Former Oakland bishop receives pallium
Pope Benedict XVI greets Archbishop Allen Vigneron of Detroit after
presenting a pallium to him during a Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica
at the Vatican June 29. During the Mass, 34 archbishops from 20 countries
knelt before the pope and received a pallium, a woolen band worn around
their shoulders as a sign of their authority and their responsibility
as shepherds. Archbishop Vigneron is a former bishop of Oakland.
CNS PHOTO/L’OSSERVATORE
ROMANO |
 |
 |
Mass
wedding
in Manila
Newly married couples kiss during a mass wedding ceremony at a Catholic
church in Manila, Philippines, June 19. The city government sponsored
the wedding in the largely Catholic country.
CNS PHOTO/ROMEO RANOCO/REUTERS |
Pope to meet Obama July 10 in
Rome
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Benedict XVI will welcome U.S. President
Barack Obama to the Vatican July 10 for an audience. Obama will visit
Italy July 8-10 to participate in the Group of Eight summit in L’Aquila,
site of a devastating earthquake in April. It is not clear whether Miguel
Diaz, a theology professor tapped by Obama to be the new U.S. ambassador
to the Holy See, will be present for the papal meeting.
Bishop, donors sue nuns who closed high school
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (CNS) — Sacra-mento Bishop Jaime Soto and a group
of Loretto High School donors in Sacramento are suing the religious order
that closed the all-girls school in June. The bishop and seven other donors
contend in the lawsuit, filed June 10 in Sacramento Superior Court against
Loretto High School and the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary, that
the religious order wants to use proceeds from the sale of the school
to help fund their retirement at their motherhouse in Wheaton, Ill., rather
than keep the money in Sacramento for Catholic education.
The lawsuit does not seek to stop the sale of Loretto High School to a
charter school. The plaintiffs are asking the court to hold the proceeds
of the school’s sale and assign an arbitrator to determine how to
allocate the money.
Dialogue sought after Notre Dame controversy
WASHINGTON (CNS) — In the wake of the University of Notre Dame controversy
involving President Barack Obama delivering its 2009 commencement address,
some U.S. bishops and Catholic university presidents are preparing for
dialogue aimed at reaching a consensus about speakers on their campuses.
During the early June conference of the Association of Catholic Colleges
and Universities’ board of directors in San Diego, the governing
body of the group said they would like to see the U.S. bishops revisit
their 2004 statement “Catholics in Political Life,” which
says it’s inappropriate for Catholic institutions to honor or provide
a platform to someone who holds positions contrary to the teachings of
the Church.
Two bishops attending the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ spring
meeting in San Antonio told the National Catholic Reporter June 17 they
also see a need for dialogue with the U.S. Catholic university presidents
about this issue, and perhaps revisit the bishops’ 2004 statement.
10,000 migrants kidnapped in Mexico
MEXICO CITY (CNS) — A nun who works on migration issues for Mexico’s
bishops said she was not surprised by a report from Mexico’s National
Human Rights Commission that nearly 10,000 undocumented migrants traveling
through Mexico on their way to the United States were kidnapped over a
six-month period. Scalabrini Sister Leticia Gutierrez, executive secretary
of the Mexican bishops’ human mobility ministry, said Church officials’
research and interviews with migrants contributed to the report released
June 15.
Those working with migrants report that migrants are being targeted by
criminal groups — including many with ties to powerful narcotics-trafficking
cartels — who kidnap them and demand ransoms from relatives living
in either the United States or the migrants’ home countries. Sixty-seven
percent of the victims were from Honduras, while nearly 90 percent of
the victims were apprehended by “organized groups.”
Dominican nun vows to remain in Iraq
WASHINGTON (CNS) — Despite growing numbers of Iraqi Christians fleeing
their country to escape the violence and persecution, an Iraqi Dominican
nun says she will remain in her country. “I am committed to staying
in Iraq for those who remain: the poor, the vulnerable, the widows and
their children,” Sister Maria Hanna said during a visit to Washington
D.C to give Catholic agencies and organizations an update on current conditions
in the country. She has set goals to build schools and hospitals for those
remaining in Iraq and to give hope to all Iraqis.
Spanish bishops oppose abortion legislation
WASHINGTON (CNS) — Spain’s Catholic bishops have criticized
legislation that would liberalize the country’s abortion laws, calling
the bill “a very serious danger for the common good. The bill, expected
to be considered by the parliament in July, would allow girls as young
as 16 to terminate a pregnancy without parental consent. It also would
allow abortions to be performed without restrictions up to the 14th week
of pregnancy.
Principles ok’d for decisions on unions
WASHINGTON (CNS) — After more than two years of consultations, leaders
from Catholic health care, the labor movement and the U.S. bishops’
conference have agreed on a set of principles designed to ensure a fair
process as health care workers decide whether to join a union. A 12-page
document laying out the principles, titled “Respecting the Just
Rights of Workers: Guidance and Options for Catholic Health Care and Unions,”
was made public June 22.
“The heart of this unusual consensus is that it’s up to workers
— not bishops, hospital managers or union leaders — to decide
. . . whether or not to be represented by a union and if so,
which union, in the workplace,” said Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick,
retired archbishop of Washington and a participant in the consultations.
12 million trapped in human trafficking
WASHINGTON (CNS) — Efforts to combat global human trafficking suffered
setbacks last year, in part because a bad global economy left more people
vulnerable to traffickers, a new report says. The U.S. Department of State
released its 2009 Trafficking in Persons report June 16. According to
the report, an estimated 12.3 million people are currently trapped in
some form of modern-day slavery.
The report cited the international economic crisis as a driving factor
in the rise of human trafficking. Rising unemployment rates and falling
incomes have left desperate workers vulnerable to manipulation by human
traffickers, particularly in underdeveloped countries.
World’s hungry reach one billion mark
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — New statistics show that a record 1 billion
people — about one in every six — were suffering from chronic
hunger in the wake of the economic crisis. The rate is much higher in
Africa, where about one in four people suffers from chronic hunger.
Army chaplain dies after injuries in Iraq
ST. PAUL, Minn. (CNS) — Father H. Timothy Vakoc, a Minnesota priest
who was reportedly the first Army chaplain to be gravely injured in the
Iraq War, died June 20 at a nursing home. He was 49 and held the rank
of major. Ordained in 1992 as a priest of the St. Paul and Minneapolis
Archdiocese, he served in two parishes before joining the Army full time
in 1996.
In May 2004, Father Vakoc’s Humvee was hit by a roadside bomb while
he was returning to his barracks after saying Mass for soldiers on the
12th anniversary of his ordination. He suffered severe head injuries,
including the loss of his left eye and brain damage.
Paying women for eggs called ‘grossly unethical’
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (CNS) — An official of the New York State Catholic
Conference has criticized as “grossly unethical, dangerous and exploitative”
a plan that allows state funds to be paid to women who donate their eggs
for research purposes. The move was approved June 11 by the Empire State
Stem Cell Board, which oversees $600 million in New York taxpayer funds
earmarked for stem-cell research.
Kathleen Gallagher, director of pro-life activities for the conference,
which represents the state’s bishops in public-policy matters, said
the plan “treats women’s body parts as commodities.”
back
to top
home
|
