mount Carmel in Naples, Italy, April 22. A group of 348 homeless
people, including 115 children, occupied the historic basilica, demanding
government officials find them permanent public housing. They left
the basilica April 26 under police orders and were taken to temporary
shelter in an unused post office.
CNS PHOTO/DAIRO PIGNATELLI/REUTERS |
Assisi institutes ban on begging
ASSISI, Italy (CNS) — Assisi — the birthplace of St. Francis,
saint of the poor — has instituted a ban on begging. Mayor Claudio
Ricci has signed an ordinance that prohibits begging within 500 meters
(550 yards) of any church, square or public building — a decree
that effectively makes the entire hill town off-limits to beggars.
Ricci said he instituted the ban after numerous complaints from pilgrims,
tourists and citizens about aggressive and insistent forms of begging
outside the city’s medieval churches. “The phenomenon was
reaching proportions that went far beyond the poor beggar who occasionally
asks for charity. This has become an organized and profitable activity,”
Ricci said.
Conventual Franciscan Father Vincenzo Coli, the custodian of the Basilica
of St. Francis of Assisi, said the mayor’s action may be a good
thing. St. Francis sometimes begged alms to share the experience of the
poor, but said this should be done only when it was not possible to support
oneself through work, Father Coli said.
Calls for justice after murder in Amazon
PUERTO MALDONADO, Peru (CNS) — The recent murder of a local government
official who was killed when he tried to stop a truckload of illegal timber
has prompted Church leaders to call for justice and better stewardship
of Peru’s southeastern Amazon region.
In a statement issued after a pastoral meeting in mid-April, Bishop Francisco
Gonzalez Hernandez of Puerto Maldonado, priests, sisters and lay Church
workers called on the government to investigate the murder of Julio Garcia
Agapito, “so this case does not go unpunished, like so many others.”
Garcia was shot eight times Feb. 26 as he sat in the office of the National
Institute of Natural Resources in Alerta, a small town near the border
with Bolivia. He had been called to help with the inspection of a truckload
of timber that apparently had been brought into Peru illegally from Bolivia.
During the inspection, the driver tried to escape with the truck. While
police were chasing him, the gunman, whom witnesses identified as a relative
of the driver, killed Garcia and fled. He has not been arrested.
Liturgical renewal called ‘irreversible path’
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Liturgical renewal launched by the Second Vatican
Council is an “irreversible path” and has not been affected
by Pope Benedict XVI’s concession on wider use of the Tridentine
rite, said Archbishop Piero Marini, who arranged papal liturgies for more
than 20 years. “His gesture was only one of service to unity.”
The pope’s decree “does not intend to introduce modifications
on the current Roman Missal or express a negative judgment on the liturgical
reform desired by the council,” he said.
Archbishop Marini said his own experience in organizing papal liturgies
in more than 100 countries has convinced him that the liturgical reform
movement has brought overwhelmingly positive results.
Traditionalists won’t reconcile with Vatican
ROME (CNS) — The head of the traditionalist Society of St. Pius
X, Bishop Bernard Fellay, said the time is not right for reconciliation
with the Vatican, despite expanded freedom to use the Tridentine rite.
The reason, Bishop Fellay said, is that the liturgical move has not been
accompanied by other measures aimed at reversing the “crisis”
introduced by the Second Vatican Council.
Bishop Fellay repeated the society’s frequent accusation that Vatican
II introduced a mistaken vision of the Church that is evident in the modern
Church’s relationship with the world, with other religions and with
states. He said the society “rejoices” that Pope Benedict
XVI has allowed wider use of the preconciliar Tridentine rite, but said
resistance among bishops to the older rite has been “at times brutal.”
Papal medallion features Capitol, U.N.
WASHINGTON (CNS) — People who had the opportunity to greet Pope
Benedict XVI personally during his U.S. visit received a special bronze
commemorative medallion featuring a bas-relief of a bust of the pope on
the front.
On the obverse are bas-reliefs of the U.S. Capitol on the right, commemorating
the Washington leg of his visit, and of the U.N. building in New York
on the left, with the U.N. logo superimposed over it, to mark his U.S.
stop in New York.
Pope Benedict distributed the medallions to those chosen to greet him
at a variety of venues during his April 15-20 trip to the U.S.
Bill amended to protect religious criticism of gays
LONDON (CNS) — British legislators have voted into the Criminal
Justice and Immigration Bill a clause to ensure that people are not prosecuted
for criticisms based on their beliefs about homosexual lifestyles. The
House of Lords voted April 21 for the amendment to the bill that Catholic
and Anglican leaders said would have stopped Christians from expressing
their beliefs about marriage and family.
The amendment said that “the discussion or criticism of sexual conduct
or practices or the urging of persons to refrain from or modify such conduct
or practices shall not be taken of itself to be threatening or intended
to stir up hatred.” The amendment must pass the House of Commons
before it becomes law later this year.
USF honors entrepreneur who helps relief groups
SAN FRANCISCO (CNS) — Lynn C. Fritz, a San Francisco entrepreneur
with a mission to help aid agencies speed relief to the neediest victims
of natural disasters, is the recipient of the first California Prize for
Service and the Common Good established by the University of San Francisco.
The prize from the Jesuit-run university comes with a $10,000 award and
a handcrafted medal.
The university wanted to honor an individual who is a product of Jesuit
education and who exemplifies the ideals of Jesuit education. Fritz is
a graduate of St. Ignatius College Preparatory in San Francisco and Georgetown
University in Washington.
Roadside bomb kills Sri Lankan priest
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (CNS) — A Jaffna diocesan priest active in promoting
human rights was killed April 20 by a roadside bomb on the way back to
his church after celebrating Mass in a parish substation. Father Mariampillai
Xavier Karunaratnam was driving the car and reportedly died instantly
of head wounds in the explosion. The jungle area is under the control
of the rebel group the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. Both government
forces and the Tamil rebels have denied responsibility for the priest’s
death.
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