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Merrimack, N.H., Feb 7, 2012 / 01:06 am (<a href="http://www.catholicnewsagency.com" target="_self">CNA</a>).- The HHS contraception mandate puts Catholic college and university presidents in peril because it forces them to choose between obeying the law and disowning their Catholic faith which they have sworn to uphold, Thomas More College President William Edmund Fahey said. Fahey said  in a Feb. 2 letter to New Hampshire’s legislators in Congress that each year he and his college’s faculty profess an oath to follow the Catholic bishops “with Christian obedience” and that the bishops are speaking with “one voice” against the mandate. “I will stand by my oath and with my bishops. I hope that in so doing I will not be forced to stand against my own country,” he said in a Feb. 2 letter to Sens. Kelly Ayotte and Jeanne Shaheen and Rep. Frank C. Guinta. “Is such a dilemma now to become the norm for men and women of conscience and religious faith within the United States of America?” The New Hampshire Catholic college president’s letter adds to the many responses to the Jan. 20 Department of Health and Human Services’ announcement of a final rule that mandates that employers provide “preventive care” insurance coverage for sterilization and contraception, including an early abortion-causing drug. The mandate’s narrow religious exemption does not include most Catholic health care systems, charities and educational institutions. Bishop Peter Libasci of Manchester, N.H. responded to the mandate in a Jan. 26 letter saying “we cannot – we will not – comply with this unjust law.” Fahey characterized the Obama administration’s actions as “an insult to and direct attack against long-standing practices of the Roman Catholic Church.” The mandate “calls into question the administration’s willingness or ability to work within the western tradition of constitutional and natural law principles.” The requirement “chiefly targets Roman Catholics,” he charged. Because the mandate requires a Catholic community to violate its faith in order to provide medical benefits, it “effectively prevents the full practice of its religion.” “No public case was ever made; no public consensus called for this mandate. Its introduction clearly creates an undue burden without any sign of compelling interest.” The depiction of birth control, sterilization and abortion-inducing drugs as health care is also false, he stated. Human life and pregnancy are not diseases to be prevented and the “beauty and goodness of human sexuality” should not be reduced to “an individual, utilitarian and dangerous act.” “Human life itself is now placed into a category of social burden, which the government now claims the competence and authority to control and define,” he continued. “Human life itself, by being put under the same category as heart disease, cancer, or syphilis, becomes a threat to health. By promoting this mandate, the (HHS) Department plays a treacherous game with language and the very meaning of health.” Fahey urged members of Congress to eliminate the mandate. “I hope that you will see that the mandate attempts to force self-identified and faithfully Catholic organizations to compromise central tenets of their belief or drop health care coverage for their employees,” Fahey told the legislators. “Furthermore, I hope that you will see that the mandate undermines the Constitution, compromises the integrity of the government, and abuses the foundational principle that free associations form an essential part of the social fabric of the United States.” <div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/catholicnewsagency/dailynews?a=2PkLB0e9L8g:NeXndoMj8Lo:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/catholicnewsagency/dailynews?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/catholicnewsagency/dailynews/~4/2PkLB0e9L8g" height="1" width="1"/>

Kmiec rebukes Obama, may withdraw endorsement for 2012

Washington D.C., Feb 6, 2012 / 07:18 pm (<a href="http://www.catholicnewsagency.com" target="_self">CNA</a>).- Professor Doug Kmiec, a Catholic supporter of Barack Obama in the 2008 election, has rebuked the president, saying he may withdraw his endorsement over the federal contraception coverage mandate.   “Where is the common good, sir, in not making room for the great Catholic traditions of education, health care, and meeting the needs of the least among us?” Kmiec asked the president in a letter he made public Feb. 6 through the website Catholic Online. On the same day, the Washington, D.C. newspaper The Hill published excerpts of an e-mail from Kmiec saying he was “now unhappily without a candidate,” until he could “have an opportunity to speak with the president” about Health and Human Services' new rules on contraception coverage. “This matter goes to the heart of who we are as a people,” Kmiec stated in his letter to the president, as he went on to ask why Obama would “put the cold calculus of politics above faith and freedom.” The Pepperdine University professor, who served as U.S. ambassador to Malta from 2009 to 2011, suggested the president was forcing him to choose between “friendship” and his “duty to faith and country.” “The Barack Obama I knew would never have asked me to make that choice,” he wrote. On Jan. 20, Health and Human Services finalized rules on “preventive services,” which will take effect under the health care law signed by President Obama. Over 160 U.S. Catholic bishops have spoken out against the mandate, which will require religious employers to cover contraception and sterilization. An exemption exists only for institutions that primarily work to “inculcate religious values” and mainly employ and serve members of their own faith. In his e-mail to The Hill, Kmiec said he was left wondering, “Why exactly did we not walk down a path that would have led to common ground – namely, coverage without ethical objection? “That’s what I need answered before deciding on 2012,” he wrote. The former Maltese ambassador said he found it “most troubling to be tossed into this dilemma,” since he remains “very proud of the president’s success on the healthcare initiative” and other issues. Both Kmiec's letter to the president, and his e-mail to The Hill, show a stronger opposition to the mandate than he had previously expressed in the run-up to the final rule. During 2011, the former ambassador had called for a broader religious exemption, while simultaneously maintaining that even a universal mandate would not infringe on religious freedom. In a Nov. 22 National Catholic Reporter column, he said there was “no violation of religious liberty when HHS announces a temporary or permanent regulation requiring all employers – religious or nonreligious, Catholic or not – to provide employees with an insurance benefit for artificial contraception.” Religious freedom, Kmiec said in that essay, would only have been violated if the department had “demanded a religious employer to affirmatively endorse or require the use of artificial contraception or any other choice contrary to its own teaching.” A vast majority of the U.S. bishops, however, have declared that the rule violates the Church's rights over its own ministries. While Kmiec stopped short of explicitly reversing his past defense of the mandate, his rebuke of the president contained strong words on the topic of religious freedom. Kmiec said the president's profession of faith at the Feb. 3 National Prayer Breakfast had “touched neither soul nor heart in the room,” coming just two weeks after his administration finalized the contraception rule over the objections of Catholics and others. “In deciding against a reasonable accommodation of Catholic concerns in the implementation of the health care program, you lost sight of your own beliefs … The polite, but tepid applause this morning was a sign of concern that you have lost your way on this most essential topic.” Kmiec warned the president that he had “already lost the votes” of many “people of independent mind.” A self-described pro-life Catholic and Republican, Kmiec served as a constitutional legal counsel to Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush. He caused controversy in 2008 by endorsing Barack Obama, arguing that his policies could reduce abortion without making it illegal. Kmiec had previously worked as an adviser to Mitt Romney during his bid for the 2008 Republican nomination, until Romney's withdrawal from the race. In a February 2008 Slate column, Kmiec noted that Romney had spoken out “in defense of the best traditions of religious liberty” during his campaign. <div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/catholicnewsagency/dailynews?a=a8TVCgVg95k:ns-QJs28cUw:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/catholicnewsagency/dailynews?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/catholicnewsagency/dailynews/~4/a8TVCgVg95k" height="1" width="1"/>

Longstanding racketeering lawsuit against Vatican dismissed

Jackson, Miss., Feb 6, 2012 / 06:33 pm (<a href="http://www.catholicnewsagency.com" target="_self">CNA/EWTN News</a>).- A federal court’s dismissal “with prejudice” of a 2002 lawsuit by five U.S. state commissioners against the Holy See shows the Vatican had “nothing to do” with a multi-million dollar criminal scheme against insurance companies, the Holy See’s U.S. attorney Jeffrey Lena said. The suit charged that the Holy See had engaged in criminal fraud and racketeering in violation of federal law. The allegations against the Holy See “make good fodder for conspiracy theorists,” said Lena, who added that journalists who “enthusiastically” publicized the allegations should “write with equal vigor upon the cases’ demise.” State insurance regulators sued the Holy See for $600 million in 2002 in connection with the actions of financier Martin Frankel. Frankel and his co-conspirators allegedly acquired several insurance companies from 1991 to 1999 in Mississippi, Tennessee, Missouri, Oklahoma and Arkansas and illegally used the companies’ money for his own gain. The Vatican was first approached by Frankel’s associates under the false pretense that Frankel, who used the pseudonym “David Rosse,” was a wealthy U.S. financier who wanted to donate millions of dollars to the Church to help the poor, Lena said in a Feb. 2 statement. Frankel proposed the creation and funding of a charitable foundation in the Vatican, allegedly intending to use the foundation in an ongoing scheme to buy insurance companies and illegally exploit them. “The Holy See categorically rejected the notion that ‘Rosse’ could ever create a Vatican foundation,” Lena said, citing a 1998 letter from then-Holy See Secretary of State Cardinal Angelo Sodano which said no such foundation could ever be created. Frankel then created a false foundation in the British Virgin Islands named the St. Francis of Assisi Foundation to Serve and Help the Poor and Alleviate Suffering. He claimed the organization was affiliated with the Holy See and that John Paul II had personally authorized the funding. According to Lena, the Vatican never received any money from Frankel. “Through these machinations, the Holy See became the unwitting victim of Frankel’s fraud, which sought to trade on the Holy See’s name and reputation to continue to purchase and loot insurance companies,” the attorney commented. Lena said the lawsuit was filed despite the fact that the Holy See never received money from Frankel. The lawsuit was not dismissed because of a settlement agreement, he added. Rather, the insurance commissioners filed for dismissal of their own accord. “As today’s dismissal with prejudice shows, the state insurance regulators’ decision to sue the Holy See for Frankel’s crimes was unsupported by the evidence,” said Lena, who reported that before the lawsuit was filed two government investigations concluded that state insurance regulators had allowed Frankel’s scheme to continue uninterrupted. Lena suggested that state regulators sued the Holy See despite the findings of the U.S. Government Accounting Office and the Tennessee Comptroller that they bore “much of the blame” for allowing the scheme to continue. <div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/catholicnewsagency/dailynews?a=jv2JHZRA6kU:VXB9m3PJ5h8:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/catholicnewsagency/dailynews?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/catholicnewsagency/dailynews/~4/jv2JHZRA6kU" height="1" width="1"/>

Cardinal warns Honduran president of increasing violence

Tegucigalpa, Honduras, Feb 6, 2012 / 06:07 pm (<a href="http://www.catholicnewsagency.com" target="_self">CNA</a>).- Cardinal Oscar Andres Rodriguez of Tegucigalpa urged Honduran president Porfirio Lobo to recognize the widespread violence and growing poverty afflicting the country. “Our homeland is bleeding painfully,” he said on Feb. 3, “because of the ferocious violence, because of the growing poverty and lack of respect for life, the breakdown of the family, corruption in the police force, the impact of the drug trade subculture, unstoppable migration and religious confusion.” Cardinal Maradiaga made his comments during the celebration of the 265th anniversary of the discovery of Our Lady of Suyapa, the patroness of Honduras. President Lobo, as well as other government officials, took part in the event. “We must not be overcome by evil, but rather we must overcome evil with good,” the cardinal noted during his remarks. “We cannot live in fear and held hostage in our own homes, tormented by a collective psychosis consisting of fear, insomnia, nightmares and mourning.” Honduras is becoming one of the most violent countries in Central America and one of the most dangerous for journalists, according to the organization Reporters without Borders. Since Lobo took office in January of 2010, more than 17 journalists have been killed. Over 6,700 people were murdered in Honduras from January to December of 2011, according to data from the National Autonomous University of Honduras. Despite this, Cardinal Maradiaga said Honduras is not “the worst country” or “the most violent,” but he said the country needs to recover its “legitimate self-esteem, knowing that the majority of the Honduran people want what is good and want to respect life.” <div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/catholicnewsagency/dailynews?a=LmGxbx2t1GE:bhequ9PdhWE:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/catholicnewsagency/dailynews?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/catholicnewsagency/dailynews/~4/LmGxbx2t1GE" height="1" width="1"/>

Pope appoints new bishop of Salina, Kansas

Salina, Kan., Feb 6, 2012 / 04:16 pm (<a href="http://www.catholicnewsagency.com" target="_self">CNA/EWTN News</a>).- Pope Benedict XVI has named Oklahoma priest Msgr. Edward John Weisenburger as the new bishop of Salina, Kansas. Bishop-elect Weisenburger, 51, will succeed former Salina Bishop Paul S. Coakely, who was named Archbishop of Oklahoma City on Dec. 16. The bishop-elect is presently the vicar general of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City and the rector of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Cathedral. He served as an on-site chaplain for rescue workers at the site of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City after the April 19, 1995 bombing that killed 168 people. He was born in Alton, Ill. on Dec. 23, 1960. His father was a military officer and his mother was a homemaker. He spent two years of his childhood in Hays, Kan. but grew up in Lawton, Okla. The bishop-elect attended Conception Seminary College in Conception, Mo. and the American College Seminary at the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium. He was ordained to the priesthood in December 1987, after which he received a pontifical degree in canon law from the University of St. Paul in Ottawa, Canada. He has served as pastor of Holy Trinity Parish in Okarche, Okla. and as promoter of justice for the cause of canonization of Servant of God Fr. Stanley Francis Rother. He has also worked in prison ministry and served on the archdiocesan tribunal for 20 years. In October 2009, he was appointed a prelate of honor by Pope Benedict XVI and given the title reverend monsignor. He enjoys reading and occasional travel. The bishop-elect’s mother died in 1998, while his father resides in Oklahoma City. He has two sisters, a brother, and several nieces and nephews. The date of his episcopal ordination and installation as Bishop of Salina will be announced in the near future. The Diocese of Salina has over 48,000 Catholics in a population of 342,000. There are 76 priests in the diocese, seven permanent deacons, and 167 vowed religious. <div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/catholicnewsagency/dailynews?a=ZoC4zmF3Rwg:TaIlTt-ntj0:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/catholicnewsagency/dailynews?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/catholicnewsagency/dailynews/~4/ZoC4zmF3Rwg" height="1" width="1"/>

Hundreds of Paraguay teachers unite against abortion

Asunción, Paraguay, Feb 6, 2012 / 02:03 pm (<a href="http://www.catholicnewsagency.com" target="_self">CNA</a>).- More than 500 teachers participating in the Catholic Teachers Congress in Paraguay rejected abortion and same-sex unions amid efforts to legalize both in neighboring countries such as Argentina. In his message to the teachers during the Feb. 1-2 event in Asuncion, Archbishop Pastor Cuquejo said that the family is where education begins and where children are formed in their consciences. “For this reason we defend the family made up of one man and one woman, who should do whatever necessary to provide comprehensive well being to their children,” the archbishop said. He added that abortion and same-sex unions undermine the family, which is essential for society to exist and thrive. “If we weaken the family, we weaken society,” Archbishop Cuquejo said. Congress member De los Santos Lima Huerta also weighed in and urged teachers not to give in to new tendencies in the country to impose sexual education on students. He encouraged them to dialogue with students and said parents should take the lead in the education of their children. Families, and not the state or schools, are the primary educators of children, he said. Parents should talk to their children and help them “to learn about their sexuality and not be afraid about confronting today’s situations,” Huerta emphasized. <div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/catholicnewsagency/dailynews?a=YRoxF_aGq8c:jJJvHYPEd2Q:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/catholicnewsagency/dailynews?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/catholicnewsagency/dailynews/~4/YRoxF_aGq8c" height="1" width="1"/>

Vatican City’s government rejects corruption allegations

Vatican City, Feb 6, 2012 / 01:45 pm (<a href="http://www.catholicnewsagency.com" target="_self">CNA/EWTN News</a>).- The body responsible for the governance of the Vatican City State is denying claims of corruption leveled by its former deputy governor, Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò. The allegations were made in private correspondence with Pope Benedict XVI and Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican Secretary of State, in spring 2011, but were only recently leaked to an Italian television station.   “The allegations contained in them cannot but lead to the impression that the Governorate of Vatican City State, instead of being an instrument of responsible government, is an unreliable entity, at the mercy of dark forces,” said an official statement issued Feb. 4. “After careful examination of the contents of the two letters, the President of the Governorate sees it as its duty to publicly declare that those assertions are the result of erroneous assessments, or fears based on unsubstantiated evidence and are even openly contradicted by the main characters invoked as witnesses.” The statement is signed by four leading figures involved in the running of the governorate, including the current president, Cardinal-designate Joseph Bertello, and his predecessor, Cardinal Giovanni Lajolo. The Governorate of Vatican City State is the department responsible for such things as the buildings, maintenance, gardens and museums within the world’s smallest sovereign state. Archbishop Viganò was second-in-command between July 2009 and September 2011. Since October 2011 he has been the papal nuncio to the United States. In the leaked letters, which the Vatican has confirmed are authentic, Archbishop Viganò claimed nepotism and mismanagement were rife within the city-state. In an April 4 letter to Pope Benedict, he alleged that a small number of Italian businesses were gaining the majority of contracts and then billing the Vatican at inflated prices.   “Work was always given to the same companies at costs at least double compared to those charged outside the Vatican,” he told the Pope. The archbishop gave the example of the annual nativity scene that is built in St. Peter’s Square. His due diligence, he claimed, reduced the cost from $ 718,000 in 2009 to $392,000 in 2010. He also criticized an unofficial group of Italian bankers, known as the Finance and Management Committee, who advise the Vatican City State on financial matters. In his April 4 letter, he claimed their involvement “resulted more in their own interests than ours,” and said that one recommended transaction “made us lose two and a half million dollars.” During the two-year tenure of Archbishop Viganò, the governorate’s balance sheet went from running a deficit of $9.8 million in 2009 to a surplus of $28 million in 2010.   In his letters to Pope Benedict, the archbishop argued that it was his commitment to financial transparency that made him internal enemies who were seeking to push him out of the Vatican.   But the Feb. 4 statement from the Governorate of Vatican City State offered a detailed rebuttal of the claims made by Archbishop Viganò. The statement explained that the budget of the governorate is regularly submitted to the Prefecture for the Economic Affairs of the Holy See and to its “college of international auditors” for scrutiny. It also attributes the turnaround in the governorate’s financial situation during Archbishop Viganò’s tenure principally to two factors – improved returns from financial investments and “to an even greater extent, to the excellent results of the Vatican Museums.” The governorate also insisted that it uses “standard bidding procedures” for major work carried out within the Vatican City State, such as the present restoration of the Colonnade of St. Peter’s Square. The bidding process is overseen by the Cardinal President of the Governorate and an “ad hoc” commission. Smaller projects are overseen by the staff of the Vatican’s Directorate of Technical Services or by “well known and well qualified external firms, on the basis of the prices in use in Italy,” the statement said. The governorate also expressed “complete trust in, and respect for” the members of the Finance and Management Committee, and the governorate’s administrative offices and collaborators. “All suspicions and accusations have, following careful examination, been shown to be unfounded, as have (almost to the point of seeming laughable) news reports – fruit of a certain kind of highly superficial journalism ….”   It does, however, say that the “implementation of the improvements” suggested by McKinsey management consultancy firm in a report commissioned by Cardinal Lajolo in 2009 will continue to be implemented. <div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/catholicnewsagency/dailynews?a=zMDUhPsn4TQ:NOMsZRejEcY:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/catholicnewsagency/dailynews?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/catholicnewsagency/dailynews/~4/zMDUhPsn4TQ" height="1" width="1"/>

Analyst: Obama could lose Catholic vote over HHS mandate

Washington D.C., Feb 5, 2012 / 05:33 pm (<a href="http://www.catholicnewsagency.com" target="_self">CNA</a>).- The growing Catholic outcry against a recent health insurance mandate could threaten President Obama’s support “among a key group of swing voters that was critical to his victory in 2008,” political writer George Condon says.  According to an analysis released by the Pew Research Center on Feb. 2, Catholics have shifted away from Democratic Party since the 2008 election. George E. Condon, Jr., a political writer for the nonpartisan National Journal, wrote in a Feb. 1 article that although Obama won the Catholic vote in the 2008 election, recent dissatisfaction among Catholics could be detrimental to his 2012 efforts for a second term.  Condon tied Obama’s change in political fortune to the Jan. 20 announcement by the Department of Health and Human Services that virtually all employers will be required to purchase health insurance that includes coverage for sterilization and contraception, as well as the drug Ella, which can cause early abortions. The very narrow religious exemption to the mandate requires an organization to exist for the purpose of inculcating religious values and to restrict employment and its services primarily to fellow believers. The administration refused to broaden the exemption despite thousands of complaints from religious hospitals, schools and charitable agencies that objected to the mandate but were open to serving members of all faiths.  In less than two weeks, the decision has been denounced in thousands of Catholic churches across America, and several bishops stated that they would refuse to comply with the “unconscionable” and “unjust” regulation. According to Condon, the mandate provoked an “explosion of anger” and has left many Catholics feeling disappointed with President Obama. Many Catholics who supported Obama in the 2008 election and defended his controversial appearance at Notre Dame in 2009 are also now left disillusioned by the realization that Obama does not understand “Catholic sensitivities,” as they had thought. Condon said that although not all Catholics follow the Church’s teaching on birth control, the “American Catholic backlash” against the mandate has united the Church in a fight against a government attempt to regulate its ministries and employees. The united Catholic opposition could be damaging to Obama’s chances for reelection, he said, observing that in 2010, Catholics made up 25 percent of the American population and were a “big swing vote in the key political states.” Surveys conducted by the Pew Research Center over the last year show a significant shift in the Catholic electorate away from the Democratic Party.  In 2008, 37 percent of Catholic registered voters either identified with or leaned towards the Republican Party, while 53 percent favored the Democratic Party. By 2011, those numbers had changed significantly, with 43 percent favoring the Republican Party and 48 percent identifying more closely with the Democratic Party. An even further shift has occurred among white Catholics who attend Mass every week. In 2008, this demographic was evenly split, with 45 percent favoring each political party. But in 2011, 52 percent favored the Republicans and just 40 percent identified more with the Democrats. The Pew analysis indicates that Catholic voters are not alone in this trend. It finds that “the share of voters identifying with or leaning toward the GOP has either grown or held steady in every major religious group,” including those that have traditionally tended to align more closely with the Democratic Party. Condon explained that Catholics being upset at the Obama administration over the new mandate could play a significant role in the upcoming election. He stated that “the clout of the Catholic vote is unquestioned,” with only one candidate winning the presidency without it since 1972.  He also pointed out that over 50 of the bishops who have spoken out “represent dioceses in what will be battleground states in the election” and that many of these states have large Catholic populations. Catholics are also highly concentrated in about a dozen battleground states, including New Jersey (41 percent), Wisconsin (30 percent), Pennsylvania (28 percent), and Ohio (18 percent). <div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/catholicnewsagency/dailynews?a=WlZy684jGdc:16DUiKFIzyM:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/catholicnewsagency/dailynews?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/catholicnewsagency/dailynews/~4/WlZy684jGdc" height="1" width="1"/>

High school students show solidarity with needy in hometown and the world

Denville, N.J., Feb 5, 2012 / 01:08 pm (<a href="http://www.catholicnewsagency.com" target="_self">CNA</a>).- Reaching from Dover in Morris County, N.J. to Malawi in Africa, students at Morris Catholic High School in Morris County, N.J. have partnered together to show their solidarity with those in need. Recently, students hosted an Empty Bowls dinner to bring solidarity and awareness to those living in poverty in the African nation of Malawi and to also bring support to Hope House in Dover, N.J., an agency of diocesan Catholic Charities that serves the needy in Morris County. The Empty Bowls Project is a grassroots effort to fight hunger created by the Image Render Group. For several weeks, students in Lauren Caruso's art class made clay bowls. The colorful and creative hand crafted clay bowls were then sold at the dinner fundraiser. For the dinner, members of the school's campus ministry volunteered to serve patrons a simple meal of soup and bread while Key Club members hosted a fair trade sale, featuring hand-made goods from artisans in developing nations. Proceeds helped both the Empty Bowls Project and Hope House in Paterson, N.J. in their service to the poor. The purpose of the bowls, according to Jeanne Gradone, director of student services at Morris Catholic High School, was "for families to bring the bowls home and place the empty bowls on their dinner table. The empty bowls symbolize the many people around the world who don't have a meal that day. It is to bring awareness that the majority of people around the world have empty bowls. We don't want people to feel guilty about what they have, but we want them to consciously make a commitment to live in solidarity with the poor and have a constant reminder to pray for them." During the process of making the bowls, students focused on those in Malawi, while having an awareness of their place in the world family and at the same time concentrate on its local family. "We also wanted to support Hope House and help the local residents they serve. The agency supports many of our neighbors in Morris County and also the many people who were affected by the floods last August in the area," said Gradone. For the past two years, the school has been immersed in a Global Solidarity school initiative, sponsored by Catholic Relief Services (CRS), the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. This year, the school is remembering orphans and vulnerable children around the world with Malawi as a focus. Last year, the school was centered on the theme of peace building and looked to examples from the Holy Land. "The mission of CRS," said Gradone, "is to allow people to become self sufficient. The people in many of these nations know what they need; they just need the resources to succeed." During Lent, which begins this year on Feb. 22, Ash Wednesday, the school will continue to support Catholic Relief Services through the agency's well-known Operation Rice Bowl program. The students will learn more about the countries featured in the program and learn to be an advocate for those around the world. Gradone said, "We want the students at Morris Catholic to know their place in the world and make connections with people. We want them to say about others, 'I value the gift that you are.'" Posted with permission from the <A href="http://www.patersondiocese.org/page.cfm?Web_ID=4485">Diocese of Paterson, N.J</A>. <div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/catholicnewsagency/dailynews?a=0OjmwNmhOkI:s64sIVeUkSA:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/catholicnewsagency/dailynews?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/catholicnewsagency/dailynews/~4/0OjmwNmhOkI" height="1" width="1"/>

God's love overcomes the misery of illness, Pope teaches

Vatican City, Feb 5, 2012 / 12:05 pm (<a href="http://www.catholicnewsagency.com" target="_self">CNA/EWTN News</a>).- Faith in the love of Jesus Christ can overcome the suffering of long-term illness, Pope Benedict XVI said in his Sunday Angelus address on Feb. 5. Just as Jesus faced the devil “with the power of love that was from the Father,” the Pope explained, so also a sick person can “overcome and defeat the test of disease with a heart immersed in the love of God.” Indeed, he noted, “we all know people who have endured terrible suffering because God gave them a deep serenity.” Pope Benedict addressed his remarks to thousands of pilgrims braving the cold and snow in St. Peter’s Square. From the window of the papal apartments, he reflected on the day's Gospel, in which Jesus “healed many who were sick with various diseases” and “cast out many demons.” He observed how the four evangelists – Matthew, Mark, Luke and John – all describe “freedom from disease and illness of any kind, together with preaching, as the main activities of Jesus in his public life.” While disease is “a sign of the evil in the world and in man,” Christ’s healings show that “the Kingdom of God is near,” and they serve as “a foretaste of his victory obtained by his death and resurrection.” The Pope recognized that if healing does not arrive swiftly and suffering is prolonged, those who are sick “can remain crushed, isolated,” and even “depressed and dehumanized.” Appropriate medical treatment is in order and, as the Pope pointed out, “medicine in recent decades has made great strides.” But he also noted that the “Word of God” teaches “a decisive attitude” toward illness, an attitude which is “that of the faith.” Even in the face of death, “faith can make possible what is humanly impossible.” “But faith in what?” the Pope asked, answering that faith in God's love “is the true answer, which radically defeats evil.” As an example of how to bear illness through the love of God, Pope Benedict highlighted the life and death of Blessed Chiara Badano, an Italian teenager who died in 1990 from an aggressive and painful bone cancer. Although she was struck “in the bloom of youth,” those who visited her during her illness saw that she manifested “light and trust” through her love for Christ. The Pope concluded by noting that next Saturday, Feb. 11, is the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes and also the World Day of the Sick. On that day, he suggested, believers should imitate people of Jesus' time and “spiritually present to him all the sick people, confident that he wants to and can heal,” while also invoking the intercession of the Virgin Mary “especially in situations of immense suffering and abandonment.” “Mary, Health of the Sick,” he declared, “pray for us!”<div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/catholicnewsagency/dailynews?a=6DnFB2_M178:XJZicKmWC-0:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/catholicnewsagency/dailynews?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/catholicnewsagency/dailynews/~4/6DnFB2_M178" height="1" width="1"/>

Church celebrates 16th century Martyrs of Nagasaki on Feb. 6

Denver, Colo., Feb 5, 2012 / 08:03 am (<a href="http://www.catholicnewsagency.com" target="_self">CNA/EWTN News</a>).- On Feb. 6, the Catholic Church honors the 26 Martyrs of Nagasaki, a group of native Japanese Catholics and foreign missionaries who suffered death for their faith in the year 1597. During the 16th century, the Catholic faith reached Japan by the efforts of the Jesuit missionary Saint Francis Xavier (1506-1552). Jesuit outreach to the Japanese continued after his death, and around 200,000 Japanese had entered the Church by 1587. Religious tensions led to a period of persecution during that year, during which many churches were destroyed and missionaries forced to work in secret. But few episodes of martyrdom took place during this time, and within a decade 100,000 more Japanese became Catholic despite the restrictions. During 1593, Franciscan missionaries came to Japan from the Philippines by order of Spain's King Philip II. These new arrivals gave themselves zealously to the work of charity and evangelism, but their presence disturbed a delicate situation between the Church and Japanese authorities. Suspicion against Catholic missionaries grew when a Spanish ship was seized off the Japanese coast and found to be carrying artillery. Toyotomi Hideyoshi, an powerful imperial minister, responded by sentencing 26 Catholics to death. The group was comprised of three native Jesuits, six foreign Franciscans, and several lay Catholics including some children. Sentenced to die by crucifixion and lancing, they were first marched 600 miles to the city of Nagasaki. During the journey they underwent public torture meant to terrorize other Japanese believers in Christ. But all of the 26 held out courageously, even singing the hymn of praise “Te Deum” when they arrived at the hill where they would be crucified. Three of the best-known martyrs of Nagaki are Saints Paul Miki, John of Goto, and James Kisai. Though none were priests, all were associated with the Jesuits: Miki was training for the priesthood, while Kisai was a lay brother and John of Goto was a catechist preparing to enter the order. Paul Miki offered an especially strong witness to his faith during the group's month-long march to Nagasaki, as he joined one of the captive Franciscan priests in preaching to the crowds who came to mock the prisoners. The son of a wealthy military leader, Miki was born in 1562 and entered the Church along with the rest of his family. He joined the Jesuits as a young man and helped many Buddhists to embrace Christianity. His last act of evangelism took place as he hung on his cross, preaching to the crowds. “The only reason for my being killed is that I have taught the doctrine of Christ,” he announced. “I thank God it is for this reason that I die. I believe that I am telling the truth before I die.” “After Christ's example, I forgive my persecutors. I do not hate them. I ask God to have pity on all, and I hope my blood will fall on my fellow men as a fruitful rain.” St. Paul Miki and his 25 companions were stabbed to death with lances on Feb. 5, 1597, at the site that became known as “Martyrs' Hill.” Pope Pius IX canonized the Martyrs of Nagasaki in 1862. <div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/catholicnewsagency/dailynews?a=sa1I596pHSU:6IuVa2D7s8g:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/catholicnewsagency/dailynews?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/catholicnewsagency/dailynews/~4/sa1I596pHSU" height="1" width="1"/>

Detroit's blogging bishop documents Roman pilgrimage

Rome, Italy, Feb 4, 2012 / 06:39 pm (<a href="http://www.catholicnewsagency.com" target="_self">CNA/EWTN News</a>).- Currently on an “ad limina” visit to the Vatican, Detroit Auxiliary Bishop Arturo Cepeda is taking the Michigan faithful along with him by means of his blog. “My blog is for all of my people in the Archdiocese of Detroit who can actually follow every single movement that I do,” Bishop Arturo Cepeda told CNA Feb. 3. “I call it a ‘virtual pilgrimage.’” “So I’m blogging every single day, every meeting I go to. I take pictures and send them to my blog. I’m able to text and tell them what my feelings are and what’s going on.” Ordained in May 2011 as an auxiliary bishop for Detroit, 42-year-old Bishop Cepeda is making the pilgrimage required of all dioceses every five years to meet with the Pope.  The current visit allows the bishops of Detroit and Cincinnati to update the Pope and the Vatican on the health of the Church in their regions of the U.S. For Bishop Cepeda, the “updating” goes two ways. “For example, when I go to meetings with the different Vatican congregations, I give those reading the blog some idea of the issues we’ve just discussed,” he explained. The auxiliary bishop's relative youth places him in a generation more at ease with the world of new media like Facebook, Twitter, and blogs. “I’m a product of the 70s, and that was when that particular technological revolution began,” he said, “so I’ve always been on top of all the technological gadgets that are out there and I feel very comfortable with it all – and I believe that our future generations of Catholics feel very comfortable with it too.” As the Church approaches Pope Benedict XVI’s “Yearof Faith” which begins in October 2012, Bishop Cepeda also believes that such technologies can aid in the “New Evangelization” of the traditionally Christian West. “I do believe in the new media and I do believe in communication. It’s a gift not only for society but it’s also a gift for our Church.” “We want to communicate our feelings, we want to communicate our thoughts. We want to communicate faith, and truth, and how the truth can change our culture.” Recent blog entries by the bishop have covered his Feb. 3 audience with Pope Benedict, as well as the unusually heavy snow covering Rome. “Let me tell you, I lived here in Rome for five years and never saw snow fall once. So this is the first time I’ve seen snow in my life here in Rome and it is coming down pretty heavy.” Detroit Catholics, of course, got an update about it at <A style="COLOR: rgb(17,85,204)" href="http://aodonline.wordpress.com/" target=_blank>http://aodonline.wordpress.com/</A>. “I have already taken pictures and sent them to my blog,” Bishop Cepeda said, clutching his smartphone. “I told them: ‘Guess what! Right after our meeting with the Holy Father it began to snow – so it seems that Detroit is following me all the way to Rome!’” <div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/catholicnewsagency/dailynews?a=ssXNJiUeEGk:B-RV6T4Yv2s:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/catholicnewsagency/dailynews?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/catholicnewsagency/dailynews/~4/ssXNJiUeEGk" height="1" width="1"/>

Vatican astronomer says Big Bang theory in tune with creation history

Vatican City, Feb 4, 2012 / 06:09 pm (<a href="http://www.catholicnewsagency.com" target="_self">CNA</a>).- The director of the Vatican Observatory said that the Church is open to the scientific theory that the world began from a cosmic explosion billions of years ago. “The Big Bang is not in contradiction with the faith, ” Father Jose Gabriel Funes said during a Feb. 2 announcement of a Vatican exhibit that will feature photos, research tools and minerals from the Moon and Mars. The exhibit titled “Stories from another world: The Universe within us and outside us,” will be on display March 10 - July 1 in Pisa, the birthplace of Galileo, the father of modern astronomy.  Fr. Funes told CNA at the event that the Big Bang explanation “is the best theory we have right now about the creation of the universe.” The theory holds that creation began some 14 billion years ago with a colossal explosion in which space, time, energy and matter were created, and galaxies, stars and planets – which are in continual expansion – came to be. “We know that God is the creator,” he added, “that He is a good Father who has a providential plan for us, that we are his children, and that we everything we can learn by reason about the origin of the universe is not in contradiction with the religious message of the Bible.” Fr. Funes said that as an astronomer and a Catholic, he is open to this explanation of the creation of the universe, despite “some yet unanswered questions.” He noted, for example, that while there is no proof of other intelligent life in the universe, “we cannot rule it out,” since studies show that there are nearly 700 planets orbiting other stars. “If in the future it was established that life, and intelligent life, exists, which I think would be very difficult, I don’t think this contradicts the religious message of creation because they would also be creatures of God,” he said. Ultimately, Catholics “should see the cosmos as a gift of God” and should “admire the beauty that exists in the universe.” “This beauty we see in some way leads us to the beauty of the creator,” he said.  “And also, because God has granted us intelligence and reason, we can find the logos, that rational explanation that exists in the universe that allows us to engage in science as well.” The Church’s official interest in astronomy dates back to the 16th century. In 1891, Pope Leo XIII decided to officially create the Vatican Observatory to show that the Church is not against scientific development, but rather promotes it. Since then, the Vatican Observatory has operated out of Castel Gandolfo and uses a telescope located in Tuscon, Arizona, for research. <div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/catholicnewsagency/dailynews?a=CXd5Pxtye4s:2Tt-ocx2oQI:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/catholicnewsagency/dailynews?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/catholicnewsagency/dailynews/~4/CXd5Pxtye4s" height="1" width="1"/>

Chicago Catholic schools continue to grow

Chicago, Ill., Feb 4, 2012 / 01:05 pm (<a href="http://www.catholicnewsagency.com" target="_self">CNA</a>).- Catholic schools in the city of Chicago are celebrating the news that for two years in a row, enrollment has gone up. That’s the first time that has happened since 1965. It might be too early to say Catholic schools have turned a corner, but Catholic schools superintendent Sister Mary Paul McCaughey of the Archdiocese of Chicago is optimistic that efforts to promote the schools while keeping them on a sound financial footing will pay off. “We think we can do it,” she said. “We think we can turn it around. It would be so much fun to see that across the system. Large Catholic school systems haven’t seen that since ’65. But we’re a good city to have this happen to.” The efforts to spread the good news about Catholic schools, combined with changing demographics in Chicago, are leading to full classrooms, she said. “We’re really growing in those places where young families are staying in the city, and they’ve grown to love it and they don’t want to leave,” Sister Paul said. “And with the focused scholarship efforts, we’re holding the line in the poorer areas.” Across the entire archdiocese of Chicago, enrollment is stabilizing, with a drop of less than 1 percent this year. But with 86,502 elementary school students this year, Catholic schools have fewer than half the students they did in 1979-80, when enrollment was 189,611. Reviewing themselves The Office for Catholic Schools of Chicago has asked each of its schools to review where they are in terms of maintaining academic excellence and Catholic identity, financial status and their efforts to attract and keep new students. Each school also will be asked to come up with a plan to move forward in the next year, although many are already doing quite well. “The schools that are doing it have a strong Catholic culture and excellent academics,” she said. “They are engaging parents and refocusing on getting the ‘good whispers’ out there.” One school that has seen such efforts pay off is St. Therese Chinese Catholic School in Chinatown, which principal Phyllis Cavallone-Jurek said was on the brink of closure when she came seven and a half years ago. Then, the school opened with 180 students. Now, with ongoing efforts to strengthen an already rigorous curriculum and work spreading the word about the school across the city, it has waiting lists at all the lower grades. There are 286 students, and Cavallone-Jurek has started to consider the possibility of adding space, although that would be difficult in its neighborhood. The school will likely become even more popular in the next couple of years, as it proudly flies its national Blue Ribbon Award flag for all to see. It’s the first Blue Ribbon in 20 years for a school supported by the Big Shoulders Fund — a local nonprofit that offers scholarships and other financial help to schools where a significant percentage of the students are low-income. At St. Therese, all students are expected to be two years ahead of grade level in math by the time they graduate, and all students study Mandarin Chinese and Spanish throughout elementary school. Because of the unique curriculum, Cavallone-Jurek said, she has to be careful when admitting transfer students to the upper grades. Getting the word out The school’s enrollment grew as Cavallone-Jurek worked with staff and parents to get the word out about the school’s strengths — its academics and its focus on Chinese culture. A student dance group performed whenever and wherever it could, including on morning TV news shows and at neighborhood festivals. “Schools have to look at what their strengths are,” she said. “What are the non-negotiables that make us really special and unique?” At St. Hyacinth School in Logan Square, enrollment jumped from 119 students last June to 187 students this year. Principal Annmarie Mahay said that what helped most in terms of marketing was really everything. “No one thing works,” she said. “Everything we did brought in a few more kids.” Perhaps the biggest single change the school made was opening a second preschool classroom, so that there are now 40 preschoolers instead of 25. Parents realize that full-day preschool costs less than daycare, and that their children get more out of it, Mahay said. That follows the pattern for the archdiocese, where preschool enrollment is up 15 percent. Families who have transferred older children into the school are generally coming from three area public schools, all of which are crowded, Mahay said, so they appreciate the small classes at St. Hyacinth. They also were able to get to know the school through a series of “family fun nights,” when they could mingle with existing St. Hyacinth families and teachers while doing activities in the school’s classrooms. “It gives them the opportunity to take a look at us,” Mahay said. The biggest obstacle to families choosing the school is nearly always the cost of Catholic education, Mahay said, although breaking it down into 10 monthly payments helps. Sister Paul said Catholics should continue to push for more public funding of Catholic schools, whether in the form of vouchers or tax credits, because that would make it easier for families to choose Catholic education, which would be good for the state as well, she said. “It saves the state money in the long run,” she said. “They just don’t see it.” Posted with permission from <A href="http://www.catholicnewworld.com/cnwonline/2012/0129/2.aspx">Catholic New World</A>, newspaper for the Diocese of Chicago. <div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/catholicnewsagency/dailynews?a=gRdtuysaL1o:cKp1ptF2H6Q:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/catholicnewsagency/dailynews?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/catholicnewsagency/dailynews/~4/gRdtuysaL1o" height="1" width="1"/>

US free speech faces Islamic blasphemy law pressure, analyst says

Washington D.C., Feb 4, 2012 / 07:05 am (<a href="http://www.catholicnewsagency.com" target="_self">CNA</a>).- Paul Marshall, a religious liberty expert, says that attempts to “export” Islamic anti-blasphemy laws to the West could pose a threat to freedom of speech in the U.S. Marshall, senior fellow at the Hudson Institute’s Center for Religious Freedom, said that many governments deliberately manipulate alleged instances of blasphemy by provoking popular outrage, enabling them to advance “particular policy goals.” Marshall made his remarks Feb. 3 at Hillsdale College’s Allan P. Kirby, Jr. Center for Constitutional Studies and Citizenship in Washington, D.C. He argued that blasphemy codes in the Muslim world are used to stifle religious minorities, as well as Muslim reformers who support religious liberty, freedom of speech and democracy. In the U.S., Marshall observed, courts generally uphold the First Amendment’s free speech protections. But he said that America is still threatened by blasphemy laws, and cited efforts by the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation to promote international laws that ban insults to Islam, through the United Nations. Marshall also cautioned against a growing tendency towards “extra-legal intimidation,” which involves private individuals pre-emptively censoring themselves -- often under the guise of religious sensitivity -- because they realize that it is “too dangerous” to insult Islam. To illustrate the effectiveness of this intimidation, he gave multiple examples of books, newspapers and television shows that refused to publish content that could be deemed offensive to Islam, although they chose to carry similar material that mocked Christianity and other religions. He also recounted the 2010 story of Molly Norris, a Seattle cartoonist, who called for an “Everybody Draw Mohammed Day” in response to such self-censorship. She received death threats for the suggestion and, under the advice of the FBI, changed her name and went into hiding. Marshall also warned of the potential for government policies that seek to restrict speech. He observed that the Obama administration has vocalized a commitment to fighting “negative stereotypes of Islam,” although it has not done the same for other religions. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, he noted, invited the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation to a meeting in Washington, D.C. to discuss how the U.S. could carry out this commitment. According to Marshall, the December 2011 meeting featured presentations on how America should fix its treatment of Muslims. It was also suggested that the U.S. should learn from countries in the organization, which use the death penalty to fight blasphemy within their borders, he said. Although Clinton claimed to be simply pursuing tolerance, Marshall said it was concerning that she was partnering with an organization that has been aggressively lobbying to restrict free speech through legal controls.  He urged the Obama administration to end this partnership and instead promote the idea that “in open, boisterous, free societies” all religions will likely be subject to criticism.  The American founders considered freedom of speech to be critical, Marshall concluded, adding that “their example is always needed, but never more so than in a time such as this.” <div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/catholicnewsagency/dailynews?a=EZztrSv1Oak:m7I3EKYqWrY:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/catholicnewsagency/dailynews?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/catholicnewsagency/dailynews/~4/EZztrSv1Oak" height="1" width="1"/>

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